The best presents that you never would've thought to buy for your kids yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Melissa and Doug ice cream set. Both of my kids (4 and 2) love this thing. And when other kids come over to the house, it's like moths to a flame. It has subsequently been licked by every child in the DMV area, but hey, that's what lysol wipes are for.

I wouldn't characterize these toys as something I wouldn't have thought to buy, but our collection of various Melissa and Doug food sets (cookies, veggies and bread, ice cream, cup cakes), were probably the most played with toys my 3 kids ever had.

For me, its the other way around. I read reviews and bought a few Melissa and Doug toys - the cutting board and vegetables, cube, beads, stampers, abacus and these are the least favorite. My kids love the $5 Kmart branded plastic cupcakes and donuts (in a tray) from Kmart

[Anonymous]

Plastic tea set from fisher price.

Another vote for stomp rockets which are awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A light that you clip on to the toilet that turns on when you walk into the bathroom at night. #3 boys love it and has helped the aim problems at night. Who knew the disco potty as the boys call it would mean less cleaning for me!

Do you have a link for this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The Melissa and Doug ice cream set. Both of my kids (4 and 2) love this thing. And when other kids come over to the house, it's like moths to a flame. It has subsequently been licked by every child in the DMV area, but hey, that's what lysol wipes are for.

I wouldn't characterize these toys as something I wouldn't have thought to buy, but our collection of various Melissa and Doug food sets (cookies, veggies and bread, ice cream, cup cakes), were probably the most played with toys my 3 kids ever had.

The Melissa and Doug play food never gets touched in my house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A light that you clip on to the toilet that turns on when you walk into the bathroom at night. #3 boys love it and has helped the aim problems at night. Who knew the disco potty as the boys call it would mean less cleaning for me!

Do you have a link for this?

If you go on Amazon and search toilet light a bunch of options come up. The one below is what we have.

https://www.amazon.com/LumiLux-Advanced-16-Color-Internal-Detection/dp/B01M2ZI34E/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?gclid=CjwKCAiA__HvBRACEiwAbViuU9seNM3TEUj73JlWvuh5wfzA9uAuVVAN4ACGbjoq3gZVweB78g0tsRoC48QQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241917140049&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9007427&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=9273496902441162965&hvtargid=kwd-411635645&hydadcr=24663_10400924&keywords=toilet+light&qid=1576858540&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyV0tETldKNjVaSEtCJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDcxODMwMUpMWklBWUNBOEtOMiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzI1OTE2RFlYNjIwU0dENjlYJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

[Anonymous]

Surprisingly, bugnoculars:
https://www.amazon.com/Educational-Insights-GeoSafari-Jr-Bugnoculars/dp/B01ARHG4ZK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2KOB7855LJVU7&keywords=bugnoculars&qid=1576859426&s=toys-and-games&sprefix=bugno%2Caps%2C146&sr=1-1

It's not like they're played with constantly, but the kids have really enjoyed catching/observing worms, caterpillars, frogs, and other things I would never go anywhere near.

Conversely, I thought stomp rockets would be a big hit and my kids have never gotten into them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A light that you clip on to the toilet that turns on when you walk into the bathroom at night. #3 boys love it and has helped the aim problems at night. Who knew the disco potty as the boys call it would mean less cleaning for me!

we got this too!

[Anonymous]

+1 on the bounce house. So beloved in our house (and as PP said, much easier to deal with than you think). We had this one: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Shady-Slide-Bouncer/dp/B003NSBMV2/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItPXS3NzE5gIVibWzCh3jaADiEAAYASAAEgIujPD_BwE&hvadid=174283868542&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9061285&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7836667503060155521&hvtargid=kwd-3594993405&hydadcr=24629_9648897&keywords=little+tykes+bounce+house&qid=1576862007&sr=8-1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The Melissa and Doug ice cream set. Both of my kids (4 and 2) love this thing. And when other kids come over to the house, it's like moths to a flame. It has subsequently been licked by every child in the DMV area, but hey, that's what lysol wipes are for.

We have the smaller version of this and is probably last Christmas’ surprise hit. It gets played with regularly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS got a stomp rocket as a birthday present when he turned 4. Looked like cheap peace of junk to my untrained eye , but he loves/loved it. Two year later and he still likes to pull it out the garage several times a year to play with - and I ended up buying more rockets for him. Does go surprisingly high.

My DS played with his stomp rockets consistently for probably 9 years (age 3-12). Even now, at 15, I’ll still pull them out occasionally with friends.

[Anonymous]

https://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Laugh-Learn-Say-Please/dp/B001IEYXAA

When my kids were little (now 7 and 12) they both played with this tea set for years! My 7 year old sobbed when she realized it was time to let it go. So did I. It was such a presence in our house for so long. We all drank “tea” from those cups so many times. So many great memories. I subsequently got 4 sets as gifts for friends and family members along the years.

[Anonymous]

Nesquik gift set from Walmart. It has 2 cups with the rabbit on it, 2 rabbit spoons and a bottle of Nesquik. It was $5 at 50% off. It was the favorite gift and first to be opened and used. lol

[Anonymous]

I suspect that my oldest child found such a gift for his younger brother. My middle kid is a total sensory seeker, and he particularly loves anything that is ticklish. Like he always wants someone to tickle his back when he falls asleep, and he's obsessed with soft fuzzy blankets. He would live in the shower if I let him.

His brother got him one of those head massagers with all the fingers that looks a little like an octopus. I was like -- why did I not think of that? It wouldn't surprise me if he opens that and then doesn't pay attention to anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect that my oldest child found such a gift for his younger brother. My middle kid is a total sensory seeker, and he particularly loves anything that is ticklish. Like he always wants someone to tickle his back when he falls asleep, and he's obsessed with soft fuzzy blankets. He would live in the shower if I let him.

His brother got him one of those head massagers with all the fingers that looks a little like an octopus. I was like -- why did I not think of that? It wouldn't surprise me if he opens that and then doesn't pay attention to anyone else.

You should get him a small massage roller. I bet he'd like the sensation.

[Anonymous]

A large (adult-sized) exercise ball. Been in use for almost 8 years now. It's amazing -- every kid that comes over here finds something fun to do with it and my son uses it for something random at least once/day. My husband hates it (we have a small house) because it always winds up in the living room and "in his way", but our son loves it more than the majority of things that are his regular kid toys.