4 year old boy, gift question

[ZPT1022]

For Christmas each year we like to get each child one big "wow" gift and then some smaller stuff too. Each of my girls is getting two American Girl dolls and some of their "stuff", those are their "wow" gifts. We were going to get the Melissa and Doug wooden train tracks and set for DS but I mentioned it to MIL and she bought it for him. I don't really mind, because he will love it, but that was my big idea for him and now I need to come up with something else.

I'd love to hear any ideas of things that four year old boys you know love to play with, or something cool that I might not have heard about. DS is four and a half, LOVES building stuff and that sort of thing. We do have Legos, duplos, tinker toys and lincoln logs already. DH and I like to try to buy sturdy, well made toys that will last through rough play and encourage the kids to use their imaginations since we've found that they tend to play longer with the more open ended toys than with anything else.

My price range is $100-200, but if it's less, I certainly won't complain It just needs to be a "WOW" toy. MIL called this morning to tell me she ordered the trains so right now I'm kind of panicking

 

[EthansMom]

4 is a great age for a Leapster and a few games, if he doesn't already have one.

 

[Miss LD]

I got my 4 y.o. DS a play kitchen (to share with his baby sister).
we debated long and hard because I feel it may be a little old for it or something, but he loves them.
When I was at Toys R Us hemming and hawing about my decision I bumped into another mom buying the same thing for her 4 y.o. DS.
Just an idea.

 

[kittycatalina65]

There are some of the bigger Playmobil sets that would wow. They have a pirate ship at one of our local stores that always has little boys flocked around it.

 

[joshiesdad]

My ds4 has and loves his v smile. He has the portable one and the one for the house. He has learned so much form playing those educational games. I was a little worried about a 4 year old starting so many games but it has helped him to recognizes letters and numbers and the best part he is having so much fun that he does not realize he is learning.

 

[GEM]

I was going to suggest Playmobil stuff as well. We got my son the Kinght's Empire Castle last Christmas (when he was 4 1/2) and it was definitely a WOW kind of gift. He loves it. Plays with it every single day. As far as play value goes, the Playmobil stuff is awesome. We have quite a few other sets, too, and he loves them all! We have a couple of pirate ships and pirate forts, a wild west set, and he's getting a really cool farm for Christmas this year.

http://www.amazon.com/Playmobil-3268-Knights-Empire-Castle/dp/B000P3MVDQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1229106244&sr=8-1

 

[okeydokey]

My son loves Imaginext stuff


http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2310852

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3028948

He's 8 and still plays with this. You can buy extra pieces for each set.

 

[CharmedLife]

DS5 LOVES marble runs. He really wants the Quadrilla set. He also loves Hot Wheels, and the bigger track sets you can get there. He is a big fan of building things as well and loves his train sets and Legos.

He is getting some Star Wars dress-up clothes and toy light sabers this year. That should result in a broken lamp at some point... do I get to count the cost of replacing the lamp in the price of the gift???

 

[puffkin]

My DS is a little younger than yours. But after looking at lots of reviews, we got him some items out of the Imaginext line (Pirate ship and castle). There are a couple of other pieces that looked neat, but we thought we would start with those. They get GREAT reviews on the different sites.

Another wow gift (hopefully) is the TAG reading system. He is mesmerized by the commercial and the display one in the store.

Finally, my mom got him the $130 Spike remote control dinosaur. He hasn't seen it yet in the store or on TV (that I know of) but it is pretty cool. If he doesn't like it, I bet us adults will have a great time!

 

[ZPT1022]

4 is a great age for a Leapster and a few games, if he doesn't already have one.

He doesn't have one personally, but we do have one in the house, and my mom got him his own for Christmas.

 

[ZPT1022]

I got my 4 y.o. DS a play kitchen (to share with his baby sister).
we debated long and hard because I feel it may be a little old for it or something, but he loves them.
When I was at Toys R Us hemming and hawing about my decision I bumped into another mom buying the same thing for her 4 y.o. DS.
Just an idea.

Hmmmm... I bet all the kids would play with that. I wonder if I can convince DH

 

[ZPT1022]

There are some of the bigger Playmobil sets that would wow. They have a pirate ship at one of our local stores that always has little boys flocked around it.

We don't have any playmobil, I will have to check that out!

 

[ZPT1022]

My ds4 has and loves his v smile. He has the portable one and the one for the house. He has learned so much form playing those educational games. I was a little worried about a 4 year old starting so many games but it has helped him to recognizes letters and numbers and the best part he is having so much fun that he does not realize he is learning.

We do have a vsmile, but not a portable one. Do they use the same games?

 

[ZPT1022]

I was going to suggest Playmobil stuff as well. We got my son the Kinght's Empire Castle last Christmas (when he was 4 1/2) and it was definitely a WOW kind of gift. He loves it. Plays with it every single day. As far as play value goes, the Playmobil stuff is awesome. We have quite a few other sets, too, and he loves them all! We have a couple of pirate ships and pirate forts, a wild west set, and he's getting a really cool farm for Christmas this year.

http://www.amazon.com/Playmobil-3268-Knights-Empire-Castle/dp/B000P3MVDQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1229106244&sr=8-1

thanks for the link, that looks neat. That actually looks like something all three kids would play with

 

[ZPT1022]

My son loves Imaginext stuff


http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2310852

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3028948

He's 8 and still plays with this. You can buy extra pieces for each set.

oh the batman one would be right up his alley. He looooooves superheroes

 

[ZPT1022]

DS5 LOVES marble runs. He really wants the Quadrilla set. He also loves Hot Wheels, and the bigger track sets you can get there. He is a big fan of building things as well and loves his train sets and Legos.

He is getting some Star Wars dress-up clothes and toy light sabers this year. That should result in a broken lamp at some point... do I get to count the cost of replacing the lamp in the price of the gift???

I feel your pain, especially since all three of my kids, four if you count DH are into Star Wars. They all have lightsabers and they will battle

We do have a small marble run set, actually we brought it with us when we went to Rochester to visit some elderly relatives. It was so funny- DH and the three kids sat on the floor building all these marble things and everyone else was watching them. Everyone was so fascinated, we almost missed our lunch reservation I wonder if I could buy more sets to go with the one we have

 

[ZPT1022]

My DS is a little younger than yours. But after looking at lots of reviews, we got him some items out of the Imaginext line (Pirate ship and castle). There are a couple of other pieces that looked neat, but we thought we would start with those. They get GREAT reviews on the different sites.

Another wow gift (hopefully) is the TAG reading system. He is mesmerized by the commercial and the display one in the store.

Finally, my mom got him the $130 Spike remote control dinosaur. He hasn't seen it yet in the store or on TV (that I know of) but it is pretty cool. If he doesn't like it, I bet us adults will have a great time!

I do like that the imaginext stuff looks quite sturdy, very important with little boys

I think I saw that TAG thing at BJ's and I recall having to pry the kids away from the display

That dino is CUTE! I could definitely see DH playing with it as much as DS


thank you everyone for all the ideas! I am going to leave this up for DH to see and get his opinion too.

 

[poohfriend77]

He is getting some Star Wars dress-up clothes and toy light sabers this year. That should result in a broken lamp at some point... do I get to count the cost of replacing the lamp in the price of the gift???

SIL told me I could get a build-your-own light saber for my nephew (almost 6 and very... active ). I asked her about 10 times if she was SURE it was OK. I love the little guy, but I don't want to be anywhere near him with a weapon, plastic or not!

 

[mrstomrice]

Does your son have the Smart Cycle? My son loves it! There's a lot of choices for games too!

 

[WantToGoNow]

We picked up a Kota Dinosaur at Target this afternoon for $99 - this thing originally sold for $299 when it came out in September. I haven't found any bad ratings - I think the stores just ordered more than they can sell - most people aren't willing to drop $300 on a toy. It's the only thing that dd5 (just turned 5 this week) wanted for Christmas and she wasn't getting it until I found out it was on clearance. She's a big dinosaur fan - has buckets of plastic dinosaurs and she fell in love with this the first time she saw it.