Like me, you are wondering what gifts you want to give to your growing toddler. I have burnt a lot of midnight oils going through articles and finding the perfect holiday gift for my daughter, who is 20 months old now. This is why I am creating this simple holiday gift guide hack that can help you and many others.
We give her holiday gifts from 3 categories – Books, Toys, Clothes. I already have a post on her clothes here.
Books
Our daughter is very much into books these days (she gets that from me!), so we give her a few books every month. Holidays are no exception either. She has these books, and some of them are used so much we had to get new ones. (None of the links is an affiliate.)
- All the world by Liz Garton Scanton
- Dear Zoo (Books)
- Little penguins – Cynthia Rylant
- Sandra Boynton’s greatest hits
- The going to bed book – Sandra Boynton
- Moo, Baa, La la la – Sandra Boynton
- Little you – Richard Van Camp
- I am a bunny
- Whistle for willie
- You are my I love you
- Where is spot
- Wheels on the bus
- Chica chica boom boom
- First 100 box set
- Brown bear, brown bear what do you see?
- Baby sees color
- Press Here (Books) (Not liked much!)
- Alphablock (An Abrams Block Book) An Abrams Block Book (Books)
- I Love You to the Moon and Back (Books)
- The Gruffalo
- Corduroy
- Little Green Box of Bright and Early Board Books (Bright & Early Board Books(TM)) Bright & Early Board Books(TM)
- The Little Blue Box of Bright and Early Board Books by Dr. Seuss (Bright & Early Board Books(TM)) Bright & Early Board Books(TM)
- (Lift the Flap Books, Interactive Books for Kids, Interactive Read Aloud Books) Peek-A-Who?
- VTech Musical Rhymes Book, Red
Seeing her interest, I got her two book subscriptions for Christmas – Literati ($10.57 for a set) & Bookroo ($17.95 a month). Stay tuned for a review on this.
Toys
I struggled the most here.
Anouk has (soon to be had) a Loveevery subscription. While she enjoyed her quarterly share of toys from them (sustainable, organic, natural) – toys were repeating a lot. Most older months’ toys were a different version of the younger months’ toys, and my daughter is getting bored of that. So, as she spends nearly 11 hours indoors, we thought of getting her toys that will pique her interest.
She got a bike for hannukah from us. This is from Radioflyer. However, my daughter has difficulty reaching the pedals, so she gets frustrated a lot. However, she likes to get on/off, and when we push her with that handle (where you can navigate the way you want!), it works out great. Also, our place is less than 900 square feet, and the living area is close to 700 – so this is getting as much used as possible.
We got her her first Legos. She has not that much interest to build yet but she still plays with them for a solid chunk of 15-20 mins here and there. My husband has only given her 40 pieces out of 200.
Before I share some more toys ideas for this holiday gift guide, I noticed that kids have to introduce a toy multiple times unless their kiddo is terrified of that toy. For example, my daughter is afraid of Modi Toys Ganesha, so we packed and kept it in a storage unit. Secondly, don’t expect the kid to play with one toy for more than 15-20 mins and that’s ok! At this age, they like to do many different things, and it’s good to foster that.
Mind you; she never plays unsupervised! We don’t show her the right way to build something, but we offer her tips and tricks of the building so she does not get frustrated. She plays with toys in her way, which fosters imagination.
Patience is the key! My dad and I are incredibly patient, so she loves to play with us.
As we got her Trike and Legos for Hanukkah, we wanted to get her something simple for Christmas.
Coloring is another favorite activity of hers. At this point, our walls are painted with her crayons, and we love it that way. Also, these crayon colors can be easily removed from TV, furniture, and walls. They both can be found on amazon Easily.
She already got too many soft toys (a few favorite stores are Vermont Teddy Bear and Fao Schwarz), so we skipped her giving her now. Instead, we are giving her cars (as she is into that!), pushing toys etc. Sharing a few links below.
Pull Alligator Toy she loves dragging. This was a gift from her aunt.
She got a few other toys from Maisonette.
Name of these toys are – Chunky Alphabet Puzzle, Charlie Car, Push Along Hen, and Musical Llama. I also got her a simple puzzle.
I also want to share a favorite toy store of mine which is local. Essential Montessori has a lot of Montessori toys that help to stimulate your kiddo in the right way.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to toys like there is not one way to raise a kid.
Also, not all toys have to be educational too. There are a lot of articles available online – Baby Center, What to Expect etc. However, when it comes to her products, we like to pick pieces that are not China-made, made with less plastic, and less colorful. That is our personal preference completely, so I spend hours finding these toys for her.
My husband grew up with hand-me-down toys and fancy toys from all over the world. I grew up with cheap plastic toys from India. This is how our parents showed us love and we felt loved. No matter what you give them, they will be happy and feel loved!
I sincerely hope this holiday gift guide can give you some ideas.
