Toddlers. They’re so hard to buy for at times aren’t they? Stuck in that strange stage where they’ve outgrown baby toys but not quite old enough for the vast majority of others. I’ve found this age (18 months) the hardest to try and sort. Will he understand the bigger children’s toys? Will he find that one boring? It’s a minefield! Thankfully, after some rather extensive hunting, I think I’ve found some answers. Here are my top gifts for toddlers for 2017…
Leapfrog Read With Me Scout
Scout’s bright green coat immediately draws toddlers in, even if it does hurt my eyes slightly. Packaged in a display box with five books, Scout ‘reads’ the books aloud before asking questions at the end of each page to promote interaction and communication skills. Scout responds to being patted (and prodded), kissed on the cheek and having his paw squeezed, all things which will help build a relationship between toddler and toy. Read With Me Scout is aimed at toddlers aged two plus but our eighteen month old seems rather taken with him despite not fully understanding what’s required at the end of each page. A really lovely (and substantial looking) gift for just £24.99, it’s the perfect way to keep both parent and toddler happy!
Children’s Wooden Utensil Set
We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and most of that is spent wrestling wooden spoons, rolling pins and all other utensils away from little hands so that we can use them. This children’s wooden utensil set from Sous Chef is the perfect size for mini aspiring chefs to use in the kitchen; whether that’s helping you bake, using in their own pretend kitchen or just making noise! Help instil a love of cookery from a young age with this set for £9.50, it will last them for years to come.
Hape Tactile Wooden Puzzle
Whilst we’ve had wooden puzzles for a while, we’ve only really started to get into doing them together. I’m loving our Hape tactile wooden puzzle (we have the forest animals one); it’s got perfectly chunky pieces designed for little hands that are removed to reveal the textures of the animal underneath ready for your toddler to feel. Yes, they’re slightly harder animals than your average farmyard but a great way to introduce new creatures, even if I do now need to learn a hedgehog sound. Available for £14.99.
Toddlebike2
If you’ve not seen our Toddlebike2 review yet, go have a read now! It’s the ideal gift for any toddler (the key thing being that they can toddle confidently!) and won’t break the bank. Lasting them from the beginning to walk stage right through until they’re ready for a ‘proper’ bike, the Toddlebike2 is available in three colours. Buy it today for just £23.95, use the code BLOG17 for an extra 10% off before Christmas.
Kingdom of You Book
Books make up an important part of our day and the personalised range from Wonderbly are no exception. Last year we were given a copy of ‘The Little Boy Who Lost His Name’ and loved it so much we’ve bought ‘The Kingdom Of You’ book for this year’s stocking. Pick the character closest in appearance to your little one, their favourite food, their name and watch the book come to life populated with little snippets about them. It’s a great story and one that they’ll grow into given that it’s aimed at 3 year olds. We’ll be fighting a giant piece of pizza in our kingdom for the next few years at least! Confused? You need to check this company out now. You won’t be disappointed. Available from £16.99.
Hape Bath Toys
We love a bath but recent reports have made me wary about grubby bath toys after a while (ours have gone black inside!). We’ll be splashing (!) out on some new bath toys with these Bath Mitt Puppets and Happy Buckets from Hape. You can’t ask for better value for money than Hape when it comes to kids toys that will last. We’ve been impressed every time and I know these will be a huge success! Bath mitt puppet from £9.96 and bucket set from £10.40
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