There are several very cool toys and activities available for toddler and preschool aged boys. Some of our families favorites are Thomas the Tank engine products, Lori Berkner music, and Leapfrog learning systems. Many of these items are great beginner items that follow the child as they get older. The Thomas the Tank engine products are an especially great grow with me toy. We have VHS tapes, DVDs, wooden track and engines, plastic sheds and destinations that are compatable with the wooden system. We also have Take Along Thomas die-cast engines to take with us in the car - these are great for vacations or longer drives. They are easy to clean - fun for little ones to play with, and in our case our two preschoolers love to communicate and make believe together with their stock pile of Take Along Thomas engines.

The Lori Berkner CDs and DVD are super ways to get little bodies moving. They are upbeat and fun to sing along with, also a great way to hold attention spans when in the car. Lori Berkner can be previewed on Noggin, she has singing breaks on the channel several times during the daytime hours when preschool programming is on. Our favorite song is We Are the Dinosaurs - we have quite a stomping and dancing routine. What a lively jingle!!

Leapfrog has more and more learning systems. They are continually growing their product line.  We currently have a Leap pad learning system and a Little Tad. Little Tad is a little frog with color/shapes on his belly - the computer prompts you to pick a shape or color and will tell you what you pick, or it can be set into question mode when it asks the child to pick a specific shape/color.  The Leap Pad is great for kids learning about reading an math. It has games, reads stories, and several different activities. The Leap Pad system itself has a stylus, which stores offer replacements for that are quite reasonably priced, these can be something to personalize your system or to replace a stylus which has become damaged. Ours was replaced due to damage, our cord was severely pinched repeatedly by the kids shutting the notebook without replacing the stylus in its designated holder. The books are fun and interactive, cartridges are easy for little hands to handle and exchange. The only thing I would change is that the preschool books be made of a thicker paper or be coated with some type of anti-rip material. I have taped ours back together where rips have occurred and the stylus still reads thru' the thicker packing tape that I used.

Thomas the Tank Engine offers many different products. There are clothing lines, room decos, VCR tapes, DVD's, smaller die cast models, wooden models, bigger preschool toys that are re-designs of traditional preschool toys, birthday party theme items, and many other fun and interesting things. If you can dream it, its probably been made at one time. Several people have told me that they bought their first Thomas items for their 2/3 year old boy and that the child is still playing with them at 8/9 years old. They seem to be a great item to grow with your child. The best thing is that the imagination is used extensively with these toys. The child can watch a movie and replay the scene, or make up their own story. eBay offers several great sellers that new Thomas items can be purchased from for a fraction of what the big box toy stores offer. I still suggest a visit to the big box toy stores, they usually have a train table set out with several dozen items where the child can play and see what its all about. We, as parents, have found several favorites to our collection by these visits. We see what the kiddies like and come home and buy for later gifts. It also gives you as a buyer an idea on their prices vs. eBay sellers prices.

Thank you for your time. Keep eBaying!