Outdoor toys

I have had a slew of toys break recently some from rough play but mostly just from regular play. I am sick of replacing things.

Recommendations for new items that will stand the test of time and have good play value?

PS- this includes Little Tikes items that have broke!

I have a couple of those ride on cars, though for the life of me, I can't remember from what company. They're those plastic ones, with the door that swings open and a roof over....mine are red and yellow. Have had them for several years and still in good condition. I also have a little, toddler sized slide/climber....still in excellent condition after about 7 years. You can't go wrong with a sandbox and balls. I also was able to pick up a plastic alligator shaped teeter totter at Once Upon a Child for $15....still looks brand new. It seems like a fairly indestructible toy.

I have the cars etc but thank you. I am wondering more about smaller toys. Butterfly nets (toast), Making Mud Pies kitchen (toast), shopping cart (toast), water guns (broke when they were dropped).

The best things I have bought have been the Ikea sand toys (super durable), cozy coupes (red and yellow cars), wood sand box, little tikes slide. Everything else I seem to have to replace after a yr.

I feel your frustration, not just for daycare but with my kids' things over the years. I give up on water guns and butterfly nets. Or else buy them cheap so they don't cost a lot to replace.

I have quite a few little tikes things. I also have cruised garage sales and bought toys that we use outside. I figure if they stood up to a child's play and are ready to pass on, they are probably ok for daycare.

I had my dh build an outdoor mud kitchen out of wood and just added pots and pans, utensils, etc from Value Village.

I got some really nice magnifying glasses and tweezers from scholars choice. Pricey but good quality. They might have butterfly nets and other things.

I have little tikes and step 2 things and they seem to be holding up okay. I also buy used for most things and agree, if they've held up to be sold used than they likely have a good chance of lasting awhile.

My push tractors, cars, buses and trucks are almost all tonka. I buy pool/water/sand toys from dollar stores and have surprisingly not had to replace them yet. I find the dollar stores in the US, sometimes have things of better quality. My outdoor kitchen items are metal pots and pans that were donated by a dcgrandma, not sure where she got them from. The food items are plastic and likely a few will be thrown out come September.

I have a chalkboard and dollarama chalk that I clip to the fence, this has been a hit this year and I've even left it out overnight. The chalkboard was $1 at a yard sale but has no name on it, so I'm assuming it's just a noname one.

I have bought that push lawnmower that blows bubbles from walmart last year....I don't think it ever worked properly! (could be the kids using it wrong too since they run with it instead of a leisurely push lol)

My big balls are from walmart but all the smaller ones are from dollarama.

Anytime I see anyone being rough with a toy though, they are asked to play gently and I explain if it's broken it goes in the garbage and I won't be replacing it. Even the young ones seem to catch on to this fairly quickly. If they continue to be rough with it, the toy is taken away from that child. It's my inside toys that seem to get a beating more than the outside ones lol

Yeah my outdoor toys take a beating too...mostly the little stuff like shovels, nets, rakes etc. my bigger toys were all donated to me or bought used so like others said they have stood the test of time and they are here to stay. These include a picnic table, playhouse, wagon, push toys, tonka trucks...also bought a climber/ slide that is holding up well and sandbox my stepdad made me is also holding up...like I said for me it's the small stuff that always breaks and it's almost always wal mart stuff. Might try dollarama.

Fortunately, my daycare children and own 2 boys are pretty good with the daycare toys in terms of being rough and breaking them. I do find though, as we seem to be the hub of visits with friends with kids, older neighborhood kids/friends of my boys...they tend to be rough and that is when my stuff gets broken. I have one relative (who has 3 young boys); I cringe when they come over (always an unannounced drop in) as every single time they break something....she definitely does not supervise them, or hold them accountable at all for breaking things:(

I have tonka trucks shovels and pails for the sand box .... Big catchers from the dollar store (which I only expect to last the summer) soccer balls and rubber balls .... Hoops hoops, little tykes slide two other little tykes play structures which both have slides, two cozy coupes and two rock and roll and ride trikes, three wagons.... Stuff I but at the dollar store is cheap enough that I don't dare if it break but I don't replace till the next summer.

I expect certain things to get broken easily like shovels and pails, hoola hoops and balls. So I usually don't spend a lot on them. As for some other things I like the "old school" LT shopping cart, kitchen, water tables, lawn mowers etc. I find the ones from 3-10 years ago were made with a LOT more durable and thicker plastic and tend to not break. I also use bean bags, mega blocks and metal pots and pans.