Toy, book, and game suggestions

**HisDaisy** · 12-30-2009, 09:19 PM

The Background:
My DH and I have asked to become foster parents to 2 children that are the grandchildren to a friend of ours. We have agreed to take these 2 children. They will probably be in our care for 6 to 9 months, but with foster care you never know. The grandparents can't have them long term because they don't have the space that is specified by DHHS.
My DH and I have no children (We have been dealing with infertility).
Here is where you come in:
I need toy, book, and game suggestions.
The boy is 4 and the girl is 6. Both are have average intelligence, but are delayed do to living conditions.
So I need to start collecting (preferably second hand) some good (and hopefully educational) toys and games.
So what you be looking for?

**Debbie-cat** · 12-30-2009, 09:25 PM

Congrats! You will be great foster parents. Lots of books, legos, bats, balls, games and puzzles would be a good start. Have fun!

**2ndGenGranola** · 12-30-2009, 09:31 PM

Jr Legos, mega blocks, Blokus, V-smile, craft items

**McD** · 12-30-2009, 10:03 PM

Wesley will be 4 in February.

His favorite toys: little X-Men/SpiderMan/Transformers/GI Joe action figures, army stuff, pretend/dress up clothes, cars, etc.

His Favorite books: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (teaches abc's), If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (teaches cause and effect), Where's Waldo (helps hone concentration skills, spotitng certain patterns, etc.), Where the Wild Things Are (we just like this one!), etc

His favorite games: hi ho cherry-o (helps teach counting), spongebob operation (small motor skills), candyland (counting), uno moo (colors, animal recognition), memory, hungry hungry hippos.

We also have a lot of crayons, paper, coloring books, paints, play-dough etc. We have a Leap Frog toy that hangs on our fridge that teaches letters, the sounds of letters, vowels, etc.

Any toy can be made to be educational, so I don't buy toys specifically for educational purposes. We used a play telephone to teach Wesley how to dial 911. Toy cars can be used to identify colors, counting, setting up patterns, adding, subtracting, etc.

**grammydoodle** · 12-30-2009, 10:06 PM

My grandkids are about that age and we always keep lots of crayons, paint and paper in the house. They also love Play-dough, either store bought or homemade. They both enjoy playing the game Memory and Yahtzee Jr.

**never2late** · 12-30-2009, 10:51 PM

One of my girls favorite board games when they were little was Guess Who?

**3tomboys** · 12-30-2009, 11:21 PM

My dd's loved Dr.Seuss books. When things would get crazy we would just take a break and I would read to them. We always had coloring books and crayons that were used constantly.

**ri*smom** · 12-31-2009, 12:06 AM

My kids are crazy for Legos, any type of messy craft and they use boxes of all shapes and sizes for all types of play. Also, I think a play kitchen is a great thing to have. They use theirs all the time. I saw a blog awhile back for a play kitchen made out of an old entertainment center:

http://makingdowiththenotsonew.blogs...nt-center.html

http://suttongrace.blogspot.com/2009...nt-center.html

Fun, fun, fun stuff to do with the kiddos:

http://filthwizardry.blogspot.com/

**HisDaisy** · 12-31-2009, 12:27 AM

Thanks you guys. I knew I could count on you.
We will definiatly be getting some craft supplies. I have few around, that I use for Sunday School. I believe that kids need a creative outlet.
Ri*smom - Thanks for the blogs. They look great.

Keep the ideas coming. I am making a list to take around to the second hand stores. I am also hoping to get some hand-me-downs from church. I don't need a lot of stuff, but I will need more than what we currently have.

**joyofsix** · 12-31-2009, 06:55 AM

I have a 6yo dd at the moment. She loves art, pretend and real cooking, being outside, books about fairies and princesses. She and my 8yo and 2 yo can also spend hours with little fisher price doll house people. I found some at a thrift store. They don't even have the house, they make them with boxes and stuff. In general, the classic toys ie. blocks, dress up, books, balls have lots more play value than battery stuff. That said, my kids do like electronics so maybe PBS kids games on the computer too. It's free!

**imagine** · 12-31-2009, 09:18 AM

Many good suggestions:

I would add a doll, stuffed bear, the like. For pretend play. Children work out lots of things through pretend play.

My daughter when she was six (and still does) loved to play with Barbies. She plays family. So she needed a Ken, Barbie and children/baby Barbies.

My son when he was 4 loved cars, Legos, and Rescue Heroes (an action figure type toy)

Dress up clothes can be old clothes.

Best play-dough I have found is homemade play-dough. Keep it in a Ziploc bag to last longer. When I taught preschool I made one color so it didn't get mixed up. The basic baking tools, like cookie cutters, small rolling pin, a dull pair of kids scissors.

Don't forget the library you can check out many books there. Some libraries have free activities for children. Movies for children you can check out. You can even check out toys at my local library.

have fun

**McD** · 12-31-2009, 10:05 AM

You will need for the kids to have an 'energy releaser' for days they can't go outside and play.

For us, when Wesley is having a high energy day we do a couple of things. I'll have him exercise with me-we do push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, etc. It makes me laugh so hard because he is still pretty uncoordinated at that. We also have dance party. There is nothing he loves more than shaking his tushie with me.

Depending on how much room you have, you could set up an obstacle course as something fun and different. Some days I just make up one for Wesley, like start in the kitchen, hop 8 times, crawl under the dining room table, spin in 4 circles, etc. etc. Wears him out.

**ri*smom** · 12-31-2009, 11:30 AM

Julie, I also wanted to add that where we are at our school district/state has a program called Parents as Teachers where a parent educator comes to your home to do fun assessment type activities with the kids and leaves you will all kinds of handouts on fun stuff (usually free or almost free) that is age appropriate for each child. I'm not sure if Oregon has a comparable program or what it may be called, but you might want to check. PAT also has groups meetings monthly . . . like in Dec. they had a Santa sitting (you take your own pics) and fun winter/holiday activity stations for the kids to do.

**shoiji** · 12-31-2009, 11:42 AM

Don't forget all the great websites that have games. MSN has good memory games for children.

I would also suggest encouraging the children to use their imagination. A couple of blankets and some chairs make great forts. See what you can make with paper plates, crayons, and some ribbon. Just getting outside and playing in the snow can be fun also. Nothing like sledding or ice skating for happy memories.

**pollypurebred39** · 12-31-2009, 12:01 PM

I have seen these books in thrift stores and maybe you could find them on Amazon used, it's the "Help me be Good" book series, by Joy Berry. My girlfriend passed them down to me from her son, and my youngest LOVED them. He would often ask for me to read him books about things he was having a hard time with, like sharing or tattling. They are wonderful, they help children deal with issues in a relaxed way. Our youngest loved to see the characters in the book struggle with similar issues of his own. Whenever a situation would pop up during the day I'd say, "let's take a break and read for awhile" It not only would diffuse the situation but give my youngest time to think about his actions, cause and effect.

We also loved the book titled "Handy Dandy Helpful Hal, The Pooped out Parents Perfect Pal" Great book that teaches personal responsibility, like picking up after one's self, being helpful.

Thomas the Tank Engine has wonderful DVD's, books and toys. We've watched countless hours of them through the years. This too is extremely helpful socially. The trains have their own personalities, just like all of us they have bad days and good days, they teach friendship and kindness. thomas the tank engine is Stellar! The series is written by a pastor. These DVD's and books should be an easy find used on Amazon. They also have the toys sets which are expensive, however a few pieces here and there shouldn't break the bank. My kids used to watch the the tapes and then act it out with the toys. It was fun to watch and listen to them apply their own personal conflicts with each other and resolve them using the train engines and tracks. Each Train has their own thing one may be grumpy, crankey, or forgetful, or maybe not a good friend that day, of course they also had days where they were very good friends, were helpful, thoughtful, kind, etc.. They really are a fun toy with a lot of learning attached.