Play Doh Drill N Fill play set

9:16, we have that green dog, too. My MIL thought she was getting such a great thing "because you can program it to say his name and it will teach him his letters!" ....

But, hands down, you MUST go with Smokey the Fire Truck. This was a Christmas gift last year and I can't even remember who gave it to us. It is so loud, the mechanism that makes the balls shoot out sounds like a bullet firing from a gun, and I did not even know it shoots water until the PP mentioned it. We will not be filling it with water. It is gigantic and requires and entire opening of the Expedit bookshelf to house it.

Oh, my, what an awesome thread.

We have something very similar to that talking dog, only it's green (a leap frog product perhaps?) and you can program it to say your kid's name and favorite fruit and such.

Anonymous wrote:This.

http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-31950-Grover-Microphone/dp/B004S664CA

Even more annoyingly, for some reason ours was stuck on "demo" mode for a while - so only PART of each song would play. Then it would start over.

A gift from Grandma, so it will be staying. Frighteningly, I see that there are "companion" pieces - an Elmo guitar and Cookie Monster keyboard.

We had a sesame street instrument and years later everyone in the family can still repeat the exact annoying "tune" it played.

I have to confess, long before my own kid was a twinkle in my eye, I gave my nephew a drum-- and once our kid arrived we got a number of helpful presents along those lines.

Anonymous wrote:This.

http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-31950-Grover-Microphone/dp/B004S664CA

Even more annoyingly, for some reason ours was stuck on "demo" mode for a while - so only PART of each song would play. Then it would start over.

A gift from Grandma, so it will be staying. Frighteningly, I see that there are "companion" pieces - an Elmo guitar and Cookie Monster keyboard.

YES!!

Saw it at Target the other day. Looks like there's no 'off' switch, so, once you've hit the button, the thing just goes on.. and on.. and on...

I threw it back on the shelf and ran for my life.

Nothing to add other than a huge thank you to all who've contributed. I giggled myself into tears reading, much needed.

OP, I think a custom set of musical instruments including a vuvuzela, harmonica, recorder, and snare drum, plus a chicken dance Elmo for good measure sound brilliant. And a glitter-spraying hammer, if there is such a thing.

Anonymous wrote:A dog.

LOVE this idea. Numero uno, hands down.

Also, land of nod is selling a little snare drum that will fit a large toddler. My nephew is getting one of those for Christmas. Good luck, I"m pulling for you, OP. You seem like one of the good guys.

My older DS had an Elmo guitar and it wasn't so bad. Someone decided to buy his brother the updated one and that damn thing is LOUD.

Anonymous wrote:This is more subtle. It seems like it would be a good toy - made in the USA, no batteries, no lights, made of wood. How bad could that be? A SET OF SOLID WOODEN BALLS AND A HAMMER made by Melissa and Doug.

First you bang on the ball with the hammer and then when the ball pops out of the bottom you throw it across the room. Then you are left with a two year old with a wooden hammer. And you know what happens when you have a hammer? Everything looks like a nail.

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Pound-Tower/dp/B000VO3GME

NP, You made me laugh! Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:This.

http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-31950-Grover-Microphone/dp/B004S664CA

Even more annoyingly, for some reason ours was stuck on "demo" mode for a while - so only PART of each song would play. Then it would start over.

A gift from Grandma, so it will be staying. Frighteningly, I see that there are "companion" pieces - an Elmo guitar and Cookie Monster keyboard.

Haha, we have the cookie monster keyboard. A gift which started out in my dear music loving FIL's mind as a real piano and was implemented by my cheap as dirt (but also loving and well intentioned) MIL. I think it breaks FIL's heart just to see it

This.

http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-31950-Grover-Microphone/dp/B004S664CA

Even more annoyingly, for some reason ours was stuck on "demo" mode for a while - so only PART of each song would play. Then it would start over.

A gift from Grandma, so it will be staying. Frighteningly, I see that there are "companion" pieces - an Elmo guitar and Cookie Monster keyboard.

Anonymous wrote:The two things I hated the most were:

1. An arcade-themed ride-on toy that I can't seem to find online. It has four hatable features: (i) Loud and irritating songs. (ii) Bad messages promoting candy and junk food, like, "I like lots of butter on my popcorn!" (iii) DS loved it.

oh my god, hilarious. why??!!

Moon sand. WORST!

The two things I hated the most were:

1. An arcade-themed ride-on toy that I can't seem to find online. It has four hatable features: (i) Loud and irritating songs. (ii) Bad messages promoting candy and junk food, like, "I like lots of butter on my popcorn!" (iii) DS loved it.

2. A pointless rock/metal guitar toy that didn't play any actual songs or rhythms, but did have buttons that played random guitar snippets that were several seconds long each, and a place to strum that resulted in short metal solos because of a motion sensor. This thing didn't expose the child to the guitar, didn't expose him to music, and didn't even play music. All it did was make noise.

Definitely chicken dance Elmo...but that smokey the fire truck is my first choice! Omg!