Melissa & Doug

I pretty much like any product Melissa & Doug comes out with.  I have several puzzles (farm, pet, and safari animals, 51 piece floor puzzle of the United States) and two boxes of wooden blocks my daughters got for Christmas last year.  My oldest daughter has also played with the magnetic dress up dolls and enjoyed that.  The products are wooden and high quality.  Most products have a low rating on HealthyToys.org, although I found a few (specifically the plush/stuffed toys) that have medium ratings.

We also have the Melissa & Doug responsibility chart for my 3 year old.  We use some things that she can already do independently (like brush teeth and get dressed) for freebie smileys, and then a couple things that she is working on (like no complaining/whining, keep hands/feet to yourself, and my favorite house rule LISTEN & DO which we wrote on the extra empty magnet).  We review her behavior at the end of the day, and she has to earn a certain number of smileys by the end of the week in order to get a reward.  Rewards vary from a new book, puzzle, DVD, trip to the zoo or movies, or spending special time with a certain parent doing something fun…like a bubble bath with mommy or playing a board game with daddy.  The daily smiley reward and the end-of-week reward system has worked well for us.