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Definately put a few of your son's "special" toys away - the ones he doesn't like his friends playing with, either. Anything you'd bring out for a friend of his or a friend's child you babysat would probably be fine to bring out for a child staying with you for respite.
Be prepared with a plan for the rest of the respite time if you are placed with a child who immediately breaks a few of your son's toys. Will you permit him to play with others (and possibly break them, too?) or will you have an alternate plan?
Good toys for that older age range include legos, bionicles, toy cars (matchbox cars and others), books (your library can tell you what's popular right now) and videos (again, ask the library). You could even take the child with you to the library to choose a few books or videos to use while he was with you. By the time two or three children have requested the same book or video, you'll know it's probably worth buying to keep on hand. We also bought some "experiments with science" books - you know, the kind that tell you how to make volcanos and the like. They seem to be fairly popular all the time, if you don't mind helping and cleaning the mess!
If the child comes from a good foster home, he will hopefully bring a few favorite toys with him. That will help for the first few hours until they feel more settled in.
Also, call your friends who have kids in that age range (or older) and ask for donations of good toys their kids don't play with anymore. Most people are happy to get good used toys out of their kids' closets.
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