Thursday, December 17, 2009

Top Ten Toys for Tots

Christmas just around the corner, I have had toys on the brain lately. With seven kids, we have a lot of toys! Some of the toys have been really popular (ie highly fought over) and others the kids could care less about, even though I thought they were the coolest thing ever when I bought them. So, I decided to put together my "top ten" list of toys that were worth every penny we spent on them :-)

10. The Jumparoo (age 5 months to 1 year). We had two of these for the quints and they were awesome! They preferred the jumparoos hands down over the exersaucers.

Ryder---isn't he cute? They grow up so fast.


Kaydence

9. Little Tikes Activity Garden Center (age 8 months and up) A fried found this for me at a garage sale pre-quints. I don't think they make them anymore, but they are the best! As soon as the babies could pull themselves up on things they loved cruising along the sides, crawling through the tunnel, playing with the mailbox and opening and closing the door.

Kaydence, Rustin, Ryder and Kassidy

8. Playskool Busy Ball Popper (age 18 months and up) Drop the balls down the hole and air pushes them through the track and back out again.

Kassidy

7. Fisher Price Little People (age 18 months and up) They have so many different sets to choose from. My kids love the ones that make sounds---like the farm and the zoo and the school bus.

Rustin


Kyndall

6. Step 2 Kangaroo Climber (age 15 months and up) We got this off of Craigslist and it is awesome. They love to climb, slide, crawl through the holes and open and shut the door. It is still a favorite at our house.


Ryder, Kaydence and Rustin (Wow, Kaydence's hair sure has grown since this picture!)

5. Kitchen Set (age 18 months and up) They especially love the sink and microwave. We also have the Melissa and Doug cutting fruit to go along with the kitchen and they like those a lot too.


Kyndall, Kaydence and Rustin last Christmas when they got the kitchen

4. Push Toys like Strollers or Grocery Carts (age 18 months and up) At our house, the strollers are most popular, followed by the grocery cart, followed by the activity walker. They all run around the house in a circle pushing the stroller/cart/walker.

Kyndall and Kassidy


Kyndall

3. Mr. Potato Head (age 2 and up) Riley and Kaiya still like to play with this one. They have so many fun outfits and accessories available now.

2.5 Matchbox Cars (technically age 3 and up) I gave this one a half number because technically the quints probably aren't supposed to play with matchbox cars yet since they do have small parts and could be potential choke hazards. Although I risk getting some chastising comments for this, I have to admit that they do play with them and they totally love them. They each like to play with the cars that are "their" color. Rustin starts asking for the cars the instant he wakes up in the morning and he insists on taking one to bed with him.


2. Little Tikes Cozy Coupe (age 18 months and up) I read somewhere that the Cozy Coupe is the number one selling car in America. I can see why! Unfortunately we only have ONE of these at our house and it is a constant source of contention! Ryder would stay in the car for the whole day if we let him. He is even willing to give up meals to make sure no one steals his car.

Ryder

1. LEGO Duplo Building sets (ages 18 months and up) We play with these almost every day. These seem to hold their attention longer than any other toy.


Kyndall, Kassidy, Ryder, Kaydence and Rustin

The quints are getting some fun stuff (or at least I think it looks fun---only time will tell!) for Christmas this year--stay-tuned for a post-Christmas post on that. I'd love to hear about your favorite toys too!

PS--There is still time to order your 2010 Wilkinson Quints Calendar before Christmas! Click HERE for more info and to see a preview of some of the pictures from the calendar. To order, use the PayPal button to the right, or visit our website.

PPS--Of course no post is complete without at least one current picture of the kids! Riley and I took them for a walk yesterday and a couple of them insisted on wearing their Santa Hats. I am sure the neighborhood got a kick out of that :-)


Rustin, Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy, Kyndall and Riley (Kaiya was at a friend's house)


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7 comments:

Kage said...

Whoa! That's a lot of plastic. I unfortunately have a lot of plastic too...my kids love my little ponies and magnatiles.

What are your older kids fave toys?

Those have been the top toys of their childhood. I swear they have never built the same thing twice with those magna tiles...

I tried some wood one year with plan toys, but they never got into it. I can get away with wood objects for their kitchen though. Parenthood contributes to landfills in a major way...but I don't think we will ever go back to the good old days of wooden toys.

The babies are getting SO BIG.

Rachelle said...

Wow, I have never heard of magnatiles, but it sounds like something we definitely need!

Cali said...

I've been looking for ideas for my little guy's first birthday. Think I'm going to buy the Kangaroo Climber. Thanks for the suggestions!

Jennifer (from France) said...

Your kids are really so cute !

I went sometimes on your site, I don't know if you remember me, I have use your story of family with quintuplets for an exam at school about pregnancy.

nic said...

Ohhhh great post. I was nodding along with each toy, they are all fantastic.

Ohhh ohhhh I would love to know/see how you store the toys, especially the lego as my son is getting a heap this year (Lego City) and I don't want any piece to get lost (read vacuumed up!) I saw some sort of storage cupboard with the lego photo.

Anonymous said...

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Schauers Hours said...

I never realized how many toys you all have over there. But it makes sense having to entertain 7 kids! Hope you are hanging in there Rachelle, it was strange to see Jayson here without you! I love your 12 days of kindness idea, I have been trying in vain to get my kids to do service, maybe framing it that way will give them some impetus to actually do it!