Your 10 best toy purchases - and your 10 that were a waste of money

We have a playroom that is full of stuff, I often muse about what was well worth the money spent and the stuff that really was a 5 minute fad only to be never played with again...

Here are my top ten, interested to hear what everyone else's are ( my kids are almost 5 and 20 months)

(In no particular order)
The trampoline
The train table (which has swapped between a Fireman Sam Table, a lego table, a cars table)
Decent textas, pencils and colouring in books, craft paper
Chalk
Board games
Outdoor climbing frame/cubby house
Lego
Puzzles
Octonauts stuff (these are our bath toys)
Blow up swimming pool


Waste of money (mostly bought by others luckily)
Cheap stocking filler stuff that breaks in 5 mins - eg cheap shop/news agency clutter
Stuffed toys, including those stupid talking bears, talking puppies, dogs etc
Fisher price stuff - once you've got one u don't need another, they all seem to say/sing the same thing
Endless and varied Car tracks (excluding our wooden train tracks as they are always played with)
Playdoh sets - Playdoh is fine but all the plastic shaping crap is excessive and never used
Ride on quad bike - kids prefer the $15 kmart ride on trikes
Plastic fire trucks/garbage trucks etc
Remote control cars, planes etc - battery eaters!!
Cheap textas/paints etc, they last one use
Roller coaster ride on
Plastic outdoor basketball hoop

I'm sure the list will be different for every household!

Top ten in no order

Trampoline
Swing set
Slide
Soccer Balls
Sand and water table, used only as a water table though
Bike and scooter
Leap pad
Books of all varieties
Wooden train set - just generic, nothing fancy
Manually operated cars and trucks, particularly Tonka toys. We have one dump truck which they loved as babies which now doubles as a ride on car while the others push them around lol


Worst ten

Books on CD, they never stop to listen to them and they are just too long atm
Pretend laptop thing from Vtech, too hard when they were younger and now they are older they would rather the real thing
Micro charger cars and track, not because they are not played with but because the little cars get jammed all the time, lost or broken. Annoying!
Stuffed toys, they each have one comfort teddy toy and the rest are never touched again
Textas of any sort, we are a no texta household since the incident of furniture drawing circa 2014 ;)
Pretend cleaning toys, especially those with batteries, much more satisfying using the real thing :lol:
Wii games (well any consol games that aren't the leap pad really), given by friends and family, never used. They would rather be outside playing
Any toy that has tiny itty bitty pieces, they always, always end up loosing the one piece that is essential never fails to amaze me
Really cheap and nasty pretend lego, not just the cheap stuff as we have some of that which is fine, but the really really cheap stuff that doesn't connect with proper lego or itself so no end of tantrums and tears as they try to put it together and once they succeed watch it fall apart
Sand pit, all that sand, need I say more?

Edit - our kids range from 2 to 6 years, so most of our baby toys are gone now and really they didn't need an awful lot of them tbh

My thermomix ;)

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My thermomix ;)

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Bwahahahaha Olive! My kids love mine too!!

Top 10
Lego and duplo!
Mega Bloks, the big chunky kind
Cheap ride on toys for outside
Sand pit
Massive cubby with slide and swings etc
Melissa and Doug wooden puzzles that are set into the frame, easy for them to do and nice bright pictures
Plastic rocking horse, think it is Little Tykes, used every day inside
Huge box of cheap crafty stuff from Kmart, boys spend ages pasting it onto paper
Wooden railway and train table
Repurposing a TV cabinet into a kitchen


10 Least Used
12 volt ride ons
Branded playdoh, boys prefer making their own
Any talking toy, they are afraid of them
Cheap lego including the mega bloks line, doesn't click together
Kiddy laptop type toys
Build a bear! Moo is afraid of the one I made for him!
Little People stuff
Colouring books, my two never want to use them
Mr Men books
Balance bike, loved the idea but Moo can not for the life of him figure it out so ended up putting training wheels on it

We love:
Lego
The play kitchen and accessories ( not plastic accessories but mini real ones like frypan whisk etc)
Good quality cradle and high chair
Art and craft stuff
Cubby house
Trampoline
Gyro cars/ bikes
DDs dolls
iPad (for both speech therapy and games)
Dress ups
Cars


Waste
Barbies and accessories
Plastic car tracks that r in pieces
Cheap junky toys
The weapons toy guns etc(other people buy these we don't use them)
Trashies
Dolls nappies and plastic food


Hmm this was pretty hard we cull regualrly and my son has different interests that aren't toys as such like a crystal collection. So not a waste of money but not played with as such.

Best toys

Trampoline
Sandpit
Slip'n'slide
Bikes
Kids foam foldout couch
Fluffy single blankets
Beanbags
Lego/Duplo
Little plastic bugs
Matchbox cars

Worst
Barbie and barbie cars
Doll's house
Cot mobile
Console systems
Meccano

Best

Wooden train set
Little tykes crazy coope car thingy
Sandpit
Plastic tub of matchbox type cars
Blocks

Worst

Play doh and accessories
Remote control stuff
Soft toys
Any 2 dollar shop toy that breaks within 2 hours

Kids are currently 4, 7 and 10

Best Toys:

Trampoline
Swings
Scooters and Bikes
Lego and Lego Friends - love that they now make a girls range! Duplo when they were younger.
Little People (when the kids were younger they spent endless hours playing with them)
Thomas Train Table and wooden tracks - as someone else mentioned this table has housed so many things, it was always a great height. Currently has unicorns and Peppa Pig on it :)
Chess Set
Etch a sketch - still used. We have 2 and they have drawing competitions.
Pick up sticks
Snap cards
Light Sabres :D
For DS - figurines eg superheros and dinosaurs

Worst

Numerous Board Games - they don't seem to get the consistent use out of them, will play them once or twice and forget about them for a while
Trashies
Remote control cars
Various craft things. Again used once or twice and then end up with half empty boxes.
Baby Dolls and accessories
My Little Ponys
Tonka Trucks and Matchbox cars and tracks - Kids never really got into them

In terms of stuff that has been played with/used....(some now, some when younger)

Best -
Schleich horses
Copic markers and sketch pads
Sims PC games
Littlest Pet Shop stuff
Plastic food and crockery
My Little Pony
Studio Ghibli DVDs
Cardboard boxes, glue, icy pole sticks, etc (the kid loves box construction....still :/ )
Barbie horse and rider
Fashion style sketch books
Monster high dolls

Worst:
Stuffed toys (although she has her faves)
Board games (not helped by only child status)
Puzzles (once they're done, she won't do them again)

My children are nearly 8, 5 and 2.

Best
Bikes
Cubby house
Outdoor play/sports stuff
Craft
Lego/duplo (really should be #1)
Barbies (haven't bought any for a couple of years but that stuff still gets played with several times a week)
Pretend play for dolls/kitchen/tool type stuff
My little ponies
Littlest Pet Shop
Any form of toy car/truck of decent quality particularly dump trucks, monster trucks and police vehicles

Waste
Any sort of toy marketed at babies
Plush things of any description
Fake Lego (because all though cheaper it does not stick together easily or well or go with the real stuff)
Puzzles for older kids (like N2L once they've done them they're over it)
Colouring books (mine would rather create their own)
Wooden train set (they just never got into it)

Ummm I don't really have more than that. I've sold what we didn't really use and only build on what we've got so we don't have much unused or wasted stuff here. Mine all have great imaginations and are very independent players so they often don't need much.

Best
Balance bikes / bikes
Trampoline
Lego
Op shop dress up clothes
Books
Doll house
Musical instruments
Baby doll, pram, high chair etc
Squirty bath toys
Doctors kit

Worst
Most things with batteries
Any craft thing that requires my help
My little ponies
Make up / hairdresser doll head
Stuffed toys (I'm sure they breed)

:wtf:

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Stuffed toys (I'm sure they breed)

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Agreed, I counted DSs when he was a baby, he had over 40, now with DD in the house I reckon we could possibly crack the 100 mark!! :wtf:

Top 10:
Tramp
Cubby/slide
Cozy coupe and outside riding toys
Octonauts figures
Barbies
Kitchen stuff, in that I include their cash register as they often make a "cafe"
Little people
Mega Bloks
Two fisher price toys - the letterbox and the piggy bank. Both given to my DD and still going strong, all three have loved them and they still get played with
Balls - all sizes and styles!

Bottom 10:
All other fisher price toys
Anything that makes noise and doesn't have an off switch
Plush toys
Polly Pocket (too small for little fingers)
Hot wheels
Wooden train tracks - we spent a bit on getting a decent set up of proper Thomas wooden tracks and trains and they hardly get played with. Maybe I should bring them out and help the boys set them up a few times...
Foam flip out couches - they just don't need them and seem to clutter up their rooms
Fake laptops
"Baby toys", eg rattles, grab toys, taggies, "my first" type things - just don't get played with!

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Bottom 10
Anything that makes noise and doesn't have an off switch

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Ooh yeah!

Top 10
foam letters for the bath
Scooter
bikes
Cubby
trampoline
climbing frame
Cozy coupe car
Wooden bus with people in it
kids gardening tools and wheelbarrow
torches
hand knitted birthing doll
siblings
dog

Bottom 10
Plastic crap
noisy crap
toys that talk in American voices
plastic crap that you connect together (ramps etc for cars trains) that never works or works once.


I love how most top 10s are full of outdoor active toys.

Top 10.

My first is a the most expensive toy ever but the best. 30 acres that has paddocks, bush, a creek, a gorge and animals.
Our dogs
Swing and slide set
Trampoline
Bikes/scooters
Quad bike
Pop up tent and tunnel
Shovel and spade set
Barbies and dolls
Memory cards and books

Worst
My little Pony things
Dolls house (More the quality was dissapointing)
Pillowpets (I counted 12 last clean out)
Stuffed toys
littlest pet shop rollercoaster thing, so flimsy.
Giddy up ride on pony.
Happy meal toys (we seem to get them collected on our behalf)
Kids laptop
Remote control cars
Craft things that are for older kids but people insist on buying and are to much for the girls and they get annoyed because most of it they can't do but they don't want me to do it all so they get frustrated quickly and more mess is created that I then have to clean with no good craft as an end result!!!!

Kids are 5 and 1

Top toys:

- Lego
- Toy story characters
- Trampoline
- Ball pit plastic balls (we put these on the trampoline!)
- Pencils and colouring books
- Vtech toys - especially karaoke machine and laptop
- Fisher Price little people farm
- Toy play house that they can crawl through
- Dress ups
- Dolls house
- Tea sets

Bottom toys:

- Plush dolls
- Scooter
- Bike
- Most stuffed toys - they have a couple of favourites
- Craft stuff aged well above their ages - what's with that?
- Bath toys that suck water - kids love them, mummy hates them

Top toys:

BIKE
scooter
Green machine
Trampoline
Little friends that play in our court (should be #1)
iPod
Tiny tots car
Any set of 'real' keys
Dolls pram
Handbags

Worst toys:

Any soft toys
Play doh sets- how so you get the plays oh out of the tiny crevices?
Barbies
Dolls house

I'm sure I can think of more later.

Best
Trampoline
Lego
Books
Stationary
Schleich toys
A few cuddly toys

A waste
The rest.

Best...
Art supplies, we have a whole room with everything you could ever want and if the kids don't use it then I will so no chance of wastage. It is our most popular room.
Loose parts; recyclables, blocks, rocks, shells, gems, odds and ends, anything that can be manipulated and rearranged in an open ended fashion. We were also gifted speilgaben which fits into that category in our house and gets a lot of use.
Light table. Brilliant. Mirrors go well with one or with anything.
Trampoline.
Lego, wooden train set, wooden marble run - classics.
Animal figurines (and pokemon). Very popular.
Dress ups.
Doll house.
Instruments.
Board games.
Books.

Waste
Can't really think of anything we have currently but we had a junk when they were babies. Gifts. Your typical loud, flashy plastic with an expected singular use.

Best:

Schleich horses
Plastic dinosaurs
Playdoh
Crayons and scrap paper
Huge dinosaur jigsaw (those big Australian Geographic ones - about 1.5x1.2m, about 40 pieces)
Cheap wooden train set
Swingset
Sandpit
Little people anything
A toy gibbon with arms that velcro, like it's holding hands / legs


Worst:

Basically every other soft toy ... they only are used to pad out the beds for no apparent reason
Bike (doesn't get used much)
Anything with batteries
Anything not sturdy ...

Best:
Barbie
Art and craft table with supplies
Tekkno trikes
Trampoline
Swing set
Baby and pram
Balls
Bubble solution and wand
Kinetic sand
Drawing easel

Worst:
Cheap toys from like bargain shops
Cheap paints and textas
Soft toys - we dont buy any due to dd allergies but people love giving them!
Blow up ball pit
Blow up jumping castle
Zuzu pets
12volt car - dd doesnt mind the 6vt but the 12 is too jolty
Rollerblades
Sand pit

some of my answers have changed over time, and child. DS got more out of DDs balance bike, even when the seat was too high for him he would push it up and down hills around the yard. At 4, dd was given a bike with training wheels and she is on it many times a day. Similarly, puzzles were put away bc i was the only one doing them but now DD will happily sit there and play puzzles for an hour or so.

BEST:
Large coloured scarves & op shop dress ups (these have been played with more often and for longer than any other toy in the house)
Belville theme Lego - especially the fairytale sets
All things duplo/lego
Good quality textas, pencils, paints etc and paper
Playdough toys - especially the foodie ones
Wooden toy kitchen, ikea pots & pans, and felt food.
Jar of large multicoloured buttons
Scooter
musical instruments (tabla, tone bells, xylophone, harmonica, etc - but steer clear of the recorders/whistles if you value your sanity)
Magnadoodle
Plastic camping set in a backpack (pretend camp stove, compass, shovel, torch, etc) - this still gets played with
Doctor's bag (op shop handbag with toy doctor set inside)
Small (real) tea cups and saucers
Boxed games: UNO!!! plus also cluedo, jenga, snap cards, connect-4, battleship


WORST
Those books with the effing jigsaw pages! I hate them with a passion
Wooden doll-house family and furniture
The $2 shop craft packs that consist of ****ty textas, unshiny glitter that gets spilt in the carpet, and coloured feathers that turn up randomly around the house for the next 10 years
Most tv/movie merchandise toys (the exception was the disney princess doll with black undies that did karate kicks and arm chops!)
pretend cleaning tools
Dolls that were the fad of the moment
Beanie kids
Risk: the game to play if you want your family to hate each other.

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BEST:
Large coloured scarves & op shop dress ups (these have been played with more often and for longer than any other toy in the house)

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Best. Idea. Ever.

Now I know what DS1 is getting to go with his birthday gift :D

And I have an old little suitcase they can live in :D

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BEST:
Large coloured scarves & op shop dress ups (these have been played with more often and for longer than any other toy in the house)
Belville theme Lego - especially the fairytale sets
All things duplo/lego
Good quality textas, pencils, paints etc and paper
Playdough toys - especially the foodie ones
Wooden toy kitchen, ikea pots & pans, and felt food.
Jar of large multicoloured buttons
Scooter
musical instruments (tabla, tone bells, xylophone, harmonica, etc - but steer clear of the recorders/whistles if you value your sanity)
Magnadoodle
Plastic camping set in a backpack (pretend camp stove, compass, shovel, torch, etc) - this still gets played with
Doctor's bag (op shop handbag with toy doctor set inside)
Small (real) tea cups and saucers
Boxed games: UNO!!! plus also cluedo, jenga, snap cards, connect-4, battleship


WORST
Those books with the effing jigsaw pages! I hate them with a passion
Wooden doll-house family and furniture
The $2 shop craft packs that consist of ****ty textas, unshiny glitter that gets spilt in the carpet, and coloured feathers that turn up randomly around the house for the next 10 years
Most tv/movie merchandise toys (the exception was the disney princess doll with black undies that did karate kicks and arm chops!)
pretend cleaning tools
Dolls that were the fad of the moment
Beanie kids
Risk: the game to play if you want your family to hate each other.

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Ohhh I love RISK - I can still remember the smell of my RISK game - I think it has changed over the years but mine was before they changed to figures and were just little plastic three pronged things - and they had a very distinctive smell.

I am with you on books with puzzle pages though - dumbest invention ever.

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Most tv/movie merchandise toys (the exception was the disney princess doll with black undies that did karate kicks and arm chops)

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Fairly sure this is Xena, not a disney one. Love Xena. But not being gifted the dolls age 20. (Still boxed, need to check ebay...)

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Fairly sure this is Xena, not a disney one. Love Xena. But not being gifted the dolls age 20. (Still boxed, need to check ebay...)

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No, it was one of the princesses out of the Shrek movie where (SPOILER ALERT) the princesses kick butt.