Table of Contents
0-6 months
The biggest mistake in my opinion is overbuying at this age group because the toys are so quickly outgrown. Consider presents at this age to also be an investment in the future. Clothing and necessary gear are totally fair game because the truth of it is the presents are for the parents. I had a Lovevery subscription at this age which we loved.Some toys I like to give babies include puzzle name stool or simple set of blocks. Every baby needs a mirror!
A music set, although they may only shake the bells or maracas, this can grow with them through the preschool age. B-toys, fat brain toys, and a backpack full of instruments are some of my favorites though please consider the choking hazard aspect.
Toys with handkerchiefs are another favorite to facilitate peek-a-boo (object permanence!) and sensory experiences. This teether plus from sarah’s silk looks special. There is a whale with handkerchiefs or a pretend tissue box is certain to be a favorite.
A great set of balls gives your baby something to grab and focus on during tummy time.
At this age, it’s mostly board books at this age, see my book list for some ideas. Also the black and white flash cards can be nice for tummy time or crib time and soft fabric “books” can be fun toys for the stroller.
6-12 months
Children go from sitting to on the move in this age range and begin to be slightly more purposeful in their play. I still like the thoughtful, high quality Lovevery subscription.
A push cart type toy with a collection of blocks of blocks or this fun one that will later be used as an ice cream store. An alternative to this that will get a lot of use after 1 year is a baby stroller and a baby. Boys can really enjoy this too! A tunnel for new crawlers, a shape sorter and stacking cups
Toys with cause and effect features – like this xylophone .Bath toys are great fun like the nice collection of letters and numbers.
One consideration, is whether you’d like to invest in a Pikler triangle. These wooden climbing toys look like they are for older kids, but in the waldorf school they encourage using as young as six months and they can still captivate interest in older children too. This can encourage climbing, gross motor skills and open ended play if you have the space and the budget.
12-18 months
This is a great age for a ride on toy especially one that can be pushed to help develop balance. There are many with favorite characters or you can get a balance bike (mobo or strider) with the stand for practicing rocking in to get used to it.
Watching cause and effect is still really fun. This race track is a great example. This may be random, but this egg set has colors, matching shapes, and squeaking and seems to delight a surprisingly large range of children. This car with little rainbow figures is a favorite of mine to give as it facilitates open ended play.
We can start to do more art, an easel with dot markers is a great way to start.
Books at this age should be highly interactive Matthew van fleet or books incorporating noise or lift the flaps are particularly engaging.
18 months – 2 years
This time period is big in so many ways, children experience a language explosion and a ton of new practical skills (mastering stairs, kicking and throwing etc). Balls, basketball hoops or goals (and other gross motor toys) are practical ways to encourage these skills. Kids can start to distinguish shapes and colors making a shape sorter a fun and useful toy. The art and sensory toys listed in a separate section are really helpful starting now. A balance bike or scooter with helmet can be great to introduce now.I would recommend a classic collection of nursery rhymes for all kids this age. My favorites include this one which has popups, this one with beautiful illustrations and classics, or this one with the quirky illustrations from Richard Scary.
2.5 years
In the pre-doll house stage, kids can really enjoy animal figurines and playing with this barn. A play kitchen with toy food and a shopping cart is an investment in money and space, but quite often will enable play for years. This food slicing set is a favorite. Children in this age range love “helping” and mimicking. Cleaning toys like this crumb clean up kit can be big winners.Often kids can be engaged in a more complex puzzle at this age like a letter puzzle. The smart max magnetic building sets can be fun and relatively easy for kids this age to play with, they have a ball run or a vehicle set.
Beginner board games like Don’t break the ice, feed fuzzy, or first orchard can be fun and developmentally valuable in the 2+ group. This one seems particularly magnetic for little hands.
Regarding books, some kids transition easier to longer books than others. Personalizing a book with their name and picture in it can be really exciting at this age as developmentally, they are all about themselves!
3 years
Dollhouse is a wonderful way to play through emotions and everyday life experiences. Enriching imaginative play. Extend the use by getting high interest figurines whether it’s Peppa pig, Mickey mouse, super heroes, or figurines with more diversity.
Three year olds need a lot of physical activity and movement to facilitate good sleep and behavior. Facilitate indoor obstacle courses with this balance beam. Stomp rocket can cause delightful squeals and lots of running around. Most three year olds can handle a tricycle although balance bikes seem to be recommended for easiest transition to riding a two wheeler.
3 is a great age for puzzles which help with manual dexterity and spatial reasoning. This puzzle also incorporates the alphabet and animals for extra oomph. Some with buttons and zippers can reinforce practical life skills.
At this age, I love to encourage using hands to draw, paint and create. This is fun and serves to strengthen hands for the work to come. Some kids are easily frustrated by inability to execute what they’d want, and sometimes materials that require less commitment ie. Draw on / Wipe off placemats, aqua doodle (draw with water) or this cool LCD tablet can be helpful.
Guess who, matching games and this shopping cart game are fun ways to mature in ability to wait our turn and use new language skills.
Entering peak picture book age! Puppets or manipulative can be a fun way to extend understanding of the story like the crayons to go with the classic when the crayons quit or this felt set to go with the book The color monster.
4 years
Four years old might be peak toy age. I love to encourage toys to facilitate the imaginative and creative play that is becoming increasingly complex at this age. This play is so valuable for children. Puppets or puppet theaters and dress-up cloths are wonderful gifts. A fort building kit can also be a great way to extend and enrich this kind of play. These magna-qubix blocks have been a favorite of my kids and encourage 3-D thinking. Legos are also a big hit at this age, but can be choking hazards. Activities which encourage tearing and scissor use can be great at strengthening hands for pre-writing work.5 years
We think of development as “finishing” when kids go to kindergarten, but obviously that’s not the case. 5 year olds are maturing in their ability to tell a story making story cubes a great gift. A story drawing book or activity book can reinforce new writing skills in a fun way.
Balance is continuing to develop and along with increasing ability to focus, more children may enjoy yoga. Whether you are zoom schooling or home schooling, some manipulative to use with homework can be helpful such as cuisenare rods, a watch or play money. We see during this age that socially and emotionally friends are increasingly important. Activities to do with friends will be likely to be a hit though everything is different in a pandemic. Action plates or Fashion Plates. Legos and Snap circuits are great gifts for this age. If picky eating is an issue, children’s dexterity has developed and they can play more of a role in cooking and food preparation which will help. This book of food science experiments might be a fun way to get the ball rolling. Children this age still loves sensory play so check out the category below for some ideas.Board games such as Mancala, Monopoly jr, Uno or qwirkle, battleship.
Magazine subscriptions can be fun at this age. Highlights is a classic or National Geographic for Kids is awesome. Some special big kid books like Greek Mythology, Rebel girls, or this book about travel are great.
6 years and up
I would love to provide more thoughtful recommendations for older kids but I am out of steam and time. I also think that personality, preferences and lifestyle result in a huge range of gifts which will bring meaning and pleasure. Normally I love to recommend experience gifts, but these are harder in a pandemic. I’ll just add that while presents are for pleasure, stretching our children’s interests can provide opportunities for growth. Sometimes children are only into sports or only into art, and some toys to cater to those interests are great, but when you can find a toy that bridges an existing passion into a potentially new one I think it can be a truly excellent gift. Some examples, a book loving star wars and super hero expert may show a new interest in art if provided with an activity book or drawing book relevant to those topics. A baseball lover may discover a love for reading if introduced to the right sports chapter book series. A tween who has only been on the screens, may take a break to work on the right lego kit or set to build a robot. When so many children are struggling, gifts to round out emotional life in addition to skills bring value. If your child has been lonely, toys that may promote connection may be particularly useful such as games you can play together or apart. If your child is anxious, gifts that may promote mindfulness could help like the big life journal, yoga, or activities to promote feelings of flow (large building sets, puzzles, coloring books, knitting, pottery etc).Stocking your art cabinet and fostering creative play
Holidays can be a great time to stock your art cabinet with dot markers, chalk, paint sticks, water color pencils and other materials. Alcohol ink and Yupo paper is a unique one many kids probably haven’t tried, but best for older kids as it stains. A few years ago I used this great post from Kristina Toddler approved to re-think my art supplies and make them more organized and accessible, but this kit would be a good “one stop shop”. Good quality paper – reams of easel paper for younger kids or notebooks of art paper for older kids. It can be fun to purchase or print comic-book paper or get “story paper” that has dedicated space for writing. These blank hardcover books are also really special. Washe tape, stickers and stamps. Beading kits or jewelry making sets.Dress up clothes, doctor’s kit, explorers vest, and puppets.
Fine motor / Academic
For hand strength… A peg board with rubber bands or activities requiring screwing can be helpful. Pearler beads require a lot of dexterity. Jewelry or beading kits can be fun too and sometimes encourage thinking about patterns. Sometimes kids are hesitant to draw because they can’t do it as well as they’d like. Tracing can be a fun way to encourage practice. Rainbow scratch paper is also fun (and they make bookmark kits too). For Math… Having a set of manipulatives in the preschool / early elementary age is helpful. Counting bears facilitate a lot of activities. Bedtime math books are favorites for us. Card games, Yatzee and Battleship can cement key math concepts. A few math specific board games look promising although I haven’t tried them yet, for younger kids Tiny Polka Dot and for kids multiplying and dividing prime club. For literacy… For kids working on phonics and early reading these word family blocks are helpful. Zingo is a classic board game for sight words that kids love. This magnet board for tracing letters is fun and educational. They have open ended drawing ones too which would still strengthen hands. Other games like Hedbanz and story cubes can help with communication skills. For kids interested in science the color science kit has a ton of activities. Science activity kits or subscriptions can be a nice gift too. I haven’t tried these, but they look fun. If your child is learning a second language (french, spanish, german, or italian), these beautiful books / learning kit subscriptions are a fun way to facilitate. Chess has been shown to improve academics, and it can be a fun thing to learn together as a family. Music is a wonderful way to foster creativity, fine motor skills, and math skills. An introductory instrument like this roll up piano may be a fun way to introduce.Sensory
Sensory toys have the ability to help with picky eating or children who have strong preferences for types of clothing. Sensory play can be anxiety-relieving and grounding after a day with a lot of screen time. Mirrors or mirror balls, Rainmaker rattle Slime, Water beads, Kinetic sand, Play dough, with a tray, water or sand table. Stepping stones or obstacle course supplies. Wavee board or balance board or Rody bouncing horse Outdoor reading swing, canoe, tent or comfy reading chairGross motor
Core outdoor play toys like a bike (and helmet – check Two wheeling tots for recommendations), a jump rope or sporting goods including: balls, bats, rackets, bases, goals etc.
A toddler slide with a ladder. Stepping stones / Balance beam, obstacle course supplies. Or for older kids Ninja line course– works best with a “wave walker” line.
If your preschooler is new to long walks, outdoor exploration and hikes, the backyard safari kids can be fun!
For active indoor play, a wavee board (1-7) or the pilker set (6mo -5) described are great open ended options. The Nugget couch is popular, but hard to come by/sold out. If you have the space a monkey bars tower is a great gift for a climber. Twister and yoga cards are other ideas for indoor fun.
