We are thinking about giving her some mathy gifts this Christmas and I haven't finalized the shopping list but my selection criteria are that they have to have multiple and long-term purposes, durable, fun to play with, and pretty enough to sit on the shelf. So Cuisenaire Rods that come in a wooden storage tray would fit the bill.
You could also get pattern blocks
http://www.edsco.com.au/products/product/B-015289?category=JRWJYBWJYears of use by my two out of pattern blocks. Love them.
Friends gifted us two sets and I was sure DD would use them for various purposes but no, she used them for 2 days to make different shapes out of the smaller pieces; she especially got a kick out of finding various ways to build hexagon but after that, she hasn't touched them.
We also bought her overpriced Tegu wooden magnetic blocks but she hasn't really taken to them yet. We have a children's museum near us where she can touch everything so I can get some clues to where her current interests are but then she could get over them in a matter of weeks if not days. I wish there were ways to rent these manipulatives or that there'd be a "library" for math materials.
I find the best math (and science) activities for her right now is cooking and baking but I feel a bit guilty that I'm training her to be a homemaker which is silly since if I had a boy, I'd want him to be self-sufficient around the house too.
It's interesting that many of DC on this board are better off without manipulatives. I learned math without ever using them but DD loved those colorful Montessori beads so much that she carried them everywhere. She also likes girly duplo blocks as well as fairy tale inspired Haba castle blocks so you know, it could just be that she likes colorful sparkly things. I wish I knew what goes on in that head of hers.
