The holidays were a month ago. You know what that means, don’t you?
It’s time to share which of the toys your kids received as holiday gifts are still seeing some action. Leave a comment below, and be sure to include ages, too. You can answer on Facebook if you prefer.
I use your input to create resources for parents looking to buy toys with staying power. These lists are great not just for holiday shopping, but for birthdays and other occasions as well.
Corn popper – 17 month boy
Legos, Wooden Thomas Trains, Hot Wheels and Track, Art Supplies — 4 year old boy
Mr. Potato head, 17 mth and 36 mth boys
I specifically used your list to buy our kids their christmas presents. I have a 17 month old boy and a 4.5 year old girl. Things that are still played with : wooden building blocks, grocery cart, leapfrog explorer, art supplies (can’t get enough!), drums, a tool bench, and the dump truck sometimes, although I hope we’ll get more use out of it as it gets warmer outside & he can actually put fun stuff in it
My MIL bought my daughter one of those “fur real” pets and she has not played with it since the day she got it, despite it being in obvious reach in our living room. I also bought my son a small slide but he has since decided he’d rather climb up the ladder to the big slide in their playhouse outside, so that and the fur real are probably the biggest duds. I am so glad you do this because I personally did not buy them anything that wasn’t on their age list, and, they still play with all the toys that we got them!
My won will be 4 in March & his favoirte toys are his Bruder crane & tow truck. Excellent toys, well made, realistic & allow for imaginative play. I’ve got another couple of their vehicles hidden in my closet for his birthday.
That should be my “son”, of course. Stupid fingers.
My 13 month old daughter is still playing with her cozy coupe car, her play purse (with cell phone, wallet, lipstick), her grocery cart and her hammer/ball shape sorter. And she also loves her leapfrog animal magnets for the fridge.
Fisher-Price Stride to Ride Dinosaur – 13 months. She rides it every day. Loves the lights and sounds.
My 8 month old loves his FP Stack & Roll cups and his FP shape sorter. But most of all he loves to shake his FP Topzy Tumblers (just the 3 pack, not a big set). These have also been a big hit with his babysitters 3 & 4yo. And I’ll admit that I enjoy spinning them around too.
My four year old still plays with his Little Tykes grill and play food every single day. He also does Melissa & Doug puzzles a few times a week, loves his Hot Wheels wall tracks & cars and the Tag Reader books & map. The InnoTab pad – not so much. He’d rather play with mommy’s “real” iPad.
My four year old son plays with his legos everyday. He also loves doing the puzzles he got. My three year old daughter loves her lalaloopsy dolls and calico critters. She also plays constantly with her Melissa and Doug play pizza set and cookie set.
6 year old boy loves Heroica games and Perplexus.
4 year old girl loves baby dolls
8 month boy loves Usborne touchy feely books and Sophie chew toy
My 15 month old son loves and still plays with his Leapfrog magnetic alphabet set. He loves pushing the “alphabet” button over and over again, and putting the different letters in.
Hits:
4-year-old boy: wooden train, legos, doctor kit, water color paints.
2.5-year-old girl: dollhouse figures and furniture, baby dolls, play food
Misses:
4-year-old boy: slot car race track (frustrating for him because it doesn’t always work)
Little People Zoo with safari truck
Fisher Price talking puppy (non-dancing kind)
Uncle Goose wooden alphabet blocks
Fisher price ride on dinosaur
Fisher price Little mommy baby doll
15 month old girl and looks like I should buy stock in FP
My 19 month old loves this cat keyboard we got her from Target, a basic shopping cart, crayons, the leapfrog laptop, and books
3 year old
Dress up clothes
books
art supplies
lacing cards
15 month old
sticks (literally) bought them off of etsy all nicely polished
bean bags (also bought off of etsy)
3+ 5 yr old girls- Kidkraft Majestic Mansion–They play with this daily w/their Barbie dolls.
My 4.5 year old plays daily with his number bean bags and his imaginext bat cave. My almost three year old loves his Cars (die cast, Disney) and his tool bench (little tikes) my 1 year old loves her push/rider and her ring stacker.
My 2-yr-old daughter LOVES her Megablocks, Playdough & playdough accessories (fun factory, shape cutters, playdough scissors), crayons, and washable markers. We also got her some toddler sized garden tools (like mom’s) and toddler-sized Black & Decker workshop tools (like Dad’s).. and she plays with them all the time.. She likes her tricycle but hasn’t figured out how to ride it without a lot of help so it tends to sit idle (I think she will grow into it over the coming year). We also got her a simple doll-size umbrella stroller that she loves to push her dolls around in. A relative got her a V-tech toddler computer.. she learned the games in about 20 minutes and it largely sits untouched.
2.5 year old – alphie, train sets (thomas and geotrax), lego duplo, kitchen, elmo playdoh set.
9 month old- munchkin mozart cube, baby einstein piano, various rattles & teethers, FP rainforest jumperoo, baby einstein around the world exersaucer
18 month old girl- count and crunch cookie monster, little people house, shopping cart and play food, fisher price zebra 3 in1 scooter, and a play tent
My 10 mo. old DS is still playing with the following:
Sassy Pop N Push Car
Product Image
Sassy Bathtime Pals Squirt and Float Toys
Lamaze Robot
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Screen Laptop
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Workbench
My 2 year old loves:
1) Melissa and Doug puzzles, especially the alphabet
2) Leapfrog Leaptop (it goes to bed with her and to school with her)
3) Scwinn Tricycle
4) Fake Cell Phone
5) Leapfrog Fridge Animal Magnets
6) Baby Dolls
10 month old:
The Laugh Learn Learning Letters Mailbox
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Kitchen
Little Tikes Pop Tunes Big Rocker Guitar
4 year old:
Radio Flyer Scooter
American Girl Doll
Brain Quest Workbooks
Barbie Remote Control Corvette
My 10 month old daughter plays with her Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Kitchen every day. It is the first toy she crawls/walks to in the morning and when we put all of our toys away at night, it is the one she tries to get away with still playing. I love this toy and I got it super cheap at Kohl’s the day after Thanksgiving. It was 50% off their every day price and then I had an additional 20% off that price coupon….making it the lowest price I saw all holiday season-$20.
17 month old boy-Weebles, Circo wooden blocks, Tupperware Shape-o-ball, and most of all…the Melissa & Doug stacking train his daycare provider gave him. Had to put the Melissa & Doug shopping cart in my closet. Its a little tall for him and he can’t quite push it correctly on carpet so it constantly turns over on its side. Will try it again in August when he’s 2.
My son loves his Leappad Explorer. He still loves daddy’s ipad too, but when he is not able to play with the ipad, he definitely goes for the leappad. His favorite game out of the 4 he got with it is Pixar Pals. Also, over a year after getting it, he still LOVES his Vtech V.reader. He also loves his hotwheels cars, thomas trains and pay doh. He is 3.5 years old.
My daughter (almost 4) and son (almost 2) adore the Loving Family Doll house that their Grandma got for them on a great sale from the Fisher Price site. Duplos are the other truly big hit. Surprisingly, my son has cooled on his Thomas stuff. The children also enjoy their Calico Critters travel case with animals and a few pieces of furniture. We like to go away for a night every now and then, and it is the only toy we bring for the two of them,
Build a bear is meaningless to my 2 yr old and even my 4 yr old wants things while in the store but doesn’t care once she leaves.
Almost 18 months: Lego Duplo, M&D cutting fruit, “It’s a Little Book” board book, Treehaus play kitchen, IKEA train & tracks set. Everything gets played almost every day, but the Duplos and board book are the biggest hit.
5 yr old boy: Legos, UNO, flashlight, cash register
2 yr old girl: constellation turtle (as nightlight), doctor kit, backpack
7–year-old boy and 2 1/2-year-old girl – BOOKS!
For him – Legos
For her – Fisher Price Snap ‘n Style doll and clothes. This is a new find for us. Love that the doll is just a cute little girl with “real” hair and clothes that come off/on easily, and she is not sexualized, unlike so many little girl toys.
Also, the wooden dolls with magnetic clothes that are like paper dolls only made out of wood.
And, the 1-year-old boy and 2 1/2 year old girl are enjoying the Megabloks pirate ship.
1-year-old likes the Leapfrog counting octopus.
7-year-old also loves UNO and Mancala set!
3yr old
buzz light year, color jenga, memory game, pirate ship thomas the train, hot wheels race track.
My 21 month son still loves his stacking cups, potato heads and shape sorter from LAST Christmas! Things from this Christmas that he still loves are:
Little People Rampway
Melissa and Doug Puzzles
Find and Learn Elmo (alphabet)
PBK anywhere chair (not really a toy though…)
Pretend food and kitchen set (more the food than the actual kitchen)
My 12 month old son is still playing with: Boynton books, Fisher Price corn push popper, his baby sized basketball hoops–one is Little Tykes/the other Fisher Price, Fisher Price Laugh and Learn farm, Fisher Price Rock a Stack and stacking cups.
My son’s birthday is a few days after christmas so he got double toys! He is still enjoying his Fisher Price A to Z Learning Zoo, his toy kitchen, mega blocks, Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Alphabet set, Fisher Price Laugh ‘n’ Learn Learning Piggy Bank, and assorted wooden puzzles and books.
Misses are the melissa and doug latches board (seems too difficult and doesn’t hold his interest), aquadoodle (again doesn’t hold his interest), a play mat with a town/roads on it for cars, and a foam bowling set.
Forgot to add, my son just turned 2.
I am shocked that my 4 1/2 year old is still playing with the Bat Cave daily. I thought it would get played with once and then be finished. He wanted it so badly though. Glad I went for it.
20 month old boy:
Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen
Melissa and Doug Puzzles
Leaptop
B-You Parum Pum Pum Drum (of course)
B-You fish and splash
3.5 year old girl
Lalaloopsy Treehouse
Puzzles
Cardboard “color-yourself” Castle
Books (especially Look & Find Books)
Melissa and Doug Velcro playfood (the pizza set, the fruit and bread cutting set)
Playdough Movie Theater set
Stamps (Princess Set from Disney)