This is just a wish list — things I’d enjoy having, realistic or unrealistic. If you do feel like getting something (thanks!), consider checking ebay and craigslist and thrift stores before buying new. Homemade is lovely, too!
For Amy:
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Little House book set
Madeleine L’Engle books
Children’s stories in French — like Le Petit Prince.
Reusable sticker books like Zoo picture, First Christmas, or Colors
Montessori-based activities, like transferring, pouring, grinding, or a zither / plucked psaltery / lap harp. One could assemble something like the pouring and transferring sets with stuff from around the house or a thrift store, I bet. We’ve already played with two custard cups, dried beans, and a spoon.
Layer puzzles like this or this
Games like Chutes and Ladders or this or this or this. (Please, oh please, NOT Candyland).
Grandparent dolls for the dollhouse
Sandbox toys like this excavator or this loader.
Magnetic lowercase letters
Counting or sorting activities, like this or this.
A dress-up toy like this or this or this
Hand puppets with arms and a working mouth — um, wait — I guess you have to choose either hands OR a working mouth.
Simple stencils — large, completely open (not just tracing lines), simple designs, like this or this.
A mechanical music box to wind up or crank, like this or this. I used to have this train that played music disks, called the Tuneyville Choo-choo — I would love to find something similar for Amy, but not quite so baby-ish, and less expensive.
Better play-doh tools, particularly a working rolling pin.
Art books like this coloring book, or this lift-the-flap book, or this Art book.
A pretend or real camera — but so far I haven’t found any that don’t talk or sing and so on.
Mark adds: Legos (not Duplos), Don’t Break the Ice, or Cootie.
Also, check out For Small Hands — there’s a real rolling pin, an apple-corer, a mini-whisk, get this — a peanut-butter mixer — it’s a hand-crank on a lid, for those natural peanut butters. And all that is just in the kitchen category.
For me:
Sunrise alarm clock
1/2″ and 1/4″ bias tape makers
Stainless steel water bottles for the whole family, like these.
Any one or more of these various and sundry books.
Pizza / bread peel
Pasta machine
Grain mill
Original Buddha Board
Indelible Grace and/or Boundless Free CD(s)
An mp3 player that can make playlists and do random / shuffle; if I could plug it into a stereo or TV system for speakers, so much the better. I’m not a headphones type.
Desiring God by John Piper
(Also his The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God)
Books by Charles Williams
Pattern drafting and altering book(s)
One of those folding frames to raise an airbed (twin)
Paint bathrooms
Replace carpets (once potty training is completely over)
Mark’s wish list:
Wall weather station
Rifle or bb gun (not that I approve)
Cuckoo clock that shuts off at night
Home theater system – speaker set
subscription or giftcard to buy music tracks to burn onto a CD
Netflix
Light bulb grabber (for changing a bulb in a stairway)
Chilton’s or Haynes manual for 2001 and 2007 Corolla
