[DianeS]

Hi! My husband and I are going to be fostering and adopting children age 1-8. Since we don't have any bio children, I need advice on what "fun" things to already have in the house when the children arrive.

What were your child's favorite things when they were at certain ages? I need specific names of action figures, most-loved characters in books, favorite meal for dinnertime, etc! Tell me how old your child was when they loved that particular thing, and let me know if the child was a boy or a girl. Thanks!

[faith_amom]

Here are the things that my son liked for ages 1-2:

* Anything with wheels (cars, trucks, trains)
* Blocks, especially wooden cubes for stacking
* Books, especially about cars & trucks
* "Sesame Street," "Clifford," "Bear and the Big Blue House"
* Balls

- Faith

[dmanion]

My daugher who is 4, loves dress-up items, hats, jewelry, dresses, etc. She loves all kinds of books, when she was younger one of her favorites, and mine, was "Guess How Much I Love You". Her favorite things are Crafts - coloring, painting, drawing, etc.

My son who is younger also likes books and loves for me to sing, although I'm not very good, he doesn't seem to care. They both love videos, disney is always safe and fun. For younger kids, Baby Mozart and Baby Bach is the best, they were/are mesmerized by it! It's nice for the adults as well since the music is soothing.

[lucyjoy]

My 5 to 8 year olds liked any kind of "project" stuff. We have a big cabinet filled with paper, markers, glue, tape, popsicle sticks, etc. They also like sand art and painting.

[sweetnoodle]

I have two kids. Let's see, for girls ages 5-8:
PowerPuff Girls
Hello Kitty
Cameras
PlayClay or Play Dough
Leap Pad Interactive (expensive but helps everyone learn to read)
Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Beauty and the Beast, Spirit, videos
Lip gloss
Hair stuff
American Girl books
Lotions that smell good--Bath and Body Works stuff for kids
Metallic pens, glitter pens, markers, pens and pencils
basketball
stuffed animals, and dolls
computer CD games
books
Game Boy Advanced (however, the games cost $)
bicycle helmets (contact your local Brain Injury Association www.biausa.org) and they may be able to donate some since you are adopting
bikes (they really don't have to be new!)
craft kits
bead kits

Sorry I don't know about boys except my nephew likes models, nintendo and sports.

[sweetnoodle]

The only thing you need to know about food is that once you've figured out what they like, they will tell you they don't like that anymore! LOL I am really into nutrition/health stuff, but after my kids started school it was impossible as the years went by to keep them away from non nutrious food. So here goes:

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (I don't know ANY kid that doesn't eat this)
Spaghetti
Lunchables (for their school lunch)
Campbells Tomato soup, Campbells Goldfish pasts soup
Charlie the Tuna Albacore lunch kit (that's not the real name exactly)
Lipton Cheese and Broccoli noodles or Alfredo noodles
if they like a fresh fruit, but it immediately and let them eat it right then!
Pizza, of course

[jenna202]

There's a great book called, "Games to play with your two year-old". It has some really good ideas in it. Many of them are a little unrealistic, but you can modify based on the abilities and interests of the child.

[jackievaye]

Hi there!
There's a wonderful series of books that started with "365 TV-Free Activities for You and Your Child" which are full of wonderful ideas, crafts, activities and learning games for children of all ages. One concentrates on outdoor activities, one on indoor and all of them require imagination and fun! I found mine at Border's Bookstore, but I'm sure you could find it on Amazon.com.

My son's favourite activity (and at 7 years old it sometimes still is) was playing with a small tub full of sand or water and a lot of cups, bowls, spoons, etc. to mess about in it with and make sand castles or just a big mess. I have a great big, plastic tablecloth for inside play on rainy days, and he can take it outdoors on sunny days. It's incredibly calming for active children and I recommend it heartily. Good luck!

[Rainbow mom]

Our two year old daughter loves:

Board books READ READ READ Foster a love for books early (good gift to give a foster child returning to home a book with your name written inside)

piano (toy)
Band in a box (has triangle, bells etc)
Dolls (washable are best at this age)
Kitchen set with dishes and food
Mrs Potato Head
Outdoor Swing and slide
Tricycle
Blocks
Toy vacume cleaner
tapeplayer

[Kellster]

Every child has their own little "hobbies" -for one son it was trains and little cars, the other one loved fire trucks. My daughter loves "jewelry" and baby dolls. But don't panic about stocking the house too full of stuff til you know what each one likes best- my kids (they are now 7, 5 and 3) love to go to their grandmom's house and play with the odds and ends in her junk drawer!!! They can play with that stuff for hours!!! They are also thrilled to play with all the "stuff" she saves like yogurt containers, styrofoam trays, etc. Very young kids (1-2 yos) love to bang on pots and play with plastic cups and spoons. My oldest son can build amazing structures out of old hair curlers and pins! So, be creative (so long as it is safe, of course) and they will let you know very quickly what "real" toys they want! LOL

Hi Diae!

I have fostered for this group. One thing to remember is that if you are fostering you can get any age on short notice, so it is good to have a variety of basic toys that can span age groups.

I recommend:
outside - balls, sand toys, bubbles
art supplies - crayons, markers, papers, safety scissors, glue sticks
play dough with toys like cookie cutters, rollers, and such (or better yet, have a good play dough recipe ready and make your own)
books - choose timeless stories, as well as a board book or two
trucks and cars
blocks like Brio
doll with bottle, clothes, and blanket

That is lots to start. That will keep your kids going long enough for you to get more, without taking over your house with things that you don't need yet. For example, in four years of fostering we never had a child over age two. If your youngest is six, you don't watn to be stuck with a pile of baby toys.

Having said that, let your friends and family know what you are doing and never turn down free toys or clothes!

[mckenna]

my son is almost 2 and his favorite things are farm/zoo animals (bought a bunch at walmart for .98 each), books (make sure you have a lot even though they will want you to read certain ones over and over and over, it is nice to have a variety) and tub toys. my son loves the tub. and with summer on its way, a small outside blow-up pool and water tub will keep kids busy for hours.

[khnath]

My son is 3 1/2 and some of his favorites are:

soap crayons for the tub
finger paints
playdough with cookie cutters and rolling pin
loves to cut up paper (with safety scissors)
balls of all kinds!
trains

Good Luck!

[dadfor2]

hi,
well, our adopted 5 yr old boys loves his matchbox cars. but the funny thing is, the things that he loves more then anything (besides his cars) are not toys.

he loves flashlights and scotch tape. he loves taping things, and loves his flashlight.

my suggestion, pending on their age, just ask them what they like, they probably will tell you...and of course, some kids like everything and anything......they just want someone to play with them

[luv2chatt]

my advice to you is to eaither go garage saleing or go find a baby resale shop. That way you can get more toys for your money. My son is only interested in a toy for a little while and I dont like to spend alot of money on somthing he will hardly play with.