What are your favorite toys from childhood?

Candy Land, Dream Phone, Mall Madness, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Apples to Apples, Hi-Ho Cherry-Oh, MOUSE FREAKING TRAP!, and Guess Who.

barbie in late elementary school, OPERATION, records and rollerskates.

Transformers and Gobots.

Books

If you are looking for a gift for a preschooler , i would recommend any toy that would inspire imagination. Such as Tinker toys, Legos, Building blocks, paints/brushes/paper (with apron), childsize ball(basketball, football, soccor, dodgeball).

In my opinion I would like to see less branded toys, such as Dora the Exploror, american girl, TMNT, Power rangers, Bratz ect… An alternative would be a doll or action figure with a generic brand.

The BEST GIFT is quality time. Offer to bring the child to the zoo, park, out to dinner, a sleepover ect. (This is works best for relatives of the child)

I love to give books. Children’s books are wonderful.
I also love to give Lego sets.

The Little People barn that moo’d when you opened the stable.

The Weeble People Tree House(they weeble and they wobble, but they don’t fall down), circa 1976.

I always loved K’Nex when I was younger. And this thing called a Deluxe Marble Run seen here link.

I also love giving children’s books for gifts.

Anything that inspires children to be creative and extend their thinking is a great gift!

I like the toy that’s called the The Farmer Says. You know the one with an arrow that spins when you pull on the lever. Yeah that is my favorite.

Actually, my favorite toy when I was preschool to about grade 4 was a set of blocks. We built everything with them, including marble runs, mazes for the cat, knock-down towers (our mom hated those especially when she had a headache), Barbie houses, horse barns, and many other things. We also wrote on them for some reason, so many of them say “on the bee yes,” which is all my brother could write at the time.

We admixed the blocks with Lincoln Logs, Tootsie Toy cars, Breyer horses, dollhouse furniture, and some sort of plastic brick building set that wasn’t Legos but was similar.

The same blocks were passed on to all the grandchildren (mine and my brother’s kids) who also gave the blocks a lot of exercise.

Otherwise my favorite toy was the sandbox and a hose, a messy but enjoyable combination.

My all time favorite toy was Major Matt Mason.. He, along with his friends Sgt. Storm, Doug Davis, and Callisto the alien (from Jupiter), really kicked ass. I had almost all the accessories too. Wish I still held on to them.
G.I. Joe was another favorite of mine. I also collected Matchbox cars. I still have most of those. They were made in England back then and came in a matchbox. Not like the cheap Chinese made ones sold today.

MOUSE FREAKING TRAP.

1950’s Robot Commando

When I was really young, I loved my happy apple.
It would jingle when you shook it.
I was easily entertained.

LEGO! And my computer i guess.

Rock Em’-Sock Em’ Robots, Lincoln Logs, Slinky, Mousetrap, Hot Wheels, Tonka Trucks, Erector Sets, Chutes and Ladders, G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip, Viewmaster, Lite-Brite, Spirograph

Colorforms
Six Million Dollar Man – Bionic Steve Austin
Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs and Erector Set
Electronic Football

It would have to be the toy box I used to lock my baby sister in.

Legos were my favorite because I would make many toys with them. I had a really big set.

My Fisher Price Clock; and Little People House; later on all the games like Hi Ho Cherry-O, Operation, Barrel of Monkeys.

I also loved my Sesame Street House. It would open so you could see the inside of all the apartments.(Future interior designer, or future voyeur? )

@all WHOA! THANK YOU for your responses. I am so appreciative of what people have posted thus far.

My kids have some of the toys mentioned.

I too am not a huge fan of the wildly electronic, bombastic, branded stuff. I am not militant about it…..but appreciate the stuff that allows imaginative play. (I love books too.)

My husband’s personal fave was an Evil Knievel motorcycle windup toy. I loved Play Doh, Legos and Lincoln Logs. My grandmother had Uncle Wiggly (think Candy Land but w/ numbers), which I adored.

Keep ‘em coming!

I really was into stuffed animals when I was a wee little kid. I also liked playing with Littlest Pet Shop and Polly Pocket toys.

pampers

Playmobil

playmobil is wannabe lego

I remember the smell of coloforms. Havent seen those for a long time.
Nothing better than a new box of crayola crayons- the bigger the better!

Lego, no doubt

Lite Brite, Legos, Play Dough, Tinker Toys, Hot Wheels, and Crayons.
Anything I could create something with.

The giant box of 64 Crayolas with the built in sharpener.

I still have a box of them hidden from my kids. :-)

@Darwin: me, too:)

oooh. I loved new boxes of crayons :)

I loved paper dolls, I wouldn’t be caught dead with a Barbie or any of the crap, but I played with paper dolls all day long, or my baseball glove and bat. Guess I was kind of a tomboy.

We to also had the Evel K. Wind up thing! My fav was the sit and spin and when I was really young, one of theose “Popcorn” bubble things. It had a handle and when you walked with it, it made the balls inside bounce all over. I remember thinking it was magic! That is a really good outside toy! How about a bubble mower? My son had one when he was little, and went crazy “mowing” the lawn all summer. He was 4.

I loved my Mrs. Beasley doll. They don’t make those anymore!

Teddy Ruxpin

In the 60’s – I liked Operation. It was great for picking up little nurses.

I loved my Glo Worm :)

teenage mutant ninja turtle figures… they were awesome….