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Are you having trouble trying to find a gift for your kids? If you are like me, the toys these days are way too intense for me to try and figure out. A few days ago I was going through some of the tubs downstairs and found some of my old toys from when I was a kid. I always like finding my own toys and seeing what Inga thinks of them. She loves my old Barbies, although I don’t have an actual complete pair of shoes and the dolls themselves have seen better days. I am a bit nervous to give her my American Doll, Kirsten, and I might wait a couple years to give that to her.
I thought I put together a gift guide of toys from my childhood, late 80’s, that I think kids would really get a kick out of playing with.
Child Kitchen
Lite Brite
I can still remember the commercial! Lite Brite! Lite Brite! Turn on the magic of colored lights! Oh that clown pattern is still creepy to this day too! I played with my Lite Brite so much that the paper patterns that came with just started shredding apart. I really did love that toy and I really do wish we still had that at my parents house. I don’t know why would have gotten rid of it so maybe it is still hiding in a tub somewhere. It was probably my favorite toy when I was a kid that I played with almost every day. They still make a variation of Lite Brite, and it looks like they have added other cool new features to it as well so it could really be a fun present to get for your kids for Christmas. I even found a listing for an ORIGINAL Lite Brite if you are that ambitious.
Marble Genius Marble Run
These were a toy that I always loved playing with when I was little. Marble Genius Marble Run is a great toy if you have a kid that really likes building things this is a great toy. I remember I always tried to make it as tall as possible or take all of the vortex pieces and make the marble go down through all of them. I think they have these at doctors offices still haha. If you still have yours, let them play with this, but if you don’t they have not changed much since we were young.
K’NEX
Lincoln Logs
I remember at the holidays, we would go to my Grandparents house and my cousins and I would go downstairs and play with their Lincoln Logs on the pool table. They had a train set we would setup around the Lincoln Logs and we could play down there for hours. We actually acquired those same Lincoln Logs as my Grandparents downsized and Inga really enjoys playing with them as she builds things and then plays with her Lego characters or her action figures. You can tell that ours have been through the ringer with either my dad or my brother playing with them and actually burning some of the pieces. They still make these and they look EXACTLY like the old school ones! Sometimes simple toys are the best toys.
BRIO Railway Set
I don’t know how many kids played with these BRIO Railway Sets, as they used to be my brothers and I they are from when he was a kid in Denmark. I have seen them nowadays all over the place so they might have been available for everybody. They are a wood train set that has bridges and ramps and ferries to connect to make their own railway. We used to take up the entire living room with these trains. They are very simple trains that use magnets to connect to each other. They are a bit expensive, but like I said, they are wood and ours have lasted 30+ years and they look perfect still.
American Girl Doll
I have an original Kirsten American Girl Doll and I LOVE her. I took such good care of as a kid…well as good of care as you can. I think my mom had to fix her hair a bit. I remember my mom made her outfits because you could buy patterns. I loved reading the books that came with her because I felt like I could relate to her so much. I don’t know how but I get the new American Girl Doll catalog in the mail and holy cow have they changed. They have gotten rid of practically every original girl except I think Kit. They now have the option to make your own doll and they have so many different accessories. I remember when I got the head wreath for Kirsten and I thought that was so cool. They are such a diverse company as having all different types of girls. They even have a doll hospital to take to fix their hair or body parts. If you are want to try and find an original girl, they have a few on Amazon and I am sure you can find some on Ebay.
Honorable Mentions
Some of the honorable mentions that I started to remember as I was writing this were definitely toys that they still make today or you are able to get variations of.
Tamagotchi
Original Fisher Price Doctor’s Kit
Mason Scooter
Popples
Puppy Surprise
What are some of your favorite toys from your childhood that you still have?
-Karen
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