I could put this in the WTB section, but that is impractical with our widespread membership.

What kinds of things do you give your children? I keep my eyes open for old toys, especially wooden or metal toys. My Missus and I have a teamwork kind of system: She brings home a plastic toy and I turn it into acrid vapor in the wood stove as soon as she steps away from it. It works for us.

There is a favorite toy of the Balrog that must be replaced. It is a metal Boeing jet, about 8-10" long. The problem that requires it to be replaced is that it is down to a single wing, and I have a difficult time explaining the aerodynamics with a single wing.

So looking for ideas for solid heirloom type gifts for the span of childhood ages....

My 10 year old daughter loves to read and not the Kindle type, so books are a big think at my place. We converted part of her closet into a reading area with shelves and a oversized chair.

The toys of today pale in comparison to had we had as kids.

These days, toys are disposable. Even many of the wood toys are flimsy and won’t last long.

Like LOG, our house is full of books. Both my kids love them even though they can’t read yet. They love to hear the stories and see the pictures. I have a lot of old books from my childhood which my daughter loves. Old PD Eastman like Robert the Rose Horse and Sam and the Firefly, Berenstain Bears, Dr Seuss, and Mo Willems are some of my daughter’s favorites.


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Not really the "toy" category but when my daughter was young she had a difficult time reaching the sink to brush her teeth and later primp and fix her hair. I love woodworking so I built her a a little step stool out of wood and my wife painted floral designs on it. That stool has been used for everything from A to Z over the years and now that my daughter is 21 and not living at home, it sits packed away in the garage waiting for the next set of little feet to put it to use.

Your daughter has an infinite play-land with a loving family and will likely grow up to rule the world. You're doing great, Derry! Now just teach her to catch a bat.

https://www.amazon.com/LINCOLN-LOGS-Anniversary-Construction-Education/dp/B00RWNEN9W
https://www.amazon.com/Tinkertoy-56510-Basic-Building-Kit/dp/B06Y4BK3ZT/ref=sr_1_11?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1507739462&sr=1-11&keywords=wood+toy
https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_89_2?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A165793011%2Ck%3Aerector+sets+for+kids%2Cp_89%3AErector&keywords=erector+sets+for+kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1507739679&rnid=2528832011

These are what I grew up with.

I'm a fan of giving kids LEGOs. They help develop spatial ability, they promote creativity, and they don't take up a lot of space. But it does suck to step on them while walking through the house barefoot in the middle of the night.

You need these

Carbide cannons, Lincoln logs, legos, stompers

Sure, until you get 250,000 of them. Now they are so specialized, the kids put them together, play with the "thing" they created, it falls apart (not good as torys) and you have lots of specialized pieces that go nowhere else except into bin after bin.

I hate them past the basic building sets.

You have a point about the highly specialized parts. Those drive me nuts. Today's new sets have taken a lot of the challenge out of building by just giving one special part in place of 10 basic (and versatile) parts.

But I disagree about them going into bins and never getting used again. My siblings and I would always build the intended set once, then we would tear it apart, dump all the pieces from all the sets into bins, and then build from our imagination. Half the satisfaction came from pawing through the bin and coming up with the piece you need to finish your masterpiece. Although I guess this does depend upon the kid, as I did have friends who would build the intended set, put it on the shelf, and never touch it again.

Stock in a solid company with a good dividend.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=84521

Some solid advice. We're on the same page with books, so to speak.
dreadi, I think you're on to something there- I've always leaned towards giving children cardboard boxes and space to work... And the suggestions for building toys are appreciated. I have a boxed erector set ready when she reaches 6ish.

She loves this thing.

My oh my. I had forgotten that we have some Boeing Representatives in this hallowed meeting place!
I certify that said damage did not come as a result of operator error, but rather a design flaw by the manufacturer.
Warranty?

WTF? A right wing airplane made by Boeing? Here I thought they were a liberal company???