Globe
I’m going to be honest & admit that we got this globe for H last year because it has animals on it & he loves animals. If we want him to learn something, we just use animals. What I didn’t realize was how great of a product this is! I LOVE a toy that enables us to teach bunches of things at the same time. The pieces come out and we’re able to use colors to help the boys learn where the continents are. We practice saying their names and talking about all 7 of them. They also practice their motor skills to fit the pieces back in. This is especially great if you have a little one who also loves animals and/or bright colors 🙂
Magnatiles
Someone gifted these to H for his second birthday. TBH we forgot about them in the move etc and didn’t break them out until he was almost 3. Y’all – he LOVES these things and can play with them for hourssss. I mean, they were our lifesaver in the beginning of quarantine when I was crazy busy with work, but the boys had to be home from school. They really are fun, and it didn’t take G long to pick up on how to have fun with them, too. H has made some really incredible things!
Books
This book is great because it talks to the child when they press a picture. It also has the word underneath the picture for word recognition. It has a few different modes and is easily transportable, but what we love about it most is that you can switch it to Spanish. We are not a bilingual household, but we really want our children to be bilingual (heck, hopefully trilingual) and these are great ways we can introduce words to them!
Letters Chart
Another purchase mostly because it is bilingual, but G also loves his ABCs. I mean, this kid literally just walks around the house singing his ABCs somedays. It’s super cute, so I was excited to give him this for his 2nd birthday. We have it hanging on a wall in the playroom at his height. It would also be super easy to roll/fold up and travel with.
Buckle Board
A Tara family favorite! We travel a good bit and are also just on-the-go a lot (well, pre-COVID). This toy is the bomb! It fits easily in our backpack, and all of the kids can play with it forever. We’ve had fights break out over who wants to play with it (though that’s not uncommon around here recently…). LOVE LOVE LOVE
Table & Chairs
How cute are these? I love to see the boys sitting playing at this table together. They color, do projects, puzzles or even eat a special breakfast on it occasionally. It’s a mama-fave because it’s aesthetically pleasing to the rest of the house 🙂 Just as cute as the Pottery Barn one but at a fraction of the price!!!
Tablet with Headphones
H’s godmother asked us if she could give him a tablet for his first birthday. I was appreciative she asked, and at first, we said “no.” But then Chance & I got to thinking about how much we travel, and we decided it might be a good idea for him to have for those special times. We’re really glad she wound up giving it to him because it really has come in handy during our travels. We download apps/movies/shows that he’s into and it really keeps him entertained. Now G has one, too. They definitely saved us on our recent car trip. We made it the first 6.5 hours without them, but we were all happy they had them for the last 2 hours 🤣 Pro tip: make sure to grab these headphones so you don’t have to listen to their silly music!
