What's hip in imaginative play toys these days?

After watching my two year old have his little fire truck shop at the grocery store (a building that came with a train set) for fruit and medicine, I think he needs some more imaginative play toys. We have a couple "Little People" sets but he doesn't seem to dream up scenarios with those, he just puts the little people up and down the slide at the park, and the horse in and out of the farm door. He does, however, love his play kitchen, and making us soup in his kitchen and feeding it to us.

So I'm looking for a toy I could get him for Hannukah that would capture this spirit, and I was thinking about getting him a doll house. I've found one that looks pretty nifty, from back to basics toys. But I don't know if it's worth the money, or if a doll house is really going to capture his imagination anyway or if it's yet another subconscious plot of mine that's all about exposing him to atypical toys for his gender and more about me than him.

Can anyone recommend a toy along these lines? Ideally something wooden or just Not Plastic or if it must be plastic, Not Garishly Colored? And nothing too big, it should fit on a table.

Comments

[jo(e)]

That dollhouse looks pretty cool. It's so hard to tell what kids will play with, though. Imaginative play is so unpredictable. Spend a lot of money on a toy, and next thing you know, the kid will be spend all his time happily unraveling a roll of toilet paper instead ....

[Kristin.g]

I'm sorry, he makes soup in his pants? How terribly imaginative, I suppose. = )

[Cynical Mom]

See, part of the toy thing is about me... i love playing with toys! And I don't get as jazzed about toilet paper or a cardboard box =) And I get tired of helping make up games.

As for soup in his pants... no idea what was going on in my brain for that one. Changed to kitchen. :-)

[Karen]

We gave that one to Emily for her first or second birthday. It's a big hit, very cute, and folds up small enough.

The one I really want is the wooden fire house. :) Liam's getting a little old for that sort of thing and has the castle from the ILs, but I really love it. Have to find you a link...

[dave s]

If you haven't read this, well, you gotta:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41917

I was carrying boy #1 down the street, he was 18 months old, and a large truck went by. Cars had gone by with no apparent interest. Suddenly every fiber of his being was twisting to see this thing. Boy #2 largely the same, we thought we knew something about kids, then we had Girl, and pink and spangles and Barbie came into our lives. We had some notions of gender-free etc in child rearing, but they have not survived the collision with reality.