toys/gift ideas

[StrongFeather]

If you are into gift giving this holiday season.. I am just wondering what is at the top of your list for gift ideas. Can you also reply with your LOs age as well, so I can get some ideas for the rest of the year

I am a first time Mom and wondering just what to get my DS for Christmas, he'll be 4 months then, but I figure at 6 months is when he'll really start playing with and enjoying toys..so I plan on buying.getting what I can for the upcoming months.

I like natural toys, wooden toys, and educational stuff best, but all ideas welcome! (I have learned what I like is not alwasy what's best )

[JessieBird]

For a six month old - I'd say blocks, blocks and more blocks! My DS has tons of toys (all simple with few bells and whistles, mostly natural materials) but a basket of blocks has been the hands down favourite for months now. Other hits for us from about 8 mos and still going strong are maracas and other simple musical instruments. It is so cute to see them boogey to their own tune!

Mine will be 13 months at Christmas and the big spenders in our family are buying him two substantial items - a wooden kitchen (he has gravitated towards kitchens at other kids' houses since about 9 mos) and a Mountain Boys sled that I can pull him around in once it snows.

[texaspeach]

ds will be 16 weeks at Christmas too. on our list are sophie giraffe (though honestly it looks lie a glorified dog toy ), a stacking rings set, a deglingos doudou, some soft blocks, and a zoo membership.

oompa.com has a pretty good selection and you can browse by age group

[Mama Khi]

Any more ideas? I am trying to think of something special DH and I can give DD for her first Christmas. (She'll be 6 months old.)

[Pogo0685]

From us my ds (he will be almost 11 months old) is getting dr suess books and I'm goingto make him a doll and one of those square cubes with shapes cut out and the little shapes for him to put in the cube (did I explain that right? Sorry its way to early for me) and a blanket and I'm trying to figure out how to make him a toy rack/holder for the car. From "santa" he's getting a set of musical instuments from nova toys he's getting a drum, the glockenspiel (sp?), warbler whistle, coconut clave sticks, basket shaker and the jingle bell bracelet. My parents are getting him a toybox with shelves and my inlaws are getting him some wooden puzzles and clothes. I really like to plan everything out way ahead of time so I don't rush the week before christmas, so most everything is already bought just sitting in the closet waiting. What I can't figure out is what to put in his stocking....

[justKate]

Two big hits with DD (9 mos.) right now are stackable rings and a "shape sorter" something where you put the different shaped blocks into something roundish and then they come out to be put in again. She also likes a big inflatable ball. We have a (plastic) photo album with pictures of family (g-parents, uncles, cousins) that live out of the area. We take this to restaurants and let her look at it while we look at the menu. It's a hit and cleans up easily.

[akayerich]

My lo's 10 months now, and has been in love with his wooden ring stacking toy for months now. He can't actually stack them yet, but he loves dumping them off the peg that you stack them on and then playing with all the rings. He bangs them together, throws them around, puts his fingers in the holes and waves them around- actually they're more like discs with holes in the center then rings. He also has some little (like 2 inch diameter) balls that he also really likes to mess with. Other fun things are board books- he likes when we look at them with him and also likes to just flip the pages and play with the books by himself.

[OTMomma]

My dd will be 4 months at Christmas- so far she's getting a Haba teething ring/rattle toy- lots of theirs are great. She'll also get an amber teething necklace to wear and some cloth diapers. I also recall my oldest loving a set of the cheap plastic stacking cups from BRU at 6 months- I tried giving my ds a wooden set, but they weren't as cool since they couldn't go in the bath. I need to try to find a set that is BPA free- anyone know of a set like that?

For a boy- a nice simple wooden car would also be good- its amazing how early boys like those type of things. My dd has ds's to pay with, so I don't worry about those for her right now.

[OTMomma]

I just found some BPA free stacking cups made by Green Sprout- sold at Amazon for about $6, so baby will definately get a set of those in the stocking.

[MommyToElla]

my dd is 10 months. i got her sophie the giraffe, a pound and roll wooden ball set, the green toys dump truck, and green sprout stacker cups and teether keys. one of my fav's for this age that we already have are the wooden stacker from nova natural (the colors are so amazing) and the wood car with 10 little people in it. my in-laws gave dd her present already since she is trying to walk... it's the radio flyer wooden push wagon from l.l. bean - she loves it!

[ourdayourjourney]

for my first child's christmas, we gave her a stuffed puppy and a puppy dog book. oh, it was so simple then that was 5 1/2 years ago. this year, i'll be making a gifts, buying handcraft supplies, and my husband insists on buying things from the big type toy stores.

my little one will be 10 months (currently loves a stainless steel bowl and a wooden spoon). i am making him a wooden stacking toy, some felted balls and some wooden rhythm sticks. (i almost purchased the coconut clave sticks from nova, but I knew I could make them) and i purchased a wooden place setting. the big sister is giving a hand-dyed peek-a-boo playsilk to him

Some toys your little one might be using in the future is also a great gift, like a shape sorters, a pounding toy and wooden blocks are always a wonderful gift. also, a bookshelf is a beautiful gift and very practical. maybe a few baskets to hold toys

and i laughed texaspeach. sophie is like a glorified dog toy. i almost died laughing when i first heard it squeak. and my dogs would love to get a hold of it

[javilu]

my son will be nearly ten-months-old at xmas. he'll be getting (from me, anyway) a soft baby doll, stacking cups, and a warm hat.

[MadiMamacita]

top on my list is a subcription to new moon magazine for girls- but i don't know any girls in the age range (8-14)

for the baby we're hoping to get a babyhawk mei tei and some hemp prefolds. some spongy nerf type balls maybe since hes starting to like playing with balls. i love wooden blocks, so maybe some of those. baby will be almost 11 months at xmas.

oh yeah, and i'm making him a stuffy out of one of his tiny little newborn outfits.

[JudiAU]

Classics include stacking cups (Ikea has a cheap (safe) plastic version for about $4- DS's favorite toy for about six months), stacking tower (cardboard is lightweight), wooden ring stacker, lovey, pounding toy, simple shape sorter, (for later) a push toy of some sort, soft blocks or soft ball, and something that makes noise, like some of the well-designed haba rattles.

We have all of the above and the only thing I am getting DD (4m) is a nicer set of Haba discovery blocks that DD (2/5) will instantly swipe as his own. Instead she'll be stuck with some well washed toy of his. =)
We limit plastic and I am all about nice natural toys but choose the natural/wooden toys carefully for a young babe. Many of them are really heavy.

[Koalamom]

I got something similar to this or my baby who is 4 month old now. I tink he will still enjoy it in a few months too. It is easy for his to hold unlike many natural wood rattles that are too big around
http://www.geniusbabies.com/skwish.html

[blumom2boyz]

dd will be 6.5 months and for christmas, she is getting a wooden bowl/spoon and a set of wooden stacking bowls. She already has an assortment of toys...things I bought for her with money given to us when she was born...a teething rag doll, a little "flower" friend (waldorf doll face with flower petals), a wooden teether and rattle, and two smaller playsilks (she LOVES these). Other things I would add is some simple, word less books, soft balls (knitted is nice if you know how) and some blocks. Babies really don't need a lot of things, you will be amazed at how long they keep themselves occupied with a spoon and a pot!

[Beene]

Originally Posted by OTMomma

cheap plastic stacking cups from BRU at 6 months- I tried giving my ds a wooden set, but they weren't as cool since they couldn't go in the bath. I need to try to find a set that is BPA free- anyone know of a set like that?

Ikea has a lot of great cheap wooden toys and safe plastic toys. Stackable buckets and cups, shape toys, pushing toys, stackers, e.t.c. They are so wonderful and cheap! I kinda went nuts....

[pinksprklybarefoot]

I'll be the slight voice of dissent here. Every kid is different.

We have three great sets of wooden blocks. They have only recently started to get used (DS is almost 3).

We had quite a few soft baby toys, plastic baby toys. Meh. The only thing that got any love was a plush Infantino giraffe. Those rings that connect toys to things (like diaper bags, baby carriers, strollers) were an excellent purchase.

We had a beautiful cardboard stacking tower... DS chewed it up.

We have quite a few instruments... I could freecycle them and no one would know the difference. They were never a hit.

For the first couple years of his life, DS mostly played with the vacuum cleaner and a couple of electric fans we had, "plugging" them into various couch cushions.

But, OTOH, my mom gave DS a beautiful natural wooden train set two years ago, and only recently has it really come into rotation. He was too young to really get how to keep the cars connected. Now it gets played with daily.

This time around, I am trying some stacking cups and Sophie. That, those plastic rings and an owl that attaches to them.

[Super_mommy]

For 6 months old, rattles is the best option..

Other than that try organic wool felt blocks,snuggle pods,magic cube....

[dislocator3972]

Originally Posted by Mama Khi

Any more ideas? I am trying to think of something special DH and I can give DD for her first Christmas. (She'll be 6 months old.)

What about a membership to the butterfly museum? It's a short drive from Boulder and always warm!

There is a great toy store in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver where I always went for gift ideas.

Kazoo Toys