One of the good things about being a parent is you have an excuse to play with kids toys or better yet, buy the toys your parents could never afford.
That is why my son has this really cool slot car set.
So I’d like to ask, what childrens toys or games do you still enjoy?
Examples:
Legos
Slot cars
Model trains
Hot wheels
Monopoly
Uno
Lego
Play-do
slime
water pistols
Model trains (the accurate scale model ones) and Monopoly* aren’t* children’s games
Nerf guns that shoot little nerf darts.
Bop-it
I still have blaster water gun fights with my (grown) sons when we get together on holidays. It’s a long ongoing tradition that we all enjoy.
I also love board games and card games. My DIL and 2nd son’s SO think we have been hit waaay too hard with the competitive stick, but in my family, we play cutthroat all the way. Risk is our fav, but we also play Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Go.
Maybe this isn’t a “toy”, but I nominate the swing.
I had probably not used a swing for 20 years or so until I kids.
A good tall swing is still fun! It feels like you are flying.
I have two girls: nearly 6, and just over 3. Due to this, I get to play with their toys all the time. Some of our favorites:
Legos (they got me the AT-AT from Start Wars for my birthday and we built it together)
Hot Wheels, especially when I get out an 8’ 2x6 board to use as a ramp
Kicking around a soccer ball
Building forts out of couch cushions
The board game Sorry
Uno
Speaking of slot cars, I miss my Scalextric set hugely… holy cow those things are expensive now.
My wife and I bought each other Lego castles for our anniversary a few years back. Great fun to build, but we felt kind of stupid afterwards.
Wooden building blocks, Lincoln Logs, etc.
My 7 year old granddaughter is seriously into Monopoly and wants to play every time she comes over.
A card game called “99”, that I still get adults to play. It’s a very simple to learn and a fun game, much hilarity ensues. But I’m pretty sure the original intent was to help children with addition!
Also, Mechano sets. I still have one, and I’m a girl!
Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys.
Try Carrera GO. I’ve bought some used sets on ebay.
Also check out on Youtube how one can make track at home. Its basically a woodworking project with slots and copper wiring.
Mille Bournes, the kid’s card game, where you put down miles…when other players aren’t putting “Accident” and “Out of Gas” cards on you. We still make “Vroom, vroom…Screech!” noises when playing.
(Our advanced role-players play with different cartoony European accents. “I say, old chap, make way for Racing Green.” “Ach du Lieber! Out uff Kass!” “'Allo, ah, you beautiful women racing fans, alors!” “Atsa Start Line, atsa Finish Line, whaddamatta in-a between-a?”)
(I have a “Driving Ace” card fixed to the sun-visor of my car. By God, I earned it!)
Battling Tops.
Great for kids, makes a great drinking/betting game, fun for adults.
Hoppity hop and Yatzhee.
Still in search of an adult big wheel.
Ball pits. And those gymnastic areas the Cool Kids would always have birthday parties in in 2nd grade. If I ever become a multi-millionaire, I’ll install a massive room in my house that’s just foam cube pits, trapezes, and massive trampolines.
My husband buys me Lego sets for Christmas occasionally - nothing big because those are expensive too.
My dad had his very own slot car setup in the basement when I was a kid - not to be touched unless invited. He got me a small model train set and my own Hot Wheels which he enjoyed playing with at least as much as I did. He also gave me a battery-operated fire engine with lights and siren (my mom just loved that :p).
We occasionally go to game nights at a friend’s house. Not all the games are suitable for kids (Cards Against Humanity) but many others (Pictionary, etc.) are, and everyone seems to have a good time.
Anyone reading this thread might enjoy a BBC series called James May’s Toy Stories, in which the host took the toys of his youth to adult extremes. He built a Scalextric track on the site of the old Brooklands race track, built a full-size Lego house and spent the night in it, that sort of thing. It’s excellent.
And I’ve mentioned before here that I’m currently tinkering with an Etch-A-Sketch. Got it hooked up to two stepper motors I can control from a computer. It’s still not quite as precise as I’d like, but I’m not done trying yet.
A lot of what I enjoy wouldn’t really be for kids; Scrabble and slot cars for example. But every once and a while the old MouseTrap games comes out and that really is for kids.
I really want some slot cars now. And a sparking spinning toy.