Do you have a train set, train table or a car/road rug?
What did you buy and where?
Walmart has a wooden train set for about $10, I think. The track is a figure 8. I don't know if I should try a hobby shop or not. Figure a 20 month old (at Christmas) needs something he can play with that doesn't have to last forever. Unless I find him a motorized one, like what they have on Baby Einstein's Baby Mozart video.
A train table - not sure where to find those but I can only guess that unless I find a used one, they're probably over $100?
I've seen ppl mention a rug that's painted like a town with a road the kids can "drive" their cars on.... he's probably too young to "get it" now. I looked on Amazon and saw only one that's over $100.
We're in an apartment, so we can only get one "big" toy. What would you get?
Oh, I guess I've considered a kitchen too, but waiting to see if DS plays with the kitchen at our friends house before we go that route. DS really loves cars & trains but plays with our real spatulas and pots.
Re: Do you have a train set, train table or a car/road rug?
We have Thomas wooden track and the Melissa and Doug train table. Both boys play with them every day. I would look further into the train sets before you purchase. It's best to get track that is compatible with other brands.
We started with Thomas figure 8 and added a Melissa and Doug set. Since then we have added more wooden track and several destinations. I imagine the boys will be playing with their trains for awhile longer!
We have this.
I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for or if you have an IKEA in your area, but the price is terrific. They also have inexpensive wooden train sets.
The Nest/Bump sucks and won't let me change my location. I'm in Arkansas, not Florida.
My brother got C a Brio beginner's set for his birthday (obviously C needs to grow into it). It's compatible with Thomas and Melissa/Doug sets, so there will be lots of options.
As kids, we were really into HO scale trains, we just got a large piece of pressboard, sanded down the edges and began finishing it off. If you're on a budget, there's no reason you couldn't figure out a DIY version, especially if you're not sure how much he'll love it yet.
I have all 3. The train sets and table were a present from a friend whose girls (4 and 8) no longer played with them. It is almost 100% Thomas and very expensive given to us for free. We are very lucky. I work in a toy store and the tracks with all the cars plus the table would probably retail about $400-500, the table plus the structure on top (ours has glued on tracks, some don't) is $250 alone. Thomas, Melissa and Doug and Chuggington are all compatible with each other. Chuggington is on sale on totsy.com but I didn't look at the selection. If you buy a different brand just make sure it is compatible in case you add on to it later.
We have 2 road map rugs that were also gifts and we play with at least one every day. One is the ikea one and the other I'm sure was bought either online or from a teacher store by my MIL.
If you are short on space I would not buy the train table because there is no way to put it away. The trains can go in a bin and the road maps roll up and slide under our crib.
https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11766021&CAWELAID=903584792
DS got this last year for christmas from my parents. He really started playing with around 19 months or so. Now its his absolute go to toys. It keeps him entertained for ever. Plus the track can be interchanged with other wooden tracks. DH and I like that only a few pieces make noise, so DS has to make all the pretending noises. Can't say enough wonderful things about this table and the toys that go with it. It has also taught DS how to doing some spatial (if thats how you spell it) reasoning. He can put the pieces together in a certain amount of space, etc.
I think we are planning on getting DS the road rug from IKEA for Christmas. It will fit nicely in his room without actually taking up more space in our house, and the price is right!
The Ikea sets are great (and cheap). I recently bought DS1 a Brio brand train, and I think it's nicer quality than the Thomas ones we have.
We have this play stove, it's good (and small!):
https://www.amazon.com/Educo-My-First-Kitchen-Set/dp/B000PC4IA6/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1317425949&sr=8-14
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
I've seen those rugs at IKEA. Not sure how much, but they must be less than $100.
The Melissa & Doug wooden train sets are on sale on Zulily this weekend. They have some circles, figure 8s, add-in pieces, and an entire set for $75ish. So a pretty broad range.
::lurking:: DS is 25 months
We have a Melissa & Doug train that DS likes (got at consignment shop) & a super cheap train that moves & plays music when you press a button (got at Walgreens during Christmas sales last year for $5). DS like the song/moving train more, BUT only because it doesn't require a track. If he had a train that did require a track to move, I'm pretty sure he would never play with it. He really does like the M&D train, but the other is one of his favorite toys.
We also have the town/car carpet. DS has wood floors in his room & it looks great in there. The problem is that when he does throw up, it is more often in his room & then gets ALL OVER the rug. The rug is now outside in our shed because I got sick of cleaning it. and he didn't play with it very often. I got it at a second hand store for $8.
m/c '08 DS born 8-13-09 2 m/c in '11
We have a train set and train table. We both for very cheap at Meijer. When the train is not our we use the table for other things. Like right now our puzzles are on it. She can stand and work on puzzles. They do take up some space.
But it's a toy that works for many years and either boy or girl.
We got ours a couple of years ago from Toys R US. I believe it was from Xmas and on sale. Its the imaginarium one and we have the thomas the train trains to go with it. The table was about 120 on sale.
eta: this is a huge table and is currently out in the garage until the boys are in bunk beds!!