Gift giving season is right around the corner... I feel like as soon as Halloween passes, it's Thanksgiving right away and then, BAM! We are all sitting on the floor with wrapping paper everywhere looking at our loot.
I am not sure why, perhaps it is because I have two boys, but people have been asking me a TON lately for gift suggestions for boys. Like in the past week, I have had 4 facebook messages and 2 emails asking me questions...odd, huh?
So, I thought I would devote a post to some of my boys' favorite toys. Obviously, I will not cover ALL of their favorites...and obviously, these change weekly.... and obviously, these are in no particular order...
First, I bring you...THE PLASMA CAR...
Both of my boys LOVE LOVE LOVE the plasma car. Cal started calling it a helicopter car (who knows why, really).
This is the toy I am asked about most often. We went to visit my in laws in Texas and they borrowed a bunch of toys from a friend. Mixed in with all of the toys was a plasma car. Cal tried it out in their driveway and really liked it. My mother-in-law got him one for Christmas last year and it was a huge hit. Cal isn't the only one who likes it. Andy loves it too-- so much so that they were fighting over it all the time, so my mother-in-law sent another one! Now we have two and the boys have the BEST time racing around the house on them. Very rarely do these cars go outside. They get most of the use riding around our hardwood floors. Not only to the boys like them, but me and Eddie have been knows to ride them too...a lot. Andy's current favorite thing is to ride on it with me. Lots of fun... Patty got ours off of amazon.com, but I know they also carry them at lots of toy stores. These are big hits with boys AND girls.
Another popular toy in our house is the train table. We have the one seen here....
It's the Imaginarium table. My parents gave this to Cal on his 2nd birthday, and it has gotten a LOT of use. Both boys enjoy playing with this. Here's what I like about it-- there are drawers on each side to keep all the
crap stuff not being used on the table. We glued down our track and I can see pros and cons to doing that. I thought the boys would play with it more if the track was all in place. This is true-- HOWEVER, the track doesn't stay glued down and I feel like I am fighting a constant battle of reattaching tracks. Cal likes it to be all put together to play with it. Unfortunately, Andy loves to see how hard he has to pull to rip up a piece (or 10). Either way, both kids have really enjoyed this. I have other friends who have tables similar to this one, but they did not glue down tracks. Their table gets used constantly for LOTS of things-- un-train related, which is also really fun. Oh, and also, these tracks are compatible with Thomas the Train, Brio, and lots and lots of other trains, so that was a huge plus. It takes up space, but it provides entertainment so....it's worth it!
My next must have thing for boys...or really, any kid, are these building blocks. HOLY SMOKES, I swear to y'all, you would NOT believe the entertainment these babies provide. ...
I found these on amazon, and I am not sure how many come in a pack, but this is money WELL SPENT. A former colleague of mine had three kids and when they moved, they got rid of a ton of their stuff. She donated a lot of her toys to us. When she hauled the bin of building blocks out, I thought, ehh.... but let me just tell you...we use these things nearly ever.single.day. We build roads for the cards, sand castles, tunnels, garages, houses, etc etc etc... These things really get their imaginations working. Cal likes these so much that my mom actually bought a set for her house too. I have used these to build a road that stretches from one side of the room to the other with bridges and ramps and everything else you can imagine. Cal loves to build something big and then knock it down. We have gotten hours upon hours of use with these blocks.
And the last toy I will mention is called "Football Guys." It comes in a small carrying case, and when it is open, it includes a felt field, football players, a referee and two goal posts.
As you all know, Cal is very into football-- he LOVES this toy! My mom found it at a local toy store, but you can also find them on amazon (link below). They also have Soccer Guys and Hockey Guys, if football isn't your thing. Cal plays with this all the time. I have a video of him lining up the players telling me about the offensive line and how they protect the quarterback (he's making Poppy proud!).
This game is so great for their little imaginations. Cal used the building blocks to line around the field and he brought all of his cars in and said, "these cars are the spectators. They are watching the football game!" Pretty sweet.
Hope these are helpful to you if you are stumped for what to get your little guy, or if you are in need of a gift for someone else's little person...
Again, I could go on and on and on and on about their favorite things (maybe in another post!), but for now, I will leave you with these four-- as they are the MOST played with things in this house!
Please email me or post if you have questions about any of them!
Also, if you have a blog, I would LOVE to know some of your kids' favorite things...maybe you could do a post like this! I am always stumped when it comes time to buy a present for a little girl. And I would LOVE some suggestions for good gifts for Santa to bring to our house this year! Or even comment here!
thanks, y'all!
