Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => Miscellany => Kidstuff => Topic started by: hellymedic on 16 December, 2013, 01:49:19 pm
-
Partner's brother has 2½ year old daughter.
I have an aversion to pink and sexist toys so got her a green Lego Duplo brick box.
We bought something musical last year.
What would you have chosen?
-
Yeah, I'd have defaulted to Lego too. An age-appropriate set with enough generic bricks that it has some real scope for imaginative use - rather than being a brand-compliant vehicle or dolls house - is a pretty much universal present.
-
I'm a bit out of touch with what is available for that age group. Duplo is always a good choice, perhaps something with animals.
The quantity of generic bricks is in my experience only a frustration for the aspirations adult assistant.
-
Brio (and compatible) toys are also a safe option IMO. Our 2 loved theirs. It lasts well and therefore can be kept/handed down/given/sold or whatever when needed.
-
Another vote for Lego, it's pretty much a universal present. Apart from that, maybe a suitably chunky jigsaw, toy animals (plastic or fluffy), miniature vehicles, colour crayons and paper to draw on.
-
Is 2½ too young for a Chemistry Set ;D
(http://www.nrtoone.com/forum/images/smilies/chemist.gif)
-
Angle Grinder?
-
2 year olds always got a copy of Each Peach Pear Plum whenever I was buying.
Other good things we got given for Cubs around that age - lego, brio, hobby horse, drums, dolls pushchair, funky wellies, big chalks for chalking on the pavement, cool duvet covers, wind up torches, inflatable ball pool and a billion plastic playballs to go in it....
One of their favourite presents every year is the Christmas PJs from Grandad. Last year's were glow in the dark Skellies. This year is, I suspect, the last year we can get away with matching ones though!
-
2 year olds always got a copy of Each Peach Pear Plum whenever I was buying.
I spy tom thumb
Tom thumb in the cupboard
I spy mother hubbard
You can't go wrong with each peach pear plumb
-
Dr Seuss? Green eggs and ham, The cat in the hat etc?
-
Richard Scarry books.
-
A 1/2 scale Dyson upright vacuum cleaner.
Well it went down very well with my nephew for his birthday (2) last week. It was the only thing he wouldn't let any adults or his older brothers play with.
Mind you he is a bit obsessed with hoovers and brushes etc for some reason.
-
It may be fun for now, but once it clogs with 1/2 scale hairballs and the 1/2 scale plastic snaps when you over-tighten the 1/2 scale self-untapping screws after taking it apart to unblock it, he'll wish he 'd got a 1/2 scale Henry instead ;D
-
Brio (and compatible) toys are also a safe option IMO. Our 2 loved theirs. It lasts well and therefore can be kept/handed down/given/sold or whatever when needed.
I had a supply of Brio-compatible trains and rails in my childfree home for visiting smalls. I gave it to a yacfer when there were no more visiting smalls and yacfer had suitable progeny.
-
A 1/2 scale Dyson upright vacuum cleaner.
Well it went down very well with my nephew for his birthday (2) last week. It was the only thing he wouldn't let any adults or his older brothers play with.
Mind you he is a bit obsessed with hoovers and brushes etc for some reason.
Sounds fun but I did not want to get anything to put child into 'housewife' mode. That excluded vacuum cleaners, irons and cookers. Maybe I'm fussy...
-
My sister's friend with 10 children once said that she could dump all the toys except the duplo/lego and the brio. I have similar views. :)
-
A 1/2 scale Dyson upright vacuum cleaner.
Well it went down very well with my nephew for his birthday (2) last week. It was the only thing he wouldn't let any adults or his older brothers play with.
Mind you he is a bit obsessed with hoovers and brushes etc for some reason.
Sounds fun but I did not want to get anything to put child into 'housewife' mode. That excluded vacuum cleaners, irons and cookers. Maybe I'm fussy...
How about something 'boyish' like a toy tool set? When she visits you she could use it to 'help' David fettle his bike.
-
A 1/2 scale Dyson upright vacuum cleaner.
Well it went down very well with my nephew for his birthday (2) last week. It was the only thing he wouldn't let any adults or his older brothers play with.
Mind you he is a bit obsessed with hoovers and brushes etc for some reason.
Sounds fun but I did not want to get anything to put child into 'housewife' mode. That excluded vacuum cleaners, irons and cookers. Maybe I'm fussy...
How about something 'boyish' like a toy tool set? When she visits you she could use it to 'help' David fettle his bike.
The Lego has been bought.
David's brother seldom/never visits That London en famille.
-
Richard Scarry books.
EG Wins the thread! :) Scarry books are brill!
-
Richard Scarry books.
EG Wins the thread! :) Scarry books are brill!
They got right up my nose. Still do, I discovered at my last job.
-
Richard Scarry books.
EG Wins the thread! :) Scarry books are brill!
They got right up my nose. Still do, I discovered at my last job.
Based on Richard Scarry's Busy Busy World, I wanted the job of fishing money out of the fountain when I was small.
-
Richard Scarry books.
EG Wins the thread! :) Scarry books are brill!
Scarry books *were* brill in the early 80s. The sterotypes haven't aged well.
-
I don't mind Richard Scarry. One of the delights of visiting my grandparents' house was their copy of Busy Busy World. But it's all a bit tired and stereotyped these days.
Dr Seuss, on the other, hand, still has plenty to say.
-
But Mrs Farmer Alfalfa has earrings shaped like egg-whisks!
-
We went for Lego Duplo this Xmas. An 'animal treehouse' and a really cool storybook pack, where you build the characters of the story as you read it.
-
Child is approaching her third birthday.
I have decided to get a kids' cookery book as cooking with kids can be fun, if messy.
David agrees this is a good idea and is all nostalgic about baking with his late Grandma. (I have just produced a CAEK myself and David is licking out the remains of the mixture.)
I see there are cookbook variants 'For Boys' and 'For Girls'.
WTF?? Kids of any sort like cooking and eating don't they?
-
Painting stuff.
(Despite being an appalling sexist) when my daughter was about that age I used to go toy shopping with her and buy her lots of boys' toys (cars, guns, construction sets etc). She's grown up to be a ghastly feminist and reckons I only did it because I don't like girls. Us chaps can't win! Although there may be a smidge of truth in what she says - but it's weedy girly-ness that I don't like; not girls per se.
-
Partner's niece is approaching her 4th birthday and her father was a house guest here last night.
Told him I'd ordered various Dr Seuss books for her from Amazon.
Then I confessed that the books were really for him to enjoy cos kids are the perfect excuse for adults to have fun in ways that would embarrass adults by themselves. (My little brother gave me much scope for this.)
He was a bit surprised.
Don't we all do this?
-
Lego! Then they both will enjoy your gift, that is if he can share with others :)
-
I gave her some Lego a while back.
She'll get some more when some of the interesting stuff seems age appropriate.
The sort of Lego suggested for 4-5 year olds is a bit dull (or PUKY PINK)
-
Couldn't stand Dr Seuss as a small Mr Larrington and nothing in the last mumblety-Several years has managed to change my op!on.
-
Playmobile is good for kids who like acting out stories and adults find it fun too.
-
Couldn't stand Dr Seuss as a small Mr Larrington and nothing in the last mumblety-Several years has managed to change my op!on.
Fair enough.
You are just young enough to have been exposed to his bukes as a small.
I am not.
Unloved bukes can be freecycled.
-
Playmobile is good for kids who like acting out stories and adults find it fun too.
It is nice! Mum recently got some for her grand daughters and it seems well-made, with good attention to detail.
-
My sister-in-law has suggested this http://www.halfords.com/kids-zone/ride-on-toys/trikes/schwinn-roadster-trike-12 (http://www.halfords.com/kids-zone/ride-on-toys/trikes/schwinn-roadster-trike-12) tricycle for my parents to give her three year old daughter for her birthday.
I do not like it, one little bit!
Do others have any experience?
-
A bit young for a fixie.
-
ugh, that is terrible.
A Pashley Pickle for when child is older.
A balance bike for younger ones.
As far as books go, 'Each Peach Pear Plum' is essential reading.
-
Each Peach Pear Plum.
Ahhhhhh. (Drifts into parental reverie.)
When I last checked all four of us could recite that from start to finish, and the last time it was required bedtime reading was about eight years ago.
-
My sister-in-law has suggested this http://www.halfords.com/kids-zone/ride-on-toys/trikes/schwinn-roadster-trike-12 (http://www.halfords.com/kids-zone/ride-on-toys/trikes/schwinn-roadster-trike-12) tricycle for my parents to give her three year old daughter for her birthday.
I do not like it, one little bit!
I'm all for recruiting darksiders young, but that looks unpleasant, and I reckon it'd be better to wait a couple of years and get a Kettler pedal car. (Do they still make those?)
And of course balance bikes teach balance...
-
Just been on the phone to Mum.
Despite my doubts:
Kid is DELIGHTED
Mum says it's 'just right'.
Happy child is squealing in the background, bombing round grandparents' (wooden-floored) flat.
Trike is thankfully not PINK so should be suitable for Little Brother when the time comes.
Sometimes we are WRONG...
-
My sister-in-law has suggested this http://www.halfords.com/kids-zone/ride-on-toys/trikes/schwinn-roadster-trike-12 (http://www.halfords.com/kids-zone/ride-on-toys/trikes/schwinn-roadster-trike-12) tricycle for my parents to give her three year old daughter for her birthday.
I do not like it, one little bit!
I'm all for recruiting darksiders young, but that looks unpleasant, and I reckon it'd be better to wait a couple of years and get a Kettler pedal car. (Do they still make those?)
And of course balance bikes teach balance...
No experience of it, but I reckon as a first 'bike,' that's a bit rubbish, but as a 'ride-on toy' it's great (assuming, at least, that it's reasonably well put together and that it weighs somewhat short of the metric tonne you expect for kids' bikes). It's red, it's shiny, and it's got a platform at the back you can carry toys or other kids on - what's not to like?
-
I think it is heavy but is well-constructed.
If purchaser and end-user are happy, who am I to argue?
It has pneumatic tyres so I hope visitations are infrequent and tyres get pumped enough.
-
I spent AGES agonising over a suitable gift for 4½ year old niece.
Ended up with Slinky, Plasticine and a butterfly kite.
Was unimpressed by offerings from Lego (the £99 train set was out of our reach...) and partner didn't seem keen on Playmobil.
-
I do get the feeling Lego is going a bit Brooks.
-
I am fussy.
I want my gifts to be:
Fun for kid and adults
Non-gendered
Affordable
Age appropriate
'Open-ended'
Much Lego seems very limited in its 'closed' scope but a bag of bricks by itself seems BORING.
-
Family and friends of our kids were always giving small (£10) prezzies for birthdays, xmas etc. We got to the point where we and our peers decided to give prezzies as cash instead to all the kids parents and guardians. This way we could save up and buy a big-price prezzie e.g. that really expensive bike; nintendo; day out to the theatre.
Still doesn't stop the buying of smaller prezzies, mind.
As an aside my kids loved Dr. Seuss. I think I must have read that scrambled eggs book to them about a 100 times. The one where the kid makes a scrambled egg from the eggs of 50 different birds or something.
-
Much Lego seems very limited in its 'closed' scope but a bag of bricks by itself seems BORING.
If Lego isn't doing it, they should be doing this; selling bags of randoms. Each bag to include some special bricks and some rare bricks or figures. Make the figures only available in the bags of randoms.
-
For the under 5s, you can't beat a Richard Scarry book or several.
-
Little girl was 5 in May. I gave up being clever and bought various artists' materials.
Will have to think about the winter eventually...
-
For the under 5s, you can't beat a Richard Scarry book or several.
I detest Richard Scarry. I find them virtually unreadable.
-
Philistine!
-
For the under 5s, you can't beat a Richard Scarry book or several.
I detest Richard Scarry. I find them virtually unreadable.
You're not supposed to *read* them.
-
JK Rowling, after the first Harry Potter, which was reasonably short and novel (no pun intended), sucked. I read the first five tomes to the eldest and they just got longer and dirgier each time. Quantity does not = quality.
-
For the under 5s, you can't beat a Richard Scarry book or several.
I detest Richard Scarry. I find them virtually unreadable.
You're not supposed to *read* them.
What's the point of them? The pictures are ugly, they have animals in clothes (miffy and maisie are about the only acceptable instances of that) and they have to much speech for the age the are aimed at.
-
The pictures are great, there's loads of detail, you can look for bugdozer, the stories are funny, and there are jokes that the adults will get. And, Mrs Farmer Alfalfa wears earrings in the shape of eggwhisks.
-
It's about looking for details in the pictures.
I don't recall there being much speech, or even a story... ???
ETA: Having looked at googlepedia it appears that the Richard Scarry books that made it to our corner of Highgate via West Africa were just the tip of the iceberg, and may not have been representative of the genre.
(Agreed about anthropomorphic animals, actually. That started to seriously bug me as an older child - "But *why* are they all bears? They're not doing bear things. Can the cartoonist not draw people?". But if you filtered based on that it wouldn't have left much...)
-
That would rule out Winnie the Pooh and all the Beatrix Potter books.
As for Richard Scarry, the only one I've ever seen was "My Big Richard Scarry Book of ... " can't remember what. Something like buildings or construction machines. No speech, certainly. All I remember for sure is being puzzled how "scary" could be a name.
-
My 3-y-o and nephew and niece love You Choose (https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Choose-Pippa-Goodhart/dp/0552547085), and, of course, anything by Julia Donaldson (particularly the ones illustrated by Axel Scheffler).
-
That would rule out Winnie the Pooh and all the Beatrix Potter books.
Indeed.
I remember The Animals Of Farthing Wood being something of an antidote to all that when it came on the tellyscreenovision some time after I was too old to appreciate it. From what I saw, it was a sort of Watership Down meets Game Of Thrones, with a clear story arc and where much of the politics revolved around persuading the predators not to eat the others, and any of the main characters could be gorily killed off without warning.
-
I'm all or ruling out beatrix potter. They're horrible. But I'll add Winnie the Pooh to the exceptions list, because they are clearly stories made up about toys, mostly by the child himself.
-
I think the anthropomorphisation in Beatrix Potter's stories is distinct from the normal sort. Your interest is always with the animal characters even when there are humans too, because they are characters and their being animals is secondary, and the whole thing is far from cute. In fact, quite the opposite, with your kids being made into pies and the one where the pig runs away because his brother is made into bacon (or was it his sister becoming sausages?). Not tv material!
-
Quentin Blake books, or, how about a pop-up book?
-
I'm all or ruling out beatrix potter. They're horrible. But I'll add Winnie the Pooh to the exceptions list, because they are clearly stories made up about toys, mostly by the child himself.
And the last page is probably the saddest thing in literature. Brings me to tears every time.
-
That would rule out Winnie the Pooh and all the Beatrix Potter books.
Indeed.
I remember The Animals Of Farthing Wood being something of an antidote to all that when it came on the tellyscreenovision some time after I was too old to appreciate it. From what I saw, it was a sort of Watership Down meets Game Of Thrones, with a clear story arc and where much of the politics revolved around persuading the predators not to eat the others, and any of the main characters could be gorily killed off without warning.
Have you seen @forest_fr1ends?
-
Have you seen @forest_fr1ends?
I have now :D
-
That would rule out Winnie the Pooh and all the Beatrix Potter books.
Indeed.
I remember The Animals Of Farthing Wood being something of an antidote to all that when it came on the tellyscreenovision some time after I was too old to appreciate it. From what I saw, it was a sort of Watership Down meets Game Of Thrones, with a clear story arc and where much of the politics revolved around persuading the predators not to eat the others, and any of the main characters could be gorily killed off without warning.
Someone gave me a book about moles once. It made GoT seem like nursery rhymes (the nice sort). It was about moles - with graphic description of gang rape as punishment, ritual killings, etc etc. I can't remember the author or title and I don't think I want to remember. I used to like moles. Wind in the Willows was one of my favourite books.
-
Was it that one about the Hells Angels by Hunter S Thompson?
-
Duncton Wood.
(Or any other of the Duncton trilogy)
-
I have always loved "The Little Grey Men" by BB.
-
The pictures are great, there's loads of detail, you can look for bugdozer, the stories are funny, and there are jokes that the adults will get. And, Mrs Farmer Alfalfa wears earrings in the shape of eggwhisks.
This.
Umm... I've lost track of which age group we are considering... So I'll just add Fungus the Bogeyman and the Fungus the Bogeyman Plop Up book
-
Duncton Wood.
(Or any other of the Duncton trilogy)
Ugh, yes that sounds familiar.
-
Great big cardboard box. My kids will play for hours in one