We’ve only been home one entire day, but the children didn’t waste a moment. From my vantage point at the computer desk, I see legos scattered far and wide. The heavy wooden blocks I spent a hundred bucks on a decade ago (best money I ever spent) add to the chaos. My daughter flung her clothes to the floor as she prepared for her bath. Her sandals, my white sneakers, her yellow boots, my son’s black Vans, and my daughter’s black and pink Chuck Taylors, litter the floor.
Things are back to normal, except that there are currently four gallons of milk in the refrigerator. (Usually, half a gallon of fat-free milk and an empty gallon container of 2% milk are all you’ll find, but I just got home from the grocery store.)
Now, back to those blocks (which look like these, kind of.) I can’t remember where I got them, but I ordered them back when my twins were about three. They weren’t thrilled to unwrap them at Christmas, but I knew they’d love them. Eventually. And they did. In fact, these blocks are the best toy I ever bought my kids. Even now, the 13-year old boys play with them and so do my younger children.
What was the best money you ever spent on a product for your kids?
Actual Unretouched Photo 
All I bought my kids for Christmas last year were the same blocks. They weren’t super impressed, either, but at least I know that it’s one present that won’t end up in the Goodwill box in a few months!
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Those blocks are so cool! They had bunches of them in my son’s preschool, and they were a hit with all the kids.
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The older one is over thirty, and we still have (or maybe not since the move) some of the Fischer Price toys from back then. Modern kids still love them.
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I’m buying those blocks for ME for Christmas.
I was going to get them for my grandson, but if I buy them for me, I can share them with those who come in the future.
Our best purchases were the little people from Fisher Price. I love them. My adult children still talk about them like they are members of the family. They live in our attic now, trapped. (the little people, not my children.)
Legos were also money spent well. My 25 year old still has all of his.
But, I am sure we all have nasty scars on the bottoms of our feet from stepping on those things.
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They’re more than ‘one’ product…but BOOKS! Hundreds and hundreds of them! I wish I’d gotten a dollar for every time I read them out loud, too…I’d be RICH, haha! We didn’t have TV in our home ’til our kids were aged 10 and 12, so we relied on books, tons of toys, and music to keep them occupied. They’re almost 28 and 30 now and they still get a good laugh when they remind me of my “Crazy Elephant” dance I used to do to the “Jungle Book” record, lol!
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Blocks and quality (mostly homemade) halloween costumes. Those costumes were played with year round, and I added fancy stuff to the dressup box from Salvation Army, prom dresses, plaid suits, shawls, hats etc. Unfortunately for me, I sold it all in a garage sale when they hit their teens, now I’ve got my little 3 yr old to outfit!
For the blocks, I bought a smaller set for the little pieces, and for the big pieces my husband cut up and sanded nice quality 2x4s and 2×6’s. Blocks are timeless!
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Nothing beats a carton of 96 Crayola crayons for less than $2. My kids will draw and color for hours on end, especially when they have 18 shades of blue at their fingertips.
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My son loved animals, I got him the most realistic animal replicas I could find. I accompanied these with a subscription to Zoo Books.
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Dress-up clothes. Totally inexpensive and they used them until they were finally busting at the seams.
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We had blocks like that (sort of) when the kids were smaller, but I didn’t buy them. Tim was building houses at the time so there were tons of little odd pieces of wood left over all the time. I collected them and sanded the edges and Matt had a ball. And at the price, I didn’t care if they got lost or went outside, because they were easy to replace. When the kids were done with what was left of them, we just added them to the wood pile and burnt them in the fireplace.
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Peter has blocks just like this. MY MIL bought them. I had no idea they were so expensive! Peter plays with them all the time.
My best purchase was my daughters polly pockets.
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Best unintended toy ever was two “ty-dyed” (for lack of better description) beany teddy bears. I stuck them in my two older kids’ stockings and they haven’t stopped playing with them since. “Cutie” and “Fluffy” are now six or seven years old. I bought them at Wal-M for 3 bucks…yep 3 bucks! I haven’t been able to relocate them anywhere, thought my younger two would like them too.
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lego, and washable markers. My kids are into body art and I”m happy to let them use something that will come off in the bath. And my daughter still likes to eat crayons. My four year old will stay in his room for hours at a time building with his lego, and then playing with the things he builds.
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The best thing that I have bought so far? Well, at least in my 7 month old daughters opinion it would have to be her stacking cups. $3.99 and worth so much more…hours of entertainment!
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My kids still play with the huge sack of dressup clothes from the thrift stores. A little of everything in there.
Soon they’ll be too old for that kind of play but it hasn’t happened yet.
When they were little, the new toys took second place to the boxes they came in and the wrapping paper and ribbon. Think of the money I could have saved.
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One word…. Legos. I still catch my 16 yr old with them every once in a while.
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