I am the mom of two wonderful boys ages 3 and 6. I have always been a firm believer in educational toys and books (lots of books). My kids play outside day in and day out (weather permitting). We read stories together, do puzzles, play board games. Yes, they do get to watch cartoons or movies occasionally, but they usually get bored in the first few minutes and go do something else. They build with magnetix(I am very fortunate to have kids that don't put things in their mouths...can't tell you how that happened!) and legos. They play with cars and trains. They wrestle...they fight...they tattle...they try to fly...

The only video game in the house is a Vsmile. They play it every once in a while and really do learn from it. It's not that I won't let them have a playstation or Wii when they are a bit older, I just want them to use their imaginations and run and ride bikes instead of sitting in front of a video game all day long.

Anyway, I could go on to tell you that they always eat their vegetables or that they never talk back, but I'm sure you already know that I'd be lying....:)

I do however want to share with you some of the things that we have in our house. Every single one of the products listed below are things that my kids have enjoyed for years.

I love the leapfrog products. They are great for learning. I do have two complaints though:
1. The "major retailers" don't always have a large selection of the products or accessories.
2. I have not had the best experiences with the Leapfrog website or their customer service.

In my opinion, you can't go wrong with books. I remember my mom reading Good Night Moon to me as a child. My kids love it too. We have tons of books in our house and some of my favorite childrens authors are listed below.

The radio flyer wagon is just awesome!

Anything from Little Tykes or Melissa and Doug I would highly recommend-Little tykes offers the durability and Melissa and Doug have all kinds of neat puzzles and learning games.

I could go on and on...Tonka trucks oh yeah those are so cool! Any kind of tractor, hot wheels, or trains...can't be without them here!

I'll keep you posted on the next set of favorites!