My daughter is a generalist when it comes to toys. She likes everything, especially new and novel toys and activities, and doesn’t express strong preferences for any one thing. However, when I thought about it, there are certain toys that she does play with much more frequently than others. Here is her top 6.
6. Play Food
My kids love play food. They love to serve it to us, sell it to each other, bake and cook with it, and the list goes on. If my daughter is looking for something to do in the morning, she will often gravitate over to the play kitchen and take out some food. She doesn’t have a preference when it comes to brand, but she does love play ice cream. We have the Scoop and Serve and Scoop Ice Cream Counter and Stack magnetic set from Melissa and Doug and they both get a lot of attention, along with our Jellicat ice cream cones.
5. Dollhouse
My daughter’s dollhouses are in her room and when we go upstairs after dinner, this is often her first stop. She also knows that I have a weakness for dollhouses and Maileg, so if she asks me to play, I will likely say yes. Our dollhouses are Pottery Barn that I (very, very fortunately) found on marketplace, the furniture is a combination of Maileg, Ikea, Pottery Barn, and vintage items, and the critters are Maileg.
4. Magnetic Tiles and Ball Run
What kid doesn’t like magnetic tiles? My husband and I even like playing with them. My daughter especially loves to build castles and houses with her magnetic tiles. Once the house is built, she will bring in tiny pillows, blankets, food and people to complete her pretend world. She also loves when my husband will build a ball run with her. The Picasso Tiles ball run that we have is very fun, but it does require some adult help to set up.
3. Wood Castle
This toy was a risk I took that thankfully paid off. We started my daughter’s collection of Ostheimer castle pieces a year and a half ago. These pieces are expensive, so I teamed up with some family members to buy her a few. At first, they didn’t get a lot of attention, and I was worried. But, more and more she started pulling them out to the point where they started getting used almost every day. We invested in a few more pieces for Christmas because they are so popular. I think part of the appeal is that just pulling out one tower creates an instant magical scene. They are whimsical and beautifully made (and smell amazing) and they inspire my kids (my daughter especially) to build imaginative castles and villages. They have become a clear playroom favourite.
2. Translucent Cubes
I think if there is one small toy that my daughter uses the most, it has to be the Bauspiel Lucent Cubes. I got these cubes for her as part of a Bauspiel sampler set from Scholar’s Choice and I was surprised how much she loved these cubes. They look unassuming, but they are brightly coloured, feel very smooth, have a satisfying weight, and are so open-ended. They are my daughter’s “treasures” that she uses in small world play, to decorate wooden block builds, as play candies, in sensory trays, and much more. Pretty much, whatever she is building or creating, she adds in these lucent cubes.
1. Play Couch & Foam
My daughter has lots of energy and loves sports activities. When she’s at home, she will often have a lot of excess energy to burn and so the thing she loves most in the playroom is the play couch (Nugget) and foam slippery wedges (Arches Magoo). She loves to build forts with the couch and blankets and bring her play food inside. Whenever the slippery wedges are configured into a slide, she will run straight toward it. These foam pieces take up a lot of space, but my husband and I both agree that the enjoyment the kids gets from them, makes it well worth it.
I love hearing about playroom favourites. What are some of your 5 year olds’ favourites?