Lincoln Logs.
Baby dolls with lots of clothes; chemistry set; wagon; Barbies; board puzzles; finger paints; old lunch bucket and IBM cards; and paper dolls.
My favorites were :
* A sled... if you get snow. If not, a sheet of tin to slide on grassy hills.
* Bow and arrows.
* Slingshot.
* Polish tennis ball canon when they are old enough to make one from asparagus cans and duct tape... and a bottle of lighter fluid to go with it.
* Legos
* Plastic animals and plastic soldiers
* Train set
* Easy bake oven [Girl’s gotta have her chocolate]
* Dad’s tools and scrap lumber and assorted hardware
* Mom’s sewing machine
* Appliance boxes and packing tape
* Model plane kits
* Hot wheels and track
* Fishing poles
* Clay
* Crayons
* Tree swing
* Stuffed animals
Lincoln logs, kitchen sets with dishes and play food, all creative artwork items (crayons, markers, scissors, construction paper, etc.), matchbox cars, those cardboard building bricks (were about the size of concrete blocks), exploring tools (compass, notepad, chart/map), puzzles, board games, card games. Erector sets, lots of cars and trucks, little ride-on vehicles for tiny toddlers, balls. Lots of toys that allow for creativity, as well as toys that introduce them to more mature concepts (purses, play money, yardwork and housework tools, etc.). Also dolls, stuffed animals, blankets for building indoor forts. JMHO
My favorite toys as a young boy were: 150 in 1 electronics kit, wrist rocket sling shot, fishing rod, axe, pump bb gun, and a row boat with oars.
Blocks, paints and paper, play doh and/or clay, dolls and stuffed animals, balls, bats, bikes, glue, etc.
We bought our grandson some keva planks for his birthday. We loved them so much that we bought our youngest children a set as well. This was a few weeks ago. All of them love these simple wooden blocks. Our youngest daughter has made some neat things out of them, and now she wants more so she can make bigger and more elaborate buildings. kevaplanks.com
Xylophone, some cds of classical music, the Hasbro Simon game, some type of keyboard.
If high powered air rifles had been available to me when I was a kid, I would have been the first 9 year old to rule the world.
Air guns require the same serious gun safety training as powder burners.
Big wheel. Wiffle ball.
Santa got the girls motorcycles one Christmas. Older kid got a PW80 and younger kid got a PW50.
Every kid needs a motorcycle. Or maybe a quad for the clumsy ones.
Anyone remember the old stamped sheet metal Erector Sets?
It was like giving a kid a box of razor blades. I don’t ever remember playing with them without bleeding before I was done.
A fireworks store that sells cherry bombs and M-80’s all year long.
A Spud gun, followed by a decent pellet pistol.
Because playing by yourself with the best toy ever is not as much fun as playing with your brother or sister with only your imagination.
A hatchet
Baseball bat glove