Top 5 Toys for Tots
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Shopping on a budget can be hard enough, but shopping for kids poses its own distinct set of problems. While grown-ups can rest assured that, short of a serious malfunction, their toys will last as long as they need them to, seasoned parents know that sometimes, toys for kids don’t even survive the drive home. So what, then, are parents on a budget to do? Here’s a list of five toys for tots that provide the maximum amount of fun for the minimum amount of change:
Birth to 24 Months – Lamaze Play and Grow Freddie the Firefly Take Along Toy
Lamaze’s Freddie the Firefly is the perfect toy for the littlest of little ones. At just under a foot long, Freddie is both adorable and cute and equipped with a diverse array of interactable components that stimulate all of a baby’s senses. Parents love Freddie because infants enjoy different aspects of him at different stages in their development; while most kids latch on to Freddie from 2 months old on, Freddie’s combination of rearrangeable, kid-safe magnets, mirrors, crinkling and crackling wings, and tethered teething ring mean that Freddie keeps kids coming back for more even as they rapidly change and develop. Parents also love that Freddie is made to easily latch onto cradles and car seats, making him a great companion at home and on the go.
Price: New from $10.50
2 Years to 4 Years – Richard Scarry’s Busy Town
Combining the classic characters of the Richard Scarry world with engrossing game play, Richard Scarry’s Busy Town is as about as good a children’s board game as there is on the market today. Busy Town blends fun yet challenging tasks for individual children, urging each player to move his or her piece around the board and try to solve mysteries, while also creating an atmosphere of collaboration between players; all players are on the same team, so while parents love the confidence they see in their kids when they get to shout out “I found it!”, they also love the fact that kids, especially those who hate to lose, are always on the same team, winning together.
Price: New from $17.64
5 Years to 7 Years – Melissa and Doug Sticker Collection
Parents adore Melissa and Doug’s different sticker collection books, because they provide appealing and exciting images to stimulate kids, while also providing 500 different stickers that encourage story writing, artistic decoration, and countless hours of creative playtime. Best of all, there are different sticker sets available for children of different interests. Whether kids like dinosaurs and pickup trucks, princesses and animals, or a little bit of each, the Melissa and Doug Sticker Collection is perfect for young creative minds.
Price: New from $6.22
8 Years to 10 Years – ThinkFun Rush Hour
ThinkFun’s Rush Hour provides hours of fun in a small, portable package. The concept of this puzzle-game is simple: Set miniature cars up on a grid according to directions on the 40 included puzzle cards, and then act as a traffic cop, making sure the cars move, one by one, until the red car can emerge from the traffic jam. The game’s early cards are easy enough to stimulate beginning problem solvers, but the game spans such a wide range that parents and kids alike can spend quality time pondering the intermediate and expert level puzzles. Parents and teachers praise Rush Hour as a non-intimidating yet deeply engaging puzzle game that can be taken anywhere, making it a perfect fit for home, the classroom, or waiting rooms and car rides.
Price: New from $14.23
10 Years to 12 Years – Aerobie Pro Flying Ring
For kids who enjoy the great outdoors, there are few toys that offer as much fun for as little money as a flying disc. Aerobie’s Pro Flying Ring is durable, soft and easy to throw and catch, and, despite its low list price and modest appearance, is kind of incredible: this disc currently holds the Guinness World Record for distance thrown, flying for a staggering distance of 1,333 feet. Even if four football fields is well beyond most throwers’ range, parents love that the Flying Ring provides hours of entertainment, tires kids out, and can even be used as the subject of science experiments. With scores of colleges worldwide fielding Ultimate Frisbee teams, this toy could even be the gateway to a child’s future as a collegiate athlete!
Sources: Amazon.com (product descriptions and user reviews)
