My Kids' Favorite Toys - Mediterranean Latin Love Affair

Hi everyone:). So this is an unusual post for my blog. I usually post recipes from Mediterranean and Latin regions. My children are 5.5 year old boy and 21 months old girl. Thus, I have joined my fair share of mommy groups through the years, with the first one starting back in 2011. Some of those ladies are really good friends of mine and we text daily, even though we have never met each other in person. One of the most common questions in all mommy groups is what are your kids favorite toys? Usually I share few recommendations but I always forget some. So here is a roundup of my kids favorite toys if you are interested.

I’m not affiliated with any of the companies manufacturing these toys. This is an honest review of toys my kids have played with. However, I’m an Amazon Affiliate so if you end up purchasing through any of my links, I might get a small percentage of the sale with no additional cost to you. I would never recommend a toy or product I haven’t personally tried or loved!

1. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Piggy Bank

This toy has withstood 5 years in my house. My son has played with it since he was almost 1 year old and now my daughter plays with it. I think we are missing some of the coins, but the piggy bank still works. My son stopped playing with this toy when he was around 3 year old, but now that his sister is playing with it he sits down with her and tells her the colors of each coin or counts for her. The giggles are just priceless:).

2. Little Tikes Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark Play Table

We bought this table in February, few weeks before my daughter turned one. One of the moms in my daughter’s mommy group recommended it and I thought it would be a perfect first birthday present. My daughter likes to be outdoors so this toy keeps her busy. My son is a little bit tall for this table (it’s supposed to be for toddlers), however he just kneels on the grass and plays with his sister. We have definitely taken advantage of this toy the whole summer!!

3. Magna-Tiles 100-Piece Clear Colors Set – Stem Approved

My son first started school when he was 3.5 years old. I was a crying hormonal mess that first day, it didn’t help that I had just found out that I was expecting my daughter then. I stayed outside the doors of his classroom and peaked in occasionally through the window. He was having the time of his life!! I hanged around all 3 hours that day. Second day it got better, I left after an hour and so on. His school practiced a Reggio Emilia philosophy where kids learn though play. I ended up buying # 3, 4, and 5 from this list just because my son loved playing with these toys at school. When my niece came over to visit few months later, she fell in love with these magnets too and we bought it for her for Christmas. Every child that comes over for a playdate loves playing with the magnatiles!! I feel that this toy develops their sense of creativity and exploration. I never saw the same design twice.

4. Alphabet Bingo Game

This is such a simple game for kids that helps them recognize letters at an early age. I love that it is versatile, I can play just with my son or several kids when we have family over. It helps kids recognize Upper and Lower case letters while they’re having fun. It’s inexpensive and easy to carry around for picnics or trips so kids don’t get bored.

5. Numbers Bingo Game

Another Bingo game in our favorite toys list! I saw how much my son enjoyed playing with his teachers and classmates in school so that’s why we bought both bingo games. They’re designed specifically for kids, ages 4-8 years old. My son could play this for hours and didn’t even realize that he was learning while playing.

6. Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy

The reason I’m including this toy is that we bought it 4 different times, twice for each kid. I have a love-hate relationship with it. The music will get stuck in your head and you’ll hear the music even when it is not playing hahaha, belive me!!! But if you have a child that is rear-facing and just cries in the car until you get to the destination, this toy is a life saver. My kids didn’t like not being able to see us when we were driving, it was especially difficult when I was by myself. This toy keeps them distracted, it is easy to press the buttons for the music to start. It’s also easy for them to hold. I love that 2 of the melodies are from Mozart and Vivaldi!

7. Little Tikes Activity Garden Playset

This playset is designed for crawling babies and toddlers up to 3 years old. This is what we’re getting my daughter for Christmas this year. My friend has this toy at her house and anytime we go visit, my daughter just runs to the Garden Playset and spends a lot of time playing in it. She goes so many times under that archway back and forth and looks at me with such pride that she made it to the other side. We have a big backyard and this toy plus the water table do create a nice playground area.

8. Super Mario Monopoly Gamer

My son is obsessed with anything Super Mario. He dressed up as Mario for Halloween 2 years ago, as Luigi last year and this year he want to be Yoshi. So needless to say, when I saw this Super Mario Monopoly last year I had to get it for him. I was a little worried if he would be able to follow the rules because the box says 8+ years old. However, we have had great game nights at home playing this game. My son loves it and knows all the rules and rents by memory, while I still need to occasionally look at the instructions. It’s a fun game if you like board games. The regular Monopoly might be too boring for kids but this version is absolutely perfect.

9. Mega Blocks 80-Piece Building Bag

Both my kids love playing with Mega Blocks. I tried to give them away several times thinking that my son outgrew them since he likes playing with regular Legos now, but he still doesn’t want to give up the Mega Blocks. So I convinced him to give the Mega Blocks to his sister and he would still have access to them. They spend time together building different structures and it makes me very happy they interact because they’re about 4 years apart. Well, the love fest lasts until my toddler hits & destroys whatever they build and my son gets upset:). That’s siblings, right?

10. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Servin’ Up Fun Food Truck

My daughter loves this food truck and her toy kitchen too, I guess she takes after me:). We keep most of the toys in her room but the Food Truck in the living room so she can play while I’m doing things around the area and still keep an eye on her. This keeps her occupied and she even brings some pots from her kitchen and bangs on them while she hides behind the truck. I’m usually very sensitive to toys that come with music, somehow they become irritating after awhile and I usually keep them in Off mode (mean mama 🙂 ), but this food truck is not annoying at all. The tunes are actually catchy.

11. Dig It Up! Dinosaur Eggs

This has been one of my son’s all time favorite toys. I had to buy it twice for him! The first time he dug all the eggs by himself. His excitement in revealing each dinosaur from the egg was the best thing I have ever seen. The second time I bought the box was when we had few kids over for a playdate. They loved hunting for dinosaur eggs in our backyard and then chiseling away to discover the dinosaurs. This is a must have if your child likes dinosaurs!!!

12. Melissa & Doug Puzzles

We have so many of these puzzles, I couldn’t pick just one. My kids love the puzzles. I even think they learned their first animals’ names & sounds because I kept pointing at the puzzle pieces and making the appropriate sounds. Click here to see a list of several of those puzzles: Melissa & Doug Puzzles

13. Kids Balance Bike

My daughter likes all her brother’s toys, she gets on a scooter anytime she sees it laying around and tries to get on her brother’s bike all the time. I think this balance bike will be perfect for her 2nd birthday. So if i find a good deal for Christmas, I’ll buy it early and give it to her for her birthday in March.

14. Little Cosmetics Pretend Makeup Signature Set

My twin nieces turned 3 years old lately and we got them pretend makeup. I asked a mom from my mommy group for recommendations and she recommended the below set. My nieces love it and I am saving this because I think my daughter would love to play with it in a year or so. She already tries to get in my makeup:)))

15. Melissa & Doug Water Wow

If you will ever travel with a toddler, definitely consider the Water Wow from Melissa &Doug. It’ll keep your child occupied!! We have a trip coming up for New Year’s and I already stocked up on these!

16. Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone

This musical toy was a favorite for my kids. It’s multi-functional and durable. It helps with fine motor skills. The version we had for my son was slightly different but doing the same functions and this is exactly what we have for my daughter and she loves it.

17. Slime, All Kinds of Slime

Kids nowadays are love to play with slime. We made it at home few times. It was such a mess. So since then I tend to buy the kits when they go on sale. I feel it keeps my son and his friends busy in following the instructions, they tend to play for hours and at the end it is easier for me to do the cleanup.