Unlike our oldest and middle child, there are very few toys are truly interest both a 5 and 1 year old. When I want all of our kids to play together, we stick with the basics- water, balls, sand, blocks, and music.
1. Water: Our youngest loves splashing her hands in our water table while our oldest uses his ocean figurines to make an ocean scene or his Legos to build a dam. And, during our unexpected heatwave, all three kids have enjoyed splashing and swimming in the pool. This warm week makes me very excited to spend time in the water with our kids this summer.
2. Balls: Our home is filled with balls of all types and sizes. Baby enjoys crawling after a rolling ball and watching us bounce one for her.
3. Sand: Parks with sand are a huge draw these days. Unlike woodchips, sand is easy for baby to crawl around on. And no splitters! Sand is great for our older kids to build and dig and baby is always excited to join in by destroying sand structures both large and small.
4. Blocks: At our home, Duplo and Lego are constantly out. Our oldest enjoys completing Lego challenges that I find on Pinterest, our middle child builds her own creations with both Duplo and Lego while our youngest enjoys dumping a bin of Duplo on the floor and picking up various pieces.
5. Music: When all else fails, we can usually turn on Pandora and dance. When I was a kid, I played the flute and piccolo and these days I love playing nursery rhymes and Disney songs for our kids. Our daughter enjoys pressing the keys on the piccolo. Our son enjoys trying to make sounds on my starter flute. And baby loves hearing all of the notes and watching the commotion.
Which toys help your kids bridge a small or large age gap?
