Hellobee Boards

Magnatiles, dolls/doll stuff, trains & accessories, farm and animals-
I feel like around 4/5 is when small world play really gets going, and imaginative play expands. My daughter is 5 1/2 and for the last year or so she's enjoy setting up whole towns & villages- using blocks, silk scarves, animal figures, tree figures, trains, toy cars, etc.
Her dollhouse is also a favorite.

And art stuff- we let her have access to almost all of her art supplies, and that entertains her for long periods of time. Fun markers (check out the brand Oobly), washi tape & colored masking tape, dot paints, cool scissors, lots of stickers, etc.

Peacable Kingdom board games are awesome. And we like the Ravensburger puzzles a lot- she can do 100 piece ones independently now (but they are still a challenge), I think at age 4 the 50 piece were good.

@catgirl: http://a.co/d/dpj02Dr This is expensive but I'm really excited about it. You can get little road signs. We are going to make small wooden buildings (kind of like this: https://www.adventure-in-a-box.com/how-to-make-house-blocks-for-the-railroad/), and you can get little trees, etc. Would make a fun gift all together. My daughter really loves building trains, if you haven't gotten into those yet they could go nicely with this kind of "small world play" thing. Small people like the Haba or Plan Toys dollhouse people are great to have around, even without a dollhouse. We love the Holtziger wooden animals, but if you don't want to invest in those Shleich ones are good too!

Its actually a really fun age for toys- once my daughter started setting up towns and doing that type of play I found it easier to play with her. The repetitive imaginary play (another bite of the food you made? Thanks! Re-swaddling the baby...again) kills me.

Mine just turned four in September.

- candyland
- hi ho cherry-o
- chutes and ladders
- Zingo (but it’s sight words so the first few times we have played we don’t follow rules exactly because he’s still learning the words)
- shopping list by orchard toys
- basic memory games (any of the ones where you flip two cards and look for matches. We have a snoopy one)
- pop the pig is less classic but still uses numbers and colors. It’s very easy and not annoying to play as an adult.
- lets go fishing
- yeti in my spaghetti he likes this one but isn’t as into it as the others.

My daughter is 5 and plays with her dollhouse independently for hours. She also sets up towns and other things with it. It’s probably her most used toy (because she has an hour of quiet time in her room with it every day). I agree with everything @Silva: said- the imaginative play is kind of amazing (although my girl sucks at puzzles ). She and my 2.5 year old play with the play kitchen a ton and pretend they are shopping all the time, so I’m thinking of getting them a grocery market for their big combined Christmas gift.

And both my kids are obsessed with babies and playing family. They have elaborate set ups in the living room or playroom with 8 different babies or stuffed animals tucked in on different pillows and blankets for “nap time”.

My 5yo boy loves dress up, superheroes, chutes and ladders, old maid, twister, yeti in my spaghetti, guess who, and trouble.

@buttermilk: I am adding this to our list! Mine turns 4 this December and this sounds like even my 2 year old can play with!