Great Gifts For Toddlers

Today I thought I'd share with you a few gift ideas. These are all toys that we plan to buy for Brian at some stage. It just so happens that, as we don't buy many toys throughout the year Christmas is the time that I really think about upgrading to help him develop and learn. And now is the time to pack away the toys he's outgrown.

Kevin and I are a fan of simple basic toys and we put a lot of research into finding the best toy to suit what we are after. Generally we are looking for classic, long lasting, versatile toys that mix up the fun and educational values.

I hope that you can take advantage of some of our research and find some perfect solutions for the littlies you are yet to buy for on your Christmas list. All of these toys are great for toddlers, most of them boys or girls. Where I can I've included prices and where to buy to make things that little bit easier for you.

Family and friend's please don't read this as a "please buy for Brian list". All of these things are on my current radar and I will swoop and buy at any second if I find them at a good price! It's also nice to have a record (all in one place) of the things I've been thinking of and researching.

Here we go:

Ashton Kids PSET2 Kids Percussion Pack

Image: Allan's Music

At 2 1/2 Brian is really into singing, dancing and music in general, much more so than he was a few months ago. His ear for music is surprisingly fantastic and I'm doing my best not to drag him down to my horrible level! He doesn't own any musical instruments at present so the mix of this set is just perfect for him.

I actually picked this up at Allan's Music a couple of months ago. They were (conveniently) clearing them out so I scored it for $20 (on their website for $29.95, but instore it was marked $34.95). It contains a hand drum with jingles, two egg shakers and a metallophone (from what I gather the difference with a xylophone is it has wooden bars, these are metal).

Melissa & Doug Fishing Magnetic Puzzle Game

Image: Melissa & Doug

This is on my (Brian's) wishlist. I first saw it at one of Brian's friend's places and thought it was fantastic. I love that it mixes up having to place the pieces in the puzzle with using a pole and magnet to actually "fish".

I have found this online for $15 but am hoping to find it in a retail store for the same price. I'd like to avoid shipping costs.

Play-Doh Sets

Image: Toys R Us

Brian's current range of play-doh consists of one container of doh with a mould in the lid, so I'm pretty keen to extend his range. When I was younger (and by younger I mean about 12!) I had a Play-Doh tea set which I absolutely loved to death. It had a tea pot where you could mould your teabag and lemon slice. You could also make little cakes. I used to sit in the garage for hours making little goodies and pretending to sell them at my store. I really don't want to know what 12 year olds get up to these days!!

At this stage my thinking is that it's best to stick away from food related playsets for Brian, as I don't want him eating the stuff. But the more I look the more I find that the food sets are so much more versatile, imaginative and fun. We'll see where we end up on this one.

Edited: Thanks to his Uncle Shane Brian will have this set at Christmas. He's going to LOVE the blueberries! 20% off at Target til the 8th December, meaning we got it for $20, even cheaper than Amazon! Wow.

Mega Bloks

Image: Toys R Us

Kevin and I both love Lego so we have been holding out for the day that Brian is ready. He's absolutely loving his "bricks", but only has 6 of them (they came with a Mega Bloks truck which was a gift). Brian's gym have some Mega Bloks and he's just loved playing with them of late. On Wednesday morning Brian had his bricks in the bathroom while Daddy was getting ready for work. Kevin asked Brian "What are you doing?". Brian's reply was "I'm building something". I'm pretty sure that melted Kevin's heart because he told me right then and there that he'd be happy to get him some Mega Bloks and that as much as we would like to enter the whole Duplo arena, it's best to save our money for the real stuff - Lego of course!

Toys R Us have a bag of 100 pieces on sale for $29.99 until 5th December. See picture above.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King Book

Image: Amazon

We are big book lovers (more so children's books than novels lately) in this house. Brian has heaps and heaps of books and I'm not sure we can stop adding to his collection! Part of our yearly Christmas tradition is to visit the Myer Christmas Windows and look at the display. This year it's The Nutcracker and every year Myer also sells the book behind the story in the window. I love the idea of collecting these each year. Truth be told I'm probably more in love with this idea than our budget will allow, although it is only $14.95. As yet we haven't collected any of these books. However I did pick up The Nutcracker (retold by Gaby Goldsack) from Big W for only a few dollars. I like that Brian (and I) will be familiar with the story before our venture to the city.

Radio Flyer Deluxe Canopy Steering Trike

Image: Shopping.com

This will hopefully be Brian's major present this year. He absolutely loves his plastic trike (at Nan and Pop's house) and his ride-on Thomas (at our house, also a gift). Brian has mastered the "super flying trike riding", the kind where you almost pee your pants to get out of his way in time, but he's got it totally under control. The swift 180 degree turns are pretty mind blowing!

I was after something fairly basic that would also last. Key requirement was a parent handle (that is removable) as this will be an outside bike. We don't have anywhere to ride it at home so it will probably be a "let's ride it to the train with Daddy" kind of deal. Toys R Us have this for $129.99 but I'm crossing my fingers (and toes) that it goes on sale before Christmas!

Mega Bloks Tiny 'N Tuff Garage

Image: Amazon

I have mentioned to some family that Brian is REALLY into anything with ramps and anything with doors. If one toy has both then it's just the bee's knees! Our Playgroup has one of these garages and I don't think they are available anymore but something similar would be just perfect for Brian. I love to see the little boy in him drive cars up and down the ramps and hear him make that TERRIBLE noise that he makes for every single door opening and closing (also his toy phone opening and many other things that really don't require noise!) The sound is that bad I've had people stop me in the supermarket and ask how I deal with that all day long. It's the best way to clear the checkout line! We have a little deal that if I say the door needs oil Brian "pretends" to put oil on the door, then it opens and closes much quieter. The problem there is that "pretend" oil comes off just as easily as it goes on and that door is noisy again only 3 seconds later! Brian also knows how much the sound annoys me and he now makes it louder while looking at me and laughing!

Santa surely won't be bringing this gift but if we're lucky it might be something we pick up with some Christmas money early next year.

Plastic Outdoor Golf Set

Image: Amazon

My brother and I had one of these as a kid and it was great fun, except when our (much younger friend) would hit us over the head with our own golf clubs! The set contained a bunch of plastic rings (showing my lack of golfing knowledge here) that you would peg into the grass and this would be your hole. It also came with flags to clip into the circle, so you could see them from a distance. As well as the mandatory clubs, balls and tees. I think our whole family would have a blast outside with this. Now I just have to find the "perfect" one. I'm not picky much!

Preparing a list like this sure does make it look like a lot of things! Brian won't be getting everything here for Christmas. We like to keep it to one big (major) gift and a couple of little things, the kind of things we would have bought whether it was Christmas or not. Let's face it, kids grow up so fast and their needs change so quickly.

Mega Art Box

Image: Deals Direct

Another thing I'm thinking about which would make an awesome gift if your budget is higher (probably the $50 to $100 mark) is an art area. My idea is to buy a plastic 5 drawer storage unit ($24.86 at Overflow and Dollars and Sense until 12th December) which will live in Brian's closet. And then fill it with our art supplies. We already have a growing collection but if you are doing this as a gift and you live in Brisbane check out Reverse Garbage in West End. They collect clean garbage (offcuts, etc.) from local businesses and sell it to the public. You can fill a small bag for $5 and all of the materials (fabric, film canisters, cardboard cylinders, paper offcuts, twine, etc., etc.) are just perfect for collages and pasting projects. Fill up a couple of the other draws with some Clag Glue, cotton balls, paints, crayons, old egg cartons, cheap colouring in book, etc. and you have the perfect gift for any child.

I hope my list today has given you some ideas. Kind of makes me wish I was a child again! Be sure to tell me if you have any other great toy ideas.