Christmas Gifts... Greatest Hits

[lingovise]

so now that we've got a few months distance from Christmas... I'm curious what toys/gifts are still getting loads of love from your kiddos/loved ones??

my 4 year old reallyreally wanted a remote control helicopter. it was all he could talk about for months and had his heart so set on it. yeah. he tried it twice and after the full scale nuclear meltdown declared it "TOO HARD!!!". poor guy. in the end his favorite toy has turned out to be the Duplo Legos we got for the two year old. all the boys actually love these and they play with them every day. thankfully I have since snagged a huge lot of them from a local thrift store so there are plenty to go around.

my 7 year old was dying for a Rainbow Loom and he really does love it. I usually have to help him through the first half or so of each new design he learns, just until he gets his rhythm going. but then he's good to go and will make a dozen or so in a sitting. I love watching him get his craft on! of course, now I desperately need to get him a couple of organizers/containers for the bands for his upcoming birthday.

so how about at your house? are the gifts they really wanted, the gifts that they're still playing with and enjoying?

[Julie Billingsley]

my oldest son wanted an electric blanket because he while he is off at college he lives in a scummy old house with practically no heat. Apparently he loves it. Haven't heard much about the other gifts he got, but at least he is warm!

my youngest son wanted Legos, which I knew was a mistake because all he wants to do is be on the computer playing Minecraft. At nearly 11 years old, I knew the lego days were dwindling. The one thing he messes with almost everyday are the rubber bands for making bracelets. I tossed a few packs in his stocking and he just obsessed with them. I should get him the loom for valentine's day, since he makes the bracelets by hand currently.

[catgoddess]

This big kid still loves her Legos.

[pewtertm]

Rachel's favorite was definitely her tablet w/ Minecraft on it. The Monster High 13 Wishes movie is still getting watched a good deal as well.

[rach3975]

That feels like forever ago--I had to look at my planning list to remember what we'd given the kids! The things still getting frequent use are a new computer (since the old one had the courtesy to break a few weeks before the holidays rather than a few weeks after, LOL), Legos for the 7 year old, a Pikmin video game for the 10 year old, and a horse toy for the 5 year old.

[LeeAndra]

No, not really.

DD4 asked for a Little People Klip-Klop Stable for Christmas. I haven't seen her play with it in a few weeks. Her favorite thing to do at the moment is come up with her own pretend games with her 45+ miniature stuffed animals. I also got her some Melissa & Doug sticker-y (you know, the kind that are supposed to come off and on like window decals) things that I thought she would love, but it's just ended up with 100+ little sticker-y things all over the living room floor.

SS11 didn't ask for anything for Christmas except a pair of expensive shoes. He got those which I think he wears (hard to tell when he goes back and forth between our house & his mom's). DH bought him a weight bench that I warned him would end up being an expensive coat rack (which it has), but the two of them did go see a WWE event and a pro bball game which were his other main gifts.

It's hard to buy either one of them gifts. SS just wants to have stuff, but he doesn't really care what that stuff is, kwim? His whole enjoyment comes from the five minutes of opening it and then getting to tell his friends abt whatever he got. DD has really grown a lot/into her own in the last several months, so her tastes and preferences have changed quite a bit, and I'm still trying to catch up.

[Jengerbread88]

My son is still playing with his Melissa and Doug felt sandwich set, the Lego Duplo Number Train, and the Kindle apps he bought with his Amazon gift card. He's also still watching Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas (despite it being February).

He has completely ditched his Super Buddies DVD, but I suspect he'll return to that soon. All of our play dough that came with his Melissa and Doug dough tools set is dried out, and I've put the tools away (and bought more play dough for future use).

He kind of experienced toy overload at Christmas... even though we all went pretty light (he got 2 toys from me, and then one toy from the grandparents, one from his uncle, one from great-grandma, and one from my ex boyfriend), he still couldn't find time to play with it all. For that reason, he's only just this week been re-given a gift he got at Christmas. I gave him the Melissa and Doug wooden pizza set, but he was so busy with the other stuff that he just never really noticed it. Last week he was really deserving of a reward for some extra positive behavior, and I pulled that back out-- and he LOVES it.

[MamaBee]

My son HAD to have a telescope and space stuff because he was obsessed with space.... yeah, the telescope really can't be used until it's like above zero at night and that will probably happen in July and the other space thing I got is a price of junk and I'm sending it back. Otherwise, the only thing from Christmas that he still is into is his art set from Aunt Jane (which I bought on her behalf), that stuffed animal that has lights on the back that make shapes on the ceiling... and the legos, some what... *sigh*

Now is his birthday is coming up and I have no idea what to get him... he isn't showing interest in anything - except for the Olympics and keeping score of everything under the sun.

[carrie1977]

Yep! My kids both got Rainbow Loom stuff and they each got a Kindle. They use both every.single.day. Mattie has become quite the pro with the loom. She makes these really complicated bracelets...the other day she made a snake...she made some flowers for a headband. She needs to go into business. LOL!

[lovely1m]

Nicholas has still been building and playing with the tons of Lego sets he got. Those are still huge. He also loved the notebook I got him with a picture of himself on the front, just a quick stocking stuffer thing. He also loves his rainbow loom and pulls it out every single day, but we have no clue how to make the bracelets yet. We just haven't had the time and when we do, he's busy building Legos.

He kept telling my dad he wanted this Power Rangers toy thing, it was big and I knew he would never play with it, but my dad got it anyway since he kept telling him he wanted it. Yeah, it hasn't left the box since he opened it, pulled it out and played for a few minutes.

[SeattleSheri]

Well, the Kindle we got for Xmas 2012 is still in good use, does that count? lol We bought the boys an Xbox for Christmas with games and they still use those. Thomas got headphones. They took a break for several weeks, but seem to be resurrected ... but we have a box full of gifts that haven't been touched since the holiday, so that's kind of sucky (and a waste of $$) ... so yeah.

[maryinaz]

DS1 got mainly clothes and a watch and he now has a new internship this semester, so yes, he is "playing" with those. LOL DS2 got an Xbox One that is used a lot I'm sure (up at college, so I can't witness it), DS3 & 4 got expensive headphones that they use for hours every day. I can't remember what else they all got.

As they've gotten older, I refuse to buy anything unless they specifically ask for it or it ends up not being used. Now the candy from the stockings? Still sitting around.

[Keely~B]

Youngest DD -The Rainbow Loom is still a big hit as is the iPod Touch from the grandparents.

My oldest got a camera that was her "dream come true", she loves it.

We bought my FIL a Kindle Paperwhite and although he swore he loved his used paperbacks and didn't need an eeader, he is in LOVE.

One thing that was a big hit and surprised us a bit, personalized self-address stamps. My girls, mom, and MIL are still talking about what a great gift that was. Who knew? I got a great deal on one of those Jane/Groupdeals/PickYourPlum type sites.

[rachaelsscraps]

We upgraded from Wii to WiiU this past Christmas. They love it and the new Super Mario 3d World game. Transformers and Legos are my son's other fave and my daughter loves her eleven million giraffe stuffed animals. She alternates between those.

[monia13]

Lego Friends (Olivia's house and street bakery) was a definite hit. My daughter started her Lego collection and wants to buy more sets.

[DawnMarch]

The WiiU upgrade is also a big hit here. Also my son got a GC to Barnes & Noble that he has bought a ton of books with. My daughter got Ugg boots and she wears those a ton. For me -- I got a new lens and ukelele that I have played with constantly!

[jak]

We still have stuff unopened since Christmas - guess they weren't a hit. But Star Wars Lego is still played with everyday (the minifigures at least). Next Christmas I am buying WAY less (says me now...).

[purple_colourz]

Rainbow Loom and books we're a bit hit for my 7yo and my 2yo loves her Lalaloopsy dollhouse.

[glumirk]

We did pretty good this year and the kids still rotate through their gifts. It's probably easier because they are 4 and 2 though. DS got his first small Legos, dinosaurs, and some Hot Wheels tracks. DD got a doctor kit, a diaper bag, blocks, and some princesses.