Many thanks to all the parents who have taken the time to tell us their best toy. This page is a compilation of your recommendations, split them into the following age categories:

• babies;
• toddlers;
• pre-school;
• 5 years +.

If we've missed your favourite toy please let us know via contributions@forparentsbyparents.com.

BABIES

The best toy is a Playskool busy ball popper. Hours of fun, then you can also try putting balloons on it -

Louise Ellis

"The best toy I ever bought was the stackable cups from Early Learning. We got them from Sainsburys when Daisy was 6 months and she still loves them 5 months later. We use them in the bath, in the garden, on the beach, to put finger food in and in the traditional stacking way. My 7-year-old Emily entertains Daisy by balancing them on each of their heads as hats and talking into them as telephones. Some have holes in for water or sand to run through and they are great for counting and learning colours. All this for just £5.99, and there are no annoying tunes or noises."

"Boots Octopus - each tentacle is made of a different material and texture and making different sounds. This is an ideal toy for young babies. My son loved it from a few weeks old when I would slowly put each tentacle into his hand and let him grasp it. He later played with it for ages by himself. It kept him amused in the car too. Much as I love my son I found the first six months rather a boring time especially when after a few weeks he wanted to be doing something. This toy was a godsend at a age when it is hard to find activities that are entertaining and stimulating."

"The best toy I have ever bought was the V-Tech Land and Sea Jamboree. It is a boat shaped keyboard that plays 10 songs and has 4 different animals that all play musical instruments & make noises. My daughter got it for her first Christmas when she was 8 months old and still loves playing with it now she is 2 ½."

"The best toy I've ever bought for my daughter is a Fisher Price Shape Sorter. When I first bought it she was too young to put the shapes into it but she had great fun taking them out and when it was empty she loved making noises into the bucket bit and hearing the way her voice was distorted. Now she's a few months older she's started to put the shapes into the bucket. At the moment she can only do the round shapes but she spends ages putting them in, taking the lid off and taking them out again and she's so pleased with herself when she does it, she claps her hands each time. This toy is going to occupy her for months more and it was extremely good value."

The following Fisher Price Toys were also recommended:

• Twirlin' Whirlin' Garden;
• Symphony Gym;
• Baby Smartronics Roll Along Dino.

"Has to be the Tomy Lullaby Light Show that you place in the baby's room. It sends lights swirling around the room and plays a lullaby. It even made me feel sleepy!"

"The best toy ever bought for Anna-Kate was a set of plastic barrels. They brought with them hours of pleasure to her and now to her younger brother. They can be stacked (usually by mummy) and knocked over time and time again. They can be 'hidden' inside one another - they are often used to distract during dinner and then thrown into the bubble bath with the children!!!! They were not the most expensive present Anna-Kate has ever received but they have really been loved!"

"The best toy that I have brought for my children was a wooden bead maze. It was so educational because it taught them colours, shapes, co-ordination, patience and gave them back enjoyment, how to use there imagination and achievement because it didn't matter how they did things they were always right and they played with this for years. It stayed in good condition too and I have since passed it on to my 2 nephews who also got a great deal of fun from it."

www.toygiant.co.uk/gallery10.html

"Hi - my best "toy" isn't really a toy as such, but its the large inflatable "doughnut" baby ring that babies can lie in from an early age or it can be inflated more to provide a more sturdy support for a sitting baby. It is covered in bright fabric with all sorts of different "feely" textures and squeaky, crinkly bits. I used it for my 1st child 4 years ago, and with the birth of my second a few months ago, it was dusted off again. However, my 1st child uses it far more again, this time as a boat, a space ship, a bird's nest, a large hat, a honey pot. The inspired imagination is endless, and I would thoroughly recommend this "toy" as a useful piece of equipment that has uses that just go on and on!"

"Tiny Love Symphony in Motion Coloured Mobile - my baby has been entranced by this ever since he first clapped eyes on it. I credit it for ensuring that he has been happy transiting from Moses basket to wheelie crib, cot to holiday cot to travel cot etc with no trauma. When he needs a nap, I press the green button 2/3 times, turn the volume down & the slow calming music wafts him off fast. When I want him occupied & awake, I let it run on all 3 pieces of music, with different tempos & moods. The animals dip & dive as they turn, with beads following erratically & he LOVES it! Still good value after 7 months; no winding up."

www.babycare-direct.co.uk/musical_mobiles.html

"Despite all the modern and electronic type toys my daughter has, one thing that most evenings she brings out and one set often goes in my bag for commuting to & from nursery/work with her on the train is sets of flashcards. Although she has only recently turned two we have been using them for over 6 months to recognise the pictures, colours and numbers. We now have about 5 sets, as they are cheap to buy, all have cost £1 or less each. They are also educational, light to and you can fill quite a bit of time with just a few of them. We don't just look at cards in isolation, but try and spot the things out of the train window or in the house and make up stories about the pictures, pointing out all different features.

Maybe it is because my daughter loves books and she sees the cards as like small one-page books, but they are frequently a good sitting down activity. It is strange what children sometimes enjoy. Most parents I think would not think of using flashcards until much older, but I started because her vocabulary was poor and I wanted her to identify more things and since she enjoyed it and now wants to do it I take the lead from her."

TODDLERS

"The best toy I have ever bought for my two sons is a box of Plan Bricks. My 1 year old build towers and knock them down while my 3-year-old makes a bed, playground, castle and cars for his toys from them and much much more. My 10-year-old nephew makes complex structures and marble runs. Bricks are ageless and simple enough to let the imagination play freely!"

www.littleminds.co.uk

"The best toy I ever bought was a Winnie The Pooh Duplo Building Blocks, which both my children have played with constantly and it still looks brand new."

"The best toy I ever bought was a bucket of Duplo that I bought for my eldest son in 1987. He used it for about 4 years then it went to my nephew, my niece and finally back to us where it is still being used by my 4-year-old and 2-year-old. This toy has brought hours of joy and has encouraged imaginative building as well as some planning on paper along the way. A fabulous was to spend about a tenner!"

"Mega Blocks, they appeal to all my nieces and nephews and my grandson, goes and fetches them the minute he arrives."

"The best toy I have ever bought my daughter was the Mega Blocks brick range. She has endless hours of fun trying to build things and it really helps her with her co-ordination."

"The Early Learning Centre Animals are, by far, the best toy(s) we've ever bought for our daughter. We started collecting little farm animals for her from about 2 years and she fell in love with them. She takes them in the bath, in the sandpit, down the
slide and includes them in almost all of her play.

They are small and portable enough to slip into a pocket or bag and endless entertainment on long car journeys. She's now 5 1/2 and the box of animals is
overflowing to include most of their range of animals, including farm, woodland, jungle, mythical (dragons and griffons and such), and now dinosaurs.

Along with imaginary play, the animals have been an excellent learning tool. She'll spend ages sorting the animals. Some of her favourite sortings include:
what animals eat? (plants, bugs, meat) where animals live? (woodland, jungle, water, air, farm, etc.), family groups and age groups. When sorting, we like to sneak in maths too. "If you put the baby elephant with mummy elephant and daddy elephant, how many elephants do you have?"

"The best toy I have ever bought has to be a football. This simple, cheap toy has given hours of pleasure to my three sons and also my partner and myself."

"The best toy we have bought (so far!) for our son is a supermarket trolley with toy food. It is his absolute favourite, as he can fill it with all sorts of things to push around. It is my favourite as I can teach him about all sorts of things using it, different types of foods, what we buy from the supermarket, the baker, the greengrocer etc, how many 'pennies' things cost. I can see it continuing to be a favourite for a long time to come."

"Another favourite was the Fisher Price Activity Table, bought about 8 years ago but again used by all 3 kids. It encouraged them to stand, had lots of activities on top including a shape sorter and some cogs. Then they all invented games and obstacle courses with it and climbed over it, under it. It was still like new when I sold it a few months ago.

The following Fisher Price Toys were also recommended:

• Garage;
• Record Player.

"The best toy I've ever bought was a wooden train set. This has provided great fascination for my 2-year-old daughter with the track that comes apart in pieces and the magnetic train and carriages. It's also great fun for dads and was very good value for money!"

"The best toy I ever bought my daughter (although it's probably not classed as a toy) was an Abacus when she was very young. It definitely beats your calculators as far as learning to count is concerned and it also put a little bit of fun into the process of adding and subtracting. I know that they are not very practical anymore as technology takes over, but we had hours of fun and the interaction with your children is well worth it."

"The only thing that all three of my girls, aged 2, 5 and 7, play with together are dressing up clothes. We have a box with all sorts of different 'dress up' clothes in it, some 'proper' ones, some made & other things picked up cheaply in charity shops. They put on little shows & are really funny to watch!"

You can find a good selection of dressing up clothes at www.letterbox.co.uk.

PRE-SCHOOL

"The best toy that we have ever bought is a bicycle. It may be an obvious toy, but my daughter used it almost every day this summer and never got bored of it. She cycled in the garden and to the local park. It helps to develop a lot of important skills. It can also be used in the colder months and helps to keep our little girl fit and healthy."

"The best toy I have ever bought is a building kit called Quadro. We bought it for my son 7 years ago and have since added to it. It can be built into all sorts of different designs like climbing frames, cars, slides even tables and chairs. It is extremely strong in fact on the box it shows an elephant standing on it. It comes with a mini version of itself, so you can make your designs in the house, before going out to build the real thing. My children and their friends have had loads of fun with it, and are still enjoying playing with it 7 years on. There aren't many toys that can claim to keep them entertained for that long."

" Without a doubt, Lego - lasts forever, you can play any game with it, can use in a car, on a plane, in a boat, boys and girls love it and it does not need batteries!!!"

"The best toy I have ever bought is Lego. It's versatile, colourful, sturdy and appeals to boys and girls alike of all ages. My children never tire of playing with it and never make the same model twice."

"The best toy I have ever bought my two children (ages 4 and 7) is Lego. They spend hours building houses, castles, towers, robots, pizzas(!) and anything else that takes their fancy. They have a big tub full of plain bricks, with the only 'extras' being 8 wheels, and some windows. They love it, I love it - the vacuum cleaner hates it!"

"A Cassette Player. Joshua is now 5 years old and from being really young he listened to songs and music. Now he has graduated to a Cassette Walkman that is a godsend on car journeys. He has now listened to all of Roald Dahl's Stories, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and all the Harry Potter Books on audiocassette. When Joshua cannot sleep, he listens to one of his stories and settles down.
A must for every parent!!"

"Sylvanian Family Canal Boat and family - This toy has given so many hours of play value since we bought it for my daughter 4 years ago (plus all the other children that have played with it since). The canal boat is designed like a real house boat, with table and chairs that turn into beds, a kitchen area, plus a toilet and shower room. The doors to these areas are able to be closed to give privacy from the other areas, then re opened to give a clear access to the other parts of the boat. On the outside there is storage space cleverly designed as a seat where the mops and bucket are stored. The boat is gaily painted in the tradition style of houseboats with hanging flower baskets; there's even a clothesline that can be stung across the top. All in all its a toy that stands the test of time and the test of constant use and is always a great favourite with all ages, both boys and girls!"

5 YEARS +

The best toy we bought was a Magna Doodle. It kept our daughter entertained from 18 months old onwards - 6 and 7 year olds would play with it too, even teenagers! It was a big size, with various little stamps that came with it.

My 5 year old son loves Junior Monopoly. It teaches him to count and beginning to read. I highly recommend it.

"I am looking for what would be a good toy for a 7 year old girl - anyone got any ideas?"

"The best toy I ever bought was Junior Scrabble. It helped my children with their reading and spelling, and, best of all, it gave us "quality time" together."

"The best toys I have ever bought for my children are micro scooters. They have transformed the walk to and from school from a dawdle and a whinge to a whizz. I even use one to cut the return journey from a 10-minute brisk walk to a 4-minute glide. It gives the children exercise and they are even willing to come to the local supermarket !!!"

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