Disney_Princess_Barbie

If you have daughters you will need to own Disney Princess Barbies. Yes plural. Once you own one they want more and if you have two daughters you might find yourself having to double up and get two Snow white’s, Belle’s and Ariel’s to avoid the arguments on who had Aurora first… My daughters absolutely love their princesses and they don’t just play with them they turn into Cinderella or Jasmine themselves! When I called my daughter by her name the other day she wouldn’t react. After a few failed attempts she responded: ‘Mummy I’m not Pia, I’m Belle!’. The great thing about them loving Disney’s princesses is that for the road trip you have planned over Easter you can just purchase one of the hundreds of DVD’s. Trust me it’s so much easier to drive when the question ’are we there yet’ is asked 90minutes into the trip compared to 9minutes!    

2. Haba Kitchen

Haba_Wooden_Kitchen

This toy is probably my personal favourite. Not only because it’s a wooden toy and good German quality – that helps though to survive the various ’cook-offs’ the girls are having, but mainly because you can add-on endlessly. We know have every fruit and vegetable you can buy at your local growers market, half a dozen eggs, salami, ravioli, various cheeses, ice creams, scales, countless saucepan’s and cutlery – you name it. The great thing is that you can use it as a toddlers learning tool, which I rate extremely important in a time with all the obesity problems in children you hear about. Another great added value is that the grandparents, uncles and aunts almost never run out of ideas for presents as the additions are very affordable and make great little gifts my girls love.        

 3. Fisher Price Little People Farm

Fisher_Price_Little_People_Farm

If you own any toys from the little people series you know how much the kids love it. The farm I think originally came with a cow, horse, sheep, a pig and of course a farmer. We have however seriously extended the farm and now ‘own’ a number of chicken, dogs, more horses, a goat, fruit and vegetables and some company for the farmer… The girls play with it for hours and on top of providing that quiet half hour when you are trying to prepare dinner or watch the news, you can also get involved and use it as an educational toy. Especially if you are city slickers like we are. The only thing I recommend after a while is to remove the batteries. Yes the sounds are cute at the beginning, but when the horse enters the stable 43 times in 2 minutes, it can test your nerves.

There are many more favourite toys my girls can’t get enough of and I guess the key is to keep rotating them so that they don’t get over them too quickly. But make sure that you buy toys they don’t ‘grow out’ too quickly. If you buy toys that stimulates their senses and allows for role play the chances are that they won’t get sick off them after 5 minutes.

Please leave a comment here to let me know your favourite toys as I’m constantly on the lookout for new best toys also. I would love to hear from you.

HABA Kitchen

1. Stimulation
The most important question to ask when buying a toddler toy is: ‘Can this toy stimulate their inquisitive minds?’ Toddlers especially build their own little fantasy worlds and need to feed the need to explore. It’s very simple buy them a battery operated guitar that plays 3 tunes and it will take about 10minutes for a toddler to figure out that there are only 3 tunes and that all the guitar is doing is playing one of them depending on which button they press. Buy them a wooden kitchen with a couple of pans, food items and cutlery like this HABA Kitchen and don’t be surprised if they play for hours? Why? The possibilities to interact with the HABA kitchens are endless and toddlers are constantly looking for something to stimulate their senses. Secondly it can act as a great educational tool teaching them about different foods and why they are healthy or not. And laslty it’s also relatively easy to keep them involved with it by asking questions like “Pia I’m cocking pasta for dinner, what are you going to cock with your fabulous kitchen?” “Egg soup with apple juice and tomato sauce, Mummy!” and you know you have a quiet half an hour to whip up a gourmet dinner for your family.

2. Know your child
You obviously need to have a general idea as to what they are interested in. No point buying them a kitchen when they are ‘obsessed’ with Disney Princesses. But again do ask yourself if the toy can stimulate them or not. Actually if you’re kids are into princesses you might want to check out these Disney dolls. My daughters absolutely love them and we had to actually double up Cinderella, Jasmine, Arielle, Belle, Aurora and Snow white, so that they both have one of each to play with. Yes sometimes it’s easier to give in, when the old ‘please share your toys with your sister’ isn’t working. Feel free to also check out my ‘Disney Princess Product review’ if you are after a truly magical present. 

3. Make a roster
Even if you buy a toy that stimulates their senses and is generally something they are interested in, the day will come where even the best toys will have to take a back seat. Or do you think Woody stood a chance against Buzz in Toy Story if it wasn’t for a Hollywood-Happy-End-Scriptwriter? Well here’s what I do to avoid them getting too attached to just the one toy. I rotate the toys and lock certain ones away for a period of time every couple of weeks. Yes sure you have to be careful when and how you are doing this. There are a couple of tricks my husband and I use like remove batteries when it’s battery operated. That way Daddy can take it to the garage to get if ‘fixed’. Sure they will ask a couple of times when it gets fixed but lose interest pretty quickly after the 3rd time asking for it – provided you have replaced the toy with something equally stimulating. By the way girls, it also makes your hubby look good and he will thank you for it. The other trick is to simply take it when they are asleep and then help them search for a while. Warning this one can result in tears though, so be prepared.

Of course every child is different, but make sure you find something that inspires their little minds and they will play for hours. If you want to know what my kids and I are rating highly, read the ‘My daughter’s 3 favourite Toys’ here.

When it comes to toys hower we can – in fact we must – control what toys and which enivornement we let our children play with them. Some toys are great for toddlers, but not suitable for babys. Below are what I believe to be the 5 most important things to look out for before you buy baby toys.

1. No small parts 
Of course this is a very well known fact, but it scares me to think how many babys still get rushed to hospital after swallowing parts of toys. As a general rule make sure that the smaller your child is the bigger the toy should be. Anything smaller than a golf ball is a hazard. When there are various parts to a toy make sure all parts are firmly attached to each other and can’t come off easily. Usually first time mums are very good spoting the small parts and toy manufacturers (at least the good ones) specify it also. But what happens when you have your second baby? How do you control the environement now. Do you let your toddler only play with baby toys? Of course not – there are tons of great toys for toddlers that aren’t a risk for your newborn. See a range here. One very effective way I have used is to separate the toys that are problematic into another box. Your older one can use these as her/his ‘special’ toys that can only be played with when the sibling is asleep or with grandma for example. Sometimes this is also a very useful tool to make your older one feel special, when they feel that all the attention falls on the new family member and not themselves anymore. Try it out it works fabolous.

2. No strings attached – my 20/2 rule
Any strings, cords, cables or similar should be removed from toys and make sure you don’t tie teethers or dummies around baby’s necks. I would make sure that strings, cords, etc. are no longer than 20cm and thicker than 2cm. The length obviously is important ti minimise the risk of babys strangling themselves and if strings are thinner than 2cm they can pose a cutting risk. And while we are on the topic of strings I recommend to get down and dirty every now and again and crawl through your place. This is the view baby’s have and you will be amazed what you can spot. Any cables, curtain strings, rubber bands, etc. that can be reached by your baby should be taken out of reach – especially in areas where baby’s are elevated like cots, change tables or high chairs. 
 
3. Non-toxic paints
Make sure that all paints and glazes are non-toxic. See a list of non-toxic wodden toys I recommend here. It also helps to clean toys regularely for piece of mind. We know that your baby puts everything in the mouth. And of course make sure that you don’t use toxic cleaning products either.

4. Let’s get electric
Generally I don’t really like battery or even worse mains operated toys/appliances for babys due to a number of reason. Firstly batteries tend to leak and we know baby’s like to suck on things. Have you ever tasted acid? Not very tasty and can be very harmful for your baby. Secondly Baby’s could all start a ‘hire-a-huby’ business. Yes they can be handier than your partner. Their inquisitive minds won’t stop just because a casing is not properly secured. Thirdly mains operated toys or appliances come with cords, which can be a strangulation risk as previously mentioned. If you really can’t get around using things like baby monitors or night lamps, than please make sure that the cables are secured and out if reach. It pays to check on that frequently as older siblings tend to be fascinated with those too. Before you know it cables are in the open again. So call me old fashioned but I still prefer a good quality wooden toy, or a cute touch and feel book over the more modern battery operated, talking pony!  

5. Keep an eye on them
Let me remind you that there are obviously lots more hazards around the house, playgrounds, super market, etc. we haven’t mentioned in this list. And even if you follow the above points thoroughly, there will still be that one time, when all of a sudden your baby has climbed on top of the TV cabinet and is fascinated playing with the roller blind string. So you can’t get away from it and will still need to watch your baby. But after all isn’t that the best part about being a parent. Seeing your child grow and develop in front of your eyes?

As you can tell I’m just building the site and have not yet developed any content for this section. Please do come back as you will find valuable information on the best toddler toys, a range of product reviews as well as safety tips and guidance.

In the meantime feel free to please send me an email to anna@whatkidstoys.com to comment or ask me any questions.

Thanks and hope to see you again…

As you can tell I’m just building the site and have not yet developed any content for this section. Please do come back as you will find valuable information on the best kids toys, a range of product reviews as well as safety tips and guidance.

In the meantime feel free to please send me an email to anna@whatkidstoys.com to comment or ask me any questions.

Thanks and hope to see you again…