Forget stuffed animals - buy some puppets

Stuffed animals have been a favorite of children, since the first "Teddy Bear" appeared in the early 20th century. Puppets take the fun even farther when the stuffed animal has a mouth which can be controlled by the child or adult playmate. Very often the front feet move as well. In the Manchester Branch, favorite puppets are a large T-Rex, with scary but totally harmless teeth, a turtle which disappears into its shell, alligator with a large movable jaw, and a snowy white owl whose head rotates. A large variety of puppets are available through Folkmanis.com. The selection includes; pets, farmland animals, rain forest animals,extinct animals and probably some you haven't thought about. While some are pricey, the smaller hand puppets start at about $12. At the Manchester Branch, the children ask for puppets and create their puppet stories and play. This imaginative play encourages positive social interaction and lots of excitement.
In my own family, my nieces and nephews have started to place a special puppet order for birthdays & Christmas.

A Bubbly good time!

For an inexpensive good time stock up on bubble containers & wands found in toy or dollar stores. Unhappy toddlers will often times not only be distracted, but delighted to see bubbles floating before their eyes. Soon the child will reach out to catch and pop the bubbles. Join in on the fun.
Bubbles are also useful on a long family car ride (longer than ten Minutes) for a passenger to use. Hey it might even clean up those ever present juice stains on the car seats.

For older children and hours of outside fun try David Stein's, How To Make Monstrous, Huge, Unbelievably Big Bubbles. Stein's book contains his special, patented bubble wand which really works. The book and wand are available from Amazon for about $12.00. Book stores and of course toy stores will probably also carry Stein's book.