Thank Goodness for Melissa & Doug

Melissa & Doug have some of the best learning toys around.  I completely favor them over pretty much all toy manufactures because I really think they "get it."  Don't get me wrong, Fisher Price has some pretty neat stuff, but nothing that captures my Little Man's mind and attention quiet like Melissa & Doug.  I want to share our favorites.  I use these and rotate them out of the tote every few weeks.  Little Man doesn't play with them outside of Structured Play, even though he really really wants to, mostly because I feel like these toys are geared towards learning and development and I want him to actually sit down and concentrate.  And not lose the pieces!! Most Melissa & Doug items are made of wood and very durable. You can get some of their stuff (including the train below) personalized, too, which is way cool!

Moving on.  Here are our favorites, so far.

Stacking and Nesting Blocks- Just like it sounds, they can be stacked and nested for two separate types of play.  Little Man loves stacking them and then crashing into them like Godzilla. 

Wooden Puzzles - M&D have a huge variety of these wooden puzzles (and puzzle racks) so you're sure to find something that interests your child.  They even have ones that make noise if you get the piece in correctly, but they can get pretty annoying!

Stacking Train- Little Man loves trains and blocks and this toy is perfect for both. He stacks the blocks and pushes the train around all the time.  My three year old niece also has this and plays with it all the time.  Just be sure to keep the blocks together! I suggest a ziplock bag!

Pound & Roll Tower - This one is an exception to my rule.  I leave this out all the time for Little Man to have full access to.  The reason for that is because he plays with it all the time. Like, every single day.  We've had to replace the balls a few times because he keeps losing them.  I'm pretty sure there is black hole in my house that eats things.  He got this toy for his 1st birthday and nearly a year later, he still hammers on it.

Magnetic Dress Up-  I actually got this one for my three year old niece who absolutely loves it.  The Fairy is magnetic and you can change her outfits with the magnet pieces included.  After it was such a big hit with her,  I bought Little Man one of the more masculine ones (although I do not discourage him from playing with girl toys) and he seems uninterested so far.  Granted, he is younger, so he may like it a bit later.  I've put it in the closet to bring out again in a few months.

Play Food- I cannot say enough about M&D's play food kits. They are genius and really well thought out.  They are great for all ages, I think.  Little Man loves them, my niece loves them, my friend's son who is in Kindergarten loves them.  The Cookie Set is our favorite, but our Kindergarten friend likes the sandwich kits the best.

Lacing Beads- The boys loved these beads.  They are large enough for their little hands and they enjoyed trying to get them on the shoe-lace type string.  Once they got enough on, Super Nanny tied their new necklaces around their necks and they ran around like crazy listening to them clink and clank.  The next day, they used the same kit to learn color sorting.

We will expand this list as our Melissa & Doug collection grows! We are hoping to get the Mailbox next!  We have tried out a few more of their toys, but they weren't as successful with this age group as the others.  Maybe in time.

Water Beads

Another great sensory activity is water beads.  The boys loved these and played for nearly an hour.  There are many ways to play with these, too.  Super Nanny didn't get any photos because her hands were in the water, too, but here is a photo from Google.

You can get them from Amazon or, in my case, I accidentally found them at the dollar store and was oh-so-excited to bring them home for Little Man to play with.

Little did I know, you have to let them soak in water for HOURS before they are even fun.  They come as teeny, tiny hard beads that are no fun at all. So I put them in the tote, filled it with water and went to bed.  The next morning they looked like the photo above and all of the water was pretty much gone. I left them there for Super Nanny to introduce (super jealous of her at most times) and she reported that they were a HUGE hit.

She let them play with just the beads at first, then added water to the tote along with some scooping toys.

Later that week, she poured the beads into the bathtub and let them bath with them and some glow sticks.  They loved it.  While the box says if you let them dry, they'll turn into tiny beads again until you're ready to add water, mine have yet to do so and it's going on two weeks.  They are just getting slimy and yucky now, so I'll likely toss them and buy a bulk pack from Amazon for the next go.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1.  Water beads. Approximately 1,200 came in our bag which was plenty, but you can buy many different quantities on Amazon for pretty cheap!

2.  Anything that will hold some beads and some water! Pretty simple!

WARNING: These MUST be used under supervision AT ALL TIMES.  They are a choking hazard and are NOT EDIBLE.  The boys tried several times to stick them in their mouths because apparently they look "nummy."  THESE ARE NOT YUMMY. DO NOT EAT!

Edible Sandbox

Go to the About Me Section for more info on our home situation!

I have but one activity tote that I rotate out every couple of days to give the boys a daily activity for structured play.  So far, this has been the only tote that Little Man continually drags me to and wants to play with over and over again. The kids was devastated when I put the supplies away.

We tried two different types of "sand," but I think they were equally fun.  The first week we used oats.  Just a big can of the oats you pick up at the grocery store.  Who knew it could be so much fun.  The boys played for about 35 minutes, which is excellent for their age. We put little bulldozers and measuring cups in there and they went to town!  They scooped and poured, buried each others hands and even put their feet in at one point.  Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, so it definitely made a mess inside, but nothing a little vacuuming couldn't fix!

The second week we used rice and played outside! 

We used plastic Easter eggs this time for Easter themed play.  Again, they played for a long time, just scooping and burying their hands.  I think they really enjoyed the texture of the rice.

This activity is great! At their ages, everything still goes in their mouths.  We were surprised when they actually didn't try to taste anything, but if they had, it would have been okay.  Better than eating sand!

WHAT YOU NEED:

1.  Edible "sand" can be a lot of things.  Oats, rice, corn meal, Rice Crispies! Use whatever you have on hand or whatever seems right for you!

2.  Tote of some sort.  We got ours from the dollar store.  It came with a lid and seems to be just about the perfect size.

3.  Toys to scoop and pour.  Measuring cups worked the best for us and small Tupperware containers with their lids.

4.  Garbage bag or tarp to put underneath if you are doing it indoors.  The oats were easy to clean up, but if you'd like to avoid the mess, use something to catch them!