A different kind of gift guide: minimalist-minded gifts for all budgets - Part 3 Gifts for Children
Welcome to the third (and final) instalment of this 2021 different kind of gift guide. Here we’re focussing in on the little ones in our lives - you know, the ones that typically get showered with a whole mountain of gifts?!
Like with the previous two gift guides - Book Gifts and Gifts for Adults - we are trying to keep things simple, and I’ve put in a lot of ideas for every budget.
Let’s go!
I’ve split the gift ideas up into approximate age ranges for your convenience; but some will be appropriate for any age. Note: I’ve focussed on the younger end of the spectrum (up to around six years old, because this is what I know!).
Oh, and before I forget: make sure to click the button below and pop in your details for instant access to my gift giving list framework (a little guide to take you through from initial ideas, to budgeting, to wrapping and giving the present).
Gift ideas for children – Zero to 1 year
Books
Books are such a great gift that bring hours of enjoyment (even a newborn can enjoy listening to a story). Here are some of our favourites:
Each, Peach, Pear, Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. It’s a classic! My eldest son loved listening to this as a tiny baby, and now (at four), still comes over and joins in when I’m reading it to his younger brother.
Peter Rabbit Finger Puppet Book by Beatrix Potter. My 1.5 year old loves kissing the Peter rabbit that pops through on every page!
Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin and Illustrated by Eric Carle. Another classic that both my sons have loved. This Slide and Find version looks engaging (especially for those closer to their first birthday).
My friend Kerstin has recently published a beautiful bedtime story called So, Sweet Dreams and Goodnight (she wrote and illustrated it herself!). This might be a good option if you want something unique and want to support an indie author.
We gifted this Touch Think Learn ABC Book by Xavier Deneux to one of our nephews and he loved it. It calls itself an ‘interactive board book’ that has cut out sections and raised elements, encouraging little hands to explore.
Peek-a Who? By Nina Laden. My second son’s Aunt and Uncle gifted him this book last Christmas (when he was 10 months old) – it has been a runaway hit! You could even go for the boxed set, which also includes: Peek-a Zoo! And Peek-a Choo-choo!
Toys + other gifts
I also love these busy cubes - they are compact, educational, and provide hours of entertainment. Again, maybe best for babies that are closer to one.
Both my sons have loved these Tomy Toomies Hide and Squeak Eggs. It’s such a simple toy, but they’ve managed to be so imaginative with them.
An extremely budget friendly gift is: Bubbles! ALL kids love these (and they’re consumable). Even small babies will enjoy looking at them.
Various knitted things never go astray in my opinion. Whether it’s a beautiful cosy blanket for a newborn, or mittens (which always seem to go missing!), or beanies. Buy something, or (even better) make it yourself.
Especially for a newborn (but really for a child of any age), I love the idea of this The Stars Above birth poster – it’s a poster of how the stars were aligned on a specific date and place.
Gift ideas for children –1 to 3 years
Books
I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree – A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year collected by Fiona Waters. I bought this book for my boys last Christmas and it is stunning. It is beautifully illustrated and it contains a wide range of poems from lots of poets. Most are quite short, so perfect for the short attention span of a 1 – 3 year old! There is also another one: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright – An Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year, which might also be of interest.
Press Here by Herve Tullet. This is such a simple book but it is so much fun – an interactive book that is great for learning how to follow simple instructions. Both my sons have loved this book.
Pete the Cat – I Love My White Shoes by James Dean (no, not the musician). This is the first book of the Pete the Cat series. It’s fun, interactive, and will get little ones recognising colours in no time! Again, a hit in our house. There’s also a Christmas-themed one, which would make a perfect Advent Calendar gift.
The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. This is a book I loved as a kid, and so of course I had to buy it for my sons. My four year old loves taking out the letters.
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. This book is a hit for a reason – beautiful words, a fun adventure, and amazing illustrations. What more could you want? We also enjoy the sequal, The Gruffalo’s Child, as well as others by the same author: The Snail and the Whale, and Room on the Broom.
For something unique and personal, why not create a personalised story book for the little one you are buying a gift for? I especially like these Where are You? Save the Multiverse! ones.
Toys + Other Gifts
My eldest son has gone through numerous versions of these Water Wow books by Melissa and Doug. It’s the fun of painting, without the mess!
Along similar lines, activity and sticker books never go astray (and kids use these up quickly). This dinosaur and dragons colouring book looks good, as does this under the sea sticker book. And this very hungry caterpillar magnetic book would be so much fun. These scratch off books have also been a hit with my eldest.
Puzzles have been really popular with my eldest son since he was around 2.5 years old. He really enjoyed these ones from Haba at this age. Although, he quickly outgrew the 24 piece and moved on to the 48 piece (but he still enjoys doing the 24 piece ones even now at 4 years old).
This is also a great time to introduce some simple games, such as this Obst Garten (fruit garden) game, again by Haba. I discuss this in more depth in my mammoth indoor activities list here.
Beleduc: My eldest son was so captivated by this when he discovered it at his cousin’s house when we visited Australia (when he was around 18 months old). It’s so simple, but it’s mesmerising.
Chalk: yep, it’s the simple things with this age group. Again, constant refills are always welcomed!
This elephant shape sorter is really cute (we have one that was gifted to our first son when he was around 1.5 years old). You have to push down on the ears to get the shapes out (which fall through the trunk).
Play-doh. Again, it’s something that sort of gets used up after a while (ours tends to get a bit dried out and the colours get mixed up). But there are also a whole bunch of sets – such as this ice-cream machine.
I love the idea of these cute LED projector lights – especially at this age I think it would be so much fun!
Costumes have been such a big hit with my eldest – he has quite the growing collection, including: a devil, shark, lion, and a Catboy PJ Masks mask.
Pompoms and a tweezer set. We have this one from Helping Hands. My eldest has loved picking up pompoms (and various other small things) with all the different types of tools, and my youngest loves carrying around little cups full of pompoms.
Gift ideas for children – 4 to 6 years
Books
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton. This book looks so cute and could be very interactive. It also comes in board book form for the little ones.
Something’s Wrong!: A Bear, a Hare, and Some Underwear by Erin Kraan and Jory John. Haven’t read it but it’s supposed to be really funny! I have a feeling my four year old would love this kind of humour!
The Snail with the Right Heart. This one is by Maria Popva who writes the incredibly popular blog Brain Pickings. It looks beautiful and really interesting.
Maybe by Kobi Yamada. I haven’t read this book (or any others by the author), but they look really whimsical.
This Animalium book by Jenny Broom is absolutely stunning. Any kid that loves animals should own a copy of this book. There’s also an Animalium activity book, as well as a poster set, and a postcard set. But there are also multiple other books in the series, including: Dinosaurium and Planetarium.
Although I haven’t read this book, Little Sweet Potato by Amy Beth Bloom, it sounds really, well, sweet.
This Book is a Planetarium by Kelli Anderson is an interactive ‘pop-up extravaganza’ that ‘transforms into six fully functional tools’, and seems like the perfect gift for a budding scientist.
Another gift for the budding scientist is the Smithsonian Maker Lab. There are plenty to choose from in this series, including this one that contains 28 super cool scientific projects.
I love the sound of this interactive book – it’s a ‘choose your own story’ type of adventure – What Should Danny Do? By Adir Levy.
My eldest loves the classic search and find book, Where’s Wally, but he also really enjoys this Star War-themed variation, Where’s the Wookiee?
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was one of my favourite stories as a child. I bought it for my eldest and he loves it too!
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy. I’ve heard about this book multiple times, but I haven’t read it yet. It looks perfect for this age range, and adults too. As the description says, it’s ‘a book of hope for uncertain times.’
I love this idea of making your own book! This particular one is unfortunately only available within the US, but basically you fill out the provided pages with the child’s words and artwork, send it off, and then you will receive a real bound version of the book.
Toys and Other Gifts
Slightly more complex games – for example, memory cards such as these Animal ones or Match these Bones : A Dinosaur Memory Game – are a huge hit at this age.
Puzzles of the more complex variety. My 4 year old has this glow-in-the-dark dinosaur puzzle that he’s had a lot of fun with! There’s a whole selection of them: rainforest, fairies, outer space…
Although he still needs help and supervision with it, my 4 year old also loves his carpentry kit. It comes with a little hammer and wood and nails – everything to make a bunch of creations.
Mål paper have an Affirmation Card Deck for kids – I think this would make a fun and unique gift for those at the higher end of this age bracket.
These FS Objects Balancing Blocks are a little pricey, but do take the idea of blocks to a whole new level. They look beautiful as well.
Fairy lights and other decorations for their room. Kids this age are really all about having their own ‘things’. This could be a good idea to avoid buying more toys.
Bouncy balls! Seriously – both my sons have an obsession with bouncy balls. A great stocking filler.
Since he’s so obsessed with space right now, I’m considering buying my four year old a telescope for Christmas. This idea might work well alongside this book: 50 Things To See With a Telescope – Kids by John A Read.
Again, costumes are always a hit with this age range as well.
Gift ideas for children – All ages
I’ve noticed that some things have been a hit from baby-age to 4+, so I thought I’d include these ideas in a separate category.
Art supplies: think paint, crayons, textas, stickers, any consumables. Even babies enjoy finger-painting!
Both of my kids have absolutely loved (and found many ways to play with) this indoor basketball hoop. You can keep it short and it can grown in size with the kid, and it comes with a little ball.
Lego – both my sons still enjoy playing with basic Duplo. You cannot go wrong with this classic toy!
Magnetic tiles. Again, my sons love these and they really get to flex their imagination muscles. Even my younger son (21 months) likes to join pieces together (supervised, of course).
Musical instruments are a hit at any age: maracas for a young baby, to violins for older kids.
A ball run tower – my kids were gifted a more deluxe version of this one – and they both have so much fun: the four year old likes to build intricate towers, and the 21 month old likes watching the balls roll down.
These Schleich animals are so beautiful – there are many options to choose from.
This looks super fun: you can create stickers out of photos. I think my four year old would love to have a collection of the whole family.
The Puffin Classics Deluxe Collection looks like a beautiful way to start a more grown-up library for young kids. Even babies and young kids like listening to stories, and then they can read them themselves as they get older.
These bookplates are so beautiful, and they have lots that can be personalised.
Experience gifts: Think passes to various places such as, the zoo, aquarium, art classes….
I hope you’ve found some great items to gift your mini-loved ones. Even if the items are not all available in your country, I hope you’ve at least gotten some ideas and inspiration for gifts that are fun, minimal, and don’t cost a fortune.
If you are still stuck, here are some further gift ideas for kids:
Money, either for now or for their future. They can either have some fun at the toy shop or put it away to save for something later.
Ask the parents (if you’re buying for someone else’s child): they will be able to give you options, and also ensure that whatever you do end up buying isn’t something the child already has.
Toy swap/rotation: In the spirit of being more minimal, I like the idea of a group of cousins or friends getting together and swapping some toys around (either forever, or just on loan). A lot of kids I know don’t actually need more toys or things, so this could be a great way to curb the accumulation of things.
That rounds off Part 3 of this different kind of gift guide. Remember to check out Part 1 – Book Gifts, and Part 2 – Gifts for Adults if you haven’t already. And stay-tuned for a little bonus post about what to do when you are stuck and don’t know what to buy.
What was your favourite book or toy as a child? Leave your answers in the comments below!
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