What are some good fun & educational toys for 4-year old boys?

I loved Legos. I am 31 and still play with them. But they wouldn’t be good for a kid that young. Maybe Duplo would be better.

I’m a big fan of Magna-tiles. My 2.5 year old loves it, and we gave the same group as a gift to my nephews (4, 3, 1.5), and they love them too.

Sticker books are good. He might like a children’s musical instrument, if he is in to music. We found a fun board game that was a human body with the blood system as the ame.

Damn you shilolo. Now I want Magna-tiles.

LeapFrog makes some fantastic “learning” toys – you might want to check them out. Do you have the magnet lets for the fridge? You put the letter into the holder and it does the sounds (phonic) and a little song, too.

Blocks, manipulative toys are great for this age. You can do many things, including start them on simple patterns (in school you’ll hear – ABABAB patterns – think red, green, red, green, red, green…or even AABBAABB or ABC….see how this works? They pick up on the patterns, quickly.) Chalkboards or dry erase boards, they usually love them! Dress ups…yes, even with boys. My son has a police uniform, fireman, Power Rangers, The Hulk….and so on. It’s creative and fun play.

My list is long! (I could go on and on.)

at that age, my son enjoyed playing with wooden puzzles, trains, and his Rescue Heroes

Oh…and Melissa & Doug toys. They are great. Hands on – but teach a lot of skills. (even the basic concepts of fractions. See their pizza set.)

Puzzles…like @mcbealer mentioned, are great and the game “Memory.”

thanks shilolo, Magna-Tiles look way cool :)

@cak: we love LeapFrog stuff as well… also Fisher-Price. the fridge magnet letters were a big hit with both kids when they were 1.5–2.5, less so after 3 tho.

@mcbealer: wooden & other puzzles also have been great.

as for us, we’ve had big thumbs up with dinosaurs and dump trucks ;)

a cardboard box. Seriously.

jack79 is right.

Lego.
And @Jack79 : I agree, very much fun can come out of a cardboard box!
building castles in my head

more lurve for @Jack79 ~ I remember keeping my son occupied in the shopping cart during grocery shopping with a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese… he would shake it to his little heart’s delight and be mesmerized with all the bright colors on the box and the sound inside….

maracas, toy cars, letter blocks, see and say, flash cards, kanji books

LEGOS!!!

@Jack79 YES, that is a wonderful answer. Another fun activity is making your own homemade glue and they glueing pictures made from cut up paper or magazines to make place mats and stuff.