Gifts for 4 year olds

Hi! The boys' birthday is right before Christmas so I'm buying ahead now. Any good ideas on gifts? I have 2 leapsters stowed away and 1 tag with games and books to go with and not much else.

 

Puzzles? My girls are really getting into puzzles right now.

 

I am planning on buying Leapsters soon for Christmas and I think we are going to get my son a remote contol car for his Birtday. He plays with one at a friends house and he loves it. Do they have bikes? We got our kids bikes for their 3rd birthday and they are having a ball on them this summer. It is tought when birthdays and Christmas are so close together.

 

puzzles
Anything by Imaginext
arts and crafts
legos for their age
games (operation, chutes and ladders, candy land, etc.)
extra leapster games

 

What are they into? For my son he LOVES Thomas and trains so that would be something or anything with wheels on it. His birthday is next week and he is going to be getting duplos or mega blocks (the are between the huge blocks and the very small legos). He loves to build things. My son doesn't sit still very long so he doesn't last at board games (we do have lucky ducks for him which he will play one game nicely sometimes two and that helps with colors and shapes. He loves his tricycle, balls, crayons, playdoh or a creative activity (paints, markers, craft stuff).

 

Lauren is big into puzzles now. Also their tag books. Do they have a bike?

 

We went in big for building toys (Wedgits -- Magnatiles are awesome too) and trains for their 4th b'day/Christmas (their b'day is in mid-November). That said, although they do enjoy those things, mostly they play with art supplies right now. But maybe girls are different that way. I know they still love building toys at other people's houses and at school.

Bikes are also good. And I think (from what I've seen at school) boys like make-believe stuff too -- maybe not the princess dress-up clothes (although you never know!), but the boys in their class seem to like playing with play food, doctor props, etc.

All the kids are also hugely into action figures of firefighters, astronauts, policemen, etc. I doubt my kids would play with these at home, but at school they call them "rescue heroes" and there's always huge excitement when the box comes out of the closet.

 

By far the best gift my 2 have received in the last year are their bikes. Grandma got them these balance bikes (well, Luke's isn't pink but it is the same bike in orange) and they are fantastic. They use them every day and should be able to go right to a bike without training wheels before too much longer. Both of them have already learned to balance on them with no problem, they push, push, push with their feet & then they glide for a long way, they can even turn without putting their feet down. I was amazed at how fast they learned to balance without ever having to be dependent on training wheels!

 

I love the balance bike too -- we just borrowed one from a friend and Amy is off & running. I hesitated to suggest them as a 4th b'day present only because many 4-yr-olds would already be too tall, at least for the one we have. I really wish I'd gotten them balance bikes (instead of regular toddler bikes with training wheels) when they were 2 or 3 -- they'd be riding without training wheels by now.

 

Our two haven't outgrown them yet and they are quite tall for their age, but we have had to adjust the seats a couple of times. I think they will be ready for regular bikes before they outgrow them, but I would definitely look for one with adjustable seats.

 

Have your looked at geo trax. we just got seom for 3rd birthday. My nephew just turned 5 and still loves his.

playdough and accessories

puzzles

bikes

blocks

marble works-look at discovery toys.