Every holiday I struggle with what gifts to get for my daughter. Each year is different and comes with its challenges. i also see multiple posts a day on my mom Facebook groups about other mom’s struggles on what they should get their kids! I decided this year I can search through our favorite online shopping store like Amazon, Target, and Etsy to find the most creative gift ideas for both our sons and daughters.
Personally, I am not a huge fan of gift sets with small items to keep up with. Anything with an excessive amount of part or toys makes it harder to keep up with! I prefer gifts with minimal parts and pieces that can bring just as much joy. After purging my daughters toys I have vowed to get minimal “toys” and to try (key word here is try!!) to focus on toys that can sparks imagination and independent play.
I am so excited to share this list with other moms and dads to hopefully bring fresh and new ideas. Feel free to contact me if you have any new ideas to add or to reach out if you found something you think you little ones will love!
- DRESS UP
At my local kids museum, The Grace, there is a small theatre stage for the children to imagine so many fun things and the costumes get switched and filtered out often. My daughter was once obsessed with the construction worker vest and hat and it made for the cutest photos!
2) ROLLS OF PAPER AND CRAFT SUPPLIES
This one might makes you scratch your head. How can this be fun? Well, my kid HATES coloring books. I have tried so many. Animals, her favorite characters, different themes, non of it works! However, my girl loves to color on this type of paper letting her creativity flow. Add some of your Crayola favorites (seriously stick with Crayola, completely stain free and easy to clean) like markers, washable paint, crayons, water colors. Not only will it be cute to see them open a gift bag full of creative fun but I can almost guarantee at least 20 minutes of “mom time.” Just tape this paper to the floor, wall, or the dining table as let them go!
3) TOT TUBE
This Tot Tube is the perfect gift. See how far the toy cars will zoom out or how long the bouncy balls will roll away! We bought this awhile ago and I swear by it. Watching my daughter build up a couch cushion wall to see how high she can angle the tube to see how fast her toy animals will fall out is so adorable!
4) ANIMAL CRAFT KIT
This one was an immediate hit. This set comes with everything you will need for each craft. Each project is organized into it own folder and ready to go. We have the crafts displayed throughout the home until out little ones played with them until they cant be displayed anymore!!
5) MAGNETIC TILES
Now I know what I said about toys with a lot of parts. But these are easy to gather up because they stick together! My daughter loves building towers with her smaller toy animals stuck inside then likes destroying the towers to rescue them. Picasso Tiles are the exact same as the leading MagnaTiles and come in about $10 cheaper! She is playing with her magna tiles as I type this!
6)DRAWSTRING POUCH FOR TOYS
This drawstring pouch makes for the perfect storage for toys. Grab a few and hang them up and out of the way on a door hook or go to Hobby Lobby and grab some fun knobs for these to match with. Amazon has several options on these but this brand has the best reviews!
7) BEAN BAG STUFFED ANIMAL STORAGE
This is one of the new items we are getting my daughter this year for Christmas. I am not a huge fan of the classic corner net to hold stuffies. Mostly because my daughter plays with her stuffies 15 times a day! This will make clean up and storage a breeze and then she can use it as her own chair. How fun is that? Again, Amazon has multiple options for this item but I like this brand’s color options!
9) SEARCH AND FIND DRY ERASE
My girl surprisingly loved this right out of the Amazon box. I was searching for something fun for us to do together that specifically wasn’t a toy set. These are so fun and she will just keep going onto the next page once she’s finished. I enjoy knowing her mind is working to find all the listed characters and items!
10) CRITTER CLINIC
https://www.target.com/p/b-toys-toy-vet-kit-for-kids-critter-clinic/-/A-76155786#lnk=sametab
I love that this Critter Clinic offers a small storage for the parts that come with it. I am not a fan of loose toys everywhere. We also enjoy putting puzzle pieces or other smaller toys in the locked kennels for her to find an unlock.
11) WALKIE TALKIES
I think the idea of walkie-talkies is so perfect. I remember riding bikes around the military base I grew up on, using walkie-talkies to communicate with my friends. This is another one of the items we are going to be getting for my daughter this year for Christmas. I found a lot of children’s walkie-talkie devices but what I like about this set is there is only one button for communicating. No need to worry about being on the right channel or messing with the volume!
Staying at Home with Sarah 