Oh yeah, I had that book when I was that age. Absolutely awesome. The mammoths everywhere were great although I think I really only appreciated them when I got older.
BUT! Be careful not to get the utterly awful “How Stuff Works” book (or more than one?). They’re age-appropriate to a 2 or 3 year old. More superficial than Richard Scarry’s “What do People Do All Day?”, which though surprisingly detailed is still around 5-year-old territory.
Legos are a pretty important staple; you definitely want to cover the basics before going for the fancy stuff. Also, I recommend avoiding the lego sets that come with instructions and special parts for making specific things; stick to buckets of bricks and let the kids freely generalize.
I agree, but you also want some fancy pieces that you usually only find in sets. Having a couple of fire pieces from dragons and gears from a mediocre car set made lego twice as awesome!
If she doesn’t already have something like it, I’d recommend a big box of legos or K’nex (Approved by My Childhood).
Depending on her level, various popular “The Science Of” books could be up her alley, or one of the “The Way Things Work” books.
Ah, I almost forgot! The Klutz books! The Klutz Explorabook was pretty awesome, and they’ve got some other good ones too.
Oh yeah, I had that book when I was that age. Absolutely awesome. The mammoths everywhere were great although I think I really only appreciated them when I got older.
BUT! Be careful not to get the utterly awful “How Stuff Works” book (or more than one?). They’re age-appropriate to a 2 or 3 year old. More superficial than Richard Scarry’s “What do People Do All Day?”, which though surprisingly detailed is still around 5-year-old territory.
Seconded (or thirded). One of my favorite books as a child as well; it was one of my first thoughts on reading the original post.
Thanks, guys. I had not heard of these books. I will look into them.
Legos are a pretty important staple; you definitely want to cover the basics before going for the fancy stuff. Also, I recommend avoiding the lego sets that come with instructions and special parts for making specific things; stick to buckets of bricks and let the kids freely generalize.
I agree, but you also want some fancy pieces that you usually only find in sets. Having a couple of fire pieces from dragons and gears from a mediocre car set made lego twice as awesome!