A friend of mine who lives in my building is about to have her third baby (a surprise baby they weren't planning for!) which will give them 3 under 5. I know this is a stressful and overwhelming time for her as her husband juggles full time work and the MBA program, so I'd like to pop down randomly throughout the week and bring her two oldest kids up to play with my own in my apartment while she has some one-on-one time with the baby.

We don't have many toys, and certainly not any that work well for the three of them. I don't like turning the TV on or just letting them play with the ipad the whole time, but there are going to be times when I can't engage with them constantly while they are here.

Any suggestions for toys I can purchase or boxes of fun things I can put together to entertain them?

I'd like to spend less than $50 on whatever I buy.