Toys and Games

DIY/You Don't Need Toys

• Minimalism: Limit Toys

  • Some blogs describe taking away most/all of kids' toys

  • I like this blog's approach to focusing on toys that are "open ended, encourage creativity and allow for flexible play"

• DIY: Especially when he was a baby, Adam seemed to have the most fun with toys that aren't meant to be toys—they're just everyday objects

  • boxes - OMG his favorite

  • kitchen ware (spoons, pots/pans) - lots of fun making noise, etc.

  • toilet paper rolls - early on he mostly "ate" them, but later became various kinds of objects (animals, binoculars...)

• Books - see the separate page on this

OK But Maybe Some Toys

...nevertheless, here are some "designed to be toys" that Adam enjoys/enjoyed.

0 to ~3 months

• to be honest, Adam didn't play with many toys at first—blankets, rugs, etc. were plenty interesting

• small plush stuffed toys were occasionally interesting

3 to 12 months:

• small plush stuffed toys - one we got for free from a flight that was his favorite for a long time (and easy to slip into a diaper bag)

• Wooden Blocks - especially when we make a tower Adam loves to knock it down; some are useful for teething, too. There are a bunch of varieties you can find online; I don't think there's a particular brand that is "best" but here are two great ones we got as gifts:

  • Uncle Goose Blocks - are gorgeous and have a wide range of letters and other designs (some friends got us ones with Italian!)

  • [not sure what the other one was...]

• Sophie la Girafe - as mentioned earlier, can be useful for teething

• Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone - we got one of these from a friend; Adam loves playing with the xylophone and rolling the balls around

(Somewhat) Ignore the Age Recommendations

It's up to you how much of a stickler you want to be, but some of the age recommendations on packaged toys seemed a bit ridiculous to us. For example, the Pound & Tap Bench, above, is recommended for 1 year and up, but Adam had lots of fun with it at ~5 months. As far as I can tell, there wasn't any safety risk (although yes, he wasn't really able to use it as intended yet).

Play

Toys are really about Play—here's some interesting advice about playing with kids:

• Play - many children don't get enough unstructured play; this article by "Free to Learn" author Peter Gray makes a compelling case for more play

  • alone time can be helpful too—nice blogpost about this

• Roughhousing

  • Nice Art of Manliness blogpost (and YouTube video) on how roughhousing with your kid can be fun & good for their development

  • Both of our kids especially enjoy things like "the tickle game" (where you tickle each other) and "super hero" (where you lay on your back and support their weight so they feel like they're flying)

  • two books on the subject:  "The Art of Roughhousing: Good Old-Fashioned Horseplay and Why Every Kid Needs It." by Anthony T. DeBenedet and Lawrence J. Cohen (NY Times interview, longer blogpost)...and "Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Laura Markham (blogpost summarizing ideas from the book)

• Magnet Blocks

  • There are a bunch of brands out there, but our favorites are Magna-Tiles (which Adam's preschool has used for years)

    • they also recently came out with "microMAGS" which are smaller/good for travel

  • Rose also enjoyed playing with these, although when she was younger (~6 months to 2 years) she mostly enjoyed smashing things that we built for her (like cubes)

• Balance Bike

  • The new consensus is that it's easier for kids to learn how to balance without pedals before adding pedals (versus the "old school" way I learned with "training wheels")

  • We inherited a bike from some neighbors, but Wirecutter has some picks for balance bicycles

• Bubbles

  • These can get messy but are a lot of fun for toddlers!

• Art Supplies

  • Paper, crayons, paint, glue, etc. are all fun...Target tends to have pretty good deals on most of this (or if you want to go fancy, check out Blick Art Supply)...among our favorites:

  • Do-A-Dot-Art Markers - these are great because they are washable, and do not dry out if you leave the top off (unlike all the other markers we have)

  • Crayola Washable Watercolor Paint - watercolors are much less messy than acrylic paint (other than if you spill the water itself, which is just water), but also fun to draw with

School-Age Toys

• Brios, Legos, etc --> most of the Toddler stuff listed above should last you until your kid is at least ~6-8 years old, maybe more

• Pedal Bike --> once your kid is ~4 years old, consider moving to a pedal bike. The Wirecutter has some recommendations; we went with their more expensive Woom recommendation since they seem so well-made and Adam's friends/parents all loved it.

• Puzzles --> we found that Ravensburger puzzles were worth the premium—much better-made than the alternatives

Games for Various Ages

Board and card games are great no-screen time ways to have fun as a family

Toddler (~3-4 years old)

there aren't a lot of games that toddlers can reliably play, but we've made these work:

• Candy Land - yes, it's a bit boring (it's pure chance), but it's the one game that is pretty reliable for kids as young as 3 to play; they just need to know their colors

• Spot It! - this game says it's for 6+ years old, but we were able to teach it to our 3 year old (with a bit of "handicapping" where we basically let her win)...you basically just need to be able to spot matches

  • also conveniently can be played with as few as 2 but as many as ~6 people, and doesn't take up much room (so good for travel)

• Memory Matching Games - we have a couple of these, one has faces and another has letters; start with a small number at first

• Spoons - best played with 4+ people, but simple enough for a toddler

  • ...another good travel game since you just need a deck of card and some spoons

• Here Fishy Fishy - toddlers love to fish for the pieces; gets boring once they're ~4 though

  • Sneaky Snacky Squirrel is a similar toddler-centric game

• Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza - similar to Spoons, is a bit of a "reaction" game, officially recommended 8+ but can play as young as ~4

• With modifications

  • Jenga - somewhat looser rules about how you touch the blocks

  • Uno - we play with simplified rules where you just match cards (no skipping/directions/etc)

  • Connect 4 - rather than try to get 4 in a row

  • Charades - the toddler can be more in the "help to guess" mode

Young School Age (~4-6 years old)

these games don't require a lot of reading but are a bit more complicated

• The ones mentioned above (Jenga, Uno, Connect 4, etc)

• Old Maid/Go Fish - simple card games

• Mancala - a relatively simple game played around the world

• Mastermind - a fun game that reminds me of Wordle; also designed for 6+ but can start earlier

• Catan Junior - simpler version of Settlers of Catan; designed for 6+ but you can often start at 4-5

• Exploding Kittens - fun game, designed for 7+ but can work for younger; also fun with the expansion pack

• Cat Chaos - another cat game! supposedly 8+ years old but works for younger kids since you just have to match the cards

Older School Age (~7-teenager)

at this age, most kids can read comfortably, and handle more strategy

• Rummikub - a game that seems to be more popular in the Midwest, not too hard to learn but with lots of strategy, fun for all ages

• Chess - lots of strategy, etc.!

• Battleship - a classic

• (we haven't tried Yahtzee or Scrabble yet)

• a lot of games we got on Wirecutter's recommendation

  • Azul - fun game for all ages with beautiful pieces

  • King Domino - an intersting tile game; there's also a more complicated "Euro" version called Queen Domino

  • Ticket to Ride - classic board game

  • Settlers of Catan - supposedly designed for 10+ but can work at ~8

  • Dixit - fun bluffing game, good for all ages

  • ones we haven't tried (yet)

    • A Fake Artist Goes to New York (although requires 5+ people)

    • Love Letter Card Game?

    • That's Not a Hat (requires 3+ people)

    • Flip 7 (also requires 3+ people)