What are you getting your toddler for Christmas/Holiday Gift Giving?

[OnEarth]

I'm starting to look at gifts for DD, who is 20 mo. I'm planning on getting her one of the wood kitchens on amazon from educo, and some play food to go along with it.  think she'd be happy even if I didn't get her anything at all, just more time to bake, go out for walks, jump on the bed, read books. I'm wondering what everyone is getting for their LOs. Anyone do a minimalist gift giving? It's not really a religious thing for us, more tradition, and I know she'll be getting stuff from the rest of the family. Everyone loves shopping for children.

[Honey693]

DD is getting a few books, a toy vacuum and some art supplies from us.  From my grandma she's getting a pass to the local indoor play place.  She doesn't need anymore stuff so I'm trying to steer people towards experiences.  Or socks.  This kid goes through socks like crazy.

[OnEarth]

 Honey693  This kid goes through socks like crazy.

Mine too, where do they go, and how does she manage to destroy them?

I like the experiences idea, it's just hard to convince them not to buy more STUFF. A zoo pass would be great!

[AirMiami]

We're getting a membership to the children's museum here, baby doll furniture, art supplies, and puzzles or a shape sorter. I think 4 or 5 gifts to open is perfect. Her stocking is going to have panties, lotion (where did this lotion obsession come from), a coloring book, and maybe a few edible treats. 

[carmel23]

Originally Posted by AirMiami 

We're getting a membership to the children's museum here, baby doll furniture, art supplies, and puzzles or a shape sorter. I think 4 or 5 gifts to open is perfect. Her stocking is going to have panties, lotion (where did this lotion obsession come from), a coloring book, and maybe a few edible treats. 

I think I'm getting my little one a membership to the children's museum as well.  We had one a year ago, but it has expired... and since he is #4 he has tons of toys. 

That and some new, additional wooden blocks.  All of my kids love blocks, and he loves them, too.  I figure that way he can play with them forever. 

We usually do 1. something they want, 2. something they need,, 3. something to play with 4., something to read... but for the baby I think we will do 2 through 4...

[crunchy_mommy]

We are doing 3 gifts (symbolic of the gifts Jesus received from the wisemen) and a Twelve Days of Christmas stocking.

I *think* we've decided on the main gifts -- all homemade -- a teepee, felt food, and a cloth doll -- not absolutely positive on that though, may change my mind or find something great at the thrift store! And I found these nice little wooden Animalz on clearance so I have 11 of those for his stocking, not sure what the 12th gift will be!! We are trying to keep Christmas cheap & minimal (last year all his gifts were from Freecycle)... he doesn't really know the difference at this point anyway... the grandparents tend to go VERY overboard so I'm almost tempted to give him nothing but that would just be sad! I love the 'experience' gift idea, I would totally do that if there were something afforable nearby!

[greenbeanmama]

We're getting our 14-month-old a play tree house (doll house in tree form).  It's waaay too old for her.  Why is she getting it?  Because it's really for her older brother, but if it's "hers" instead of "his" then he'll be more willing to share with her!  She gets the tree house, he gets the family and furniture.  Hopefully there will be enough pieces to minimize the "hey! I had that and she snatched it right out of my hands!"

Oh, they'll also get books, art supplies, a CD, and way too many toys from Grandpa and Grandma.  Oy.  Gotta start sorting through the playroom now.

[elmh23]

We're doing lessons for the big kids.  The 6-year-old will be getting dance lessons and the 3-year-old will be getting swim lessons.  He would live in a pool if I let him!  They might get a couple of other small things from us, but possibly not.

We do stockings on December 6 (St. Nicholas Day, we're Catholic) and they'll get new pajamas, some books, some music or a religious dvd, some saint cards and some religious coloring books.  I just discovered a kids section at one of the local Catholic stores so I'll spending more money than I would if I had ship everything, lol.  There will also be candy, I'm sure.  

[brennan]

We're doing very minimal for Christmas as well.  She just had her birthday (yesterday!) so she doesn't "need" a bunch more stuff.  She will be getting clothes for the doll that I made her (simply because I didn't have time to finish them except for a simple dress), a hoodie that I am going to make for her and a bird feeder.  She loves birds so that's going to be her big present.  

[Thrifty917]

I doubt my kids will be getting anything from family, other than my mom who lives with us. I don't have any other family that I talk to, and my husband's family has so many people in it that no one gives gifts or else everyone would go broke! LOL!

So we are going all out for Christmas (by we I mean my mother and I, and in a way my husband since I will be taking money from his wallet, haha. He doesn't really get into Christmas. It seems spending copious amounts of cash on your kids is an American thing and he's not American.) by getting a few big things for both kids. So far we have decided on these:

For the 3 yr old girl

KidKraft Grand Gourmet Corner Kitchen

Yookidoo Fill N Flow Spout

She is also getting a bunch of Tinkerbell bath and tooth brushing accessories.

For the 1 yr old boy -

Melissa & Doug steel shopping cart

He is also getting a blue umbrella stroller for dolls, and an 18 piece Black and Decker tool set with hard hat, goggles, and tool belt.

We'll probably pick up a few more little things, but I am THRILLED! I've been doing all of my shopping online and have gotten good deals. The total for everything so far is around $260 including tax and shipping and I am *done* Christmas shopping! I can't wait to play with their stuff, LOL! Oops, I mean I can't wait for THEM to play with their stuff. ;)

[peainthepod]

My 2yo would LOVE that Fill n Flow Spout--thanks for the suggestion!

Our toddler's birthday was last week and the house is practically filled with toys, so we're not eager to get any more. I don't know how to stop the neverending cascade of sheer STUFF that comes in the mail; it's getting out of control. I'd like to get him one toy, maybe, but he's still in the "throwing everything at everyone" stage so toys with small hard parts (like a play kitchen) are out, which is a bummer.

I believe one can never have too many books, however, so he's getting a good pile of those (he's obsessed with books, especially those I Spy board books) including the complete Where's Waldo? collection, which I think he'll love.

We'll also get a family membership to the local health club so that we can use the indoor pool all winter. And we're going to get him some little skis and a helmet and DH is planning to teach him to ski at the local ski mountain. Fortunately, the resort has an awesome lodge where I can sit and drink hot chocolate and knit by the fire and hang out with my newborn while they play outside.

[tzs]

i'll probably get some fun stuff for dd (i'm thinking toy accordion, battleship for the bathtub, or a lawnmower or wheelbarrow...) but my niece's 2nd b-day is coming up and after spending time looking through all the toy options i realized what would make her super duper happy is a fun winter hat. boring gift to give but she's in that phase of loving to dress herself and last visit here she spent the whole time trying on my kid's winter hat and showing everybody. they have cute handknit animal ones at wholefoods but i'm thinking she'll be just as happy with something from target with a pompom on top.

i'm sure cute socks would be equally appreciated by this one.

[starling&diesel]

We're going super low key, being that our place is small and DD's birthday is in January. 

I don't think we'll give her anything big, but she'll have a few presents from other family members to open up. 

We'll do a stocking with art supplies, bath bubbles and 'big girl' underwear, and a couple Schleich animals (her current obession).

We were going to give her a balance bike, but I think we'll keep that for her birthday.

[blizzard_babe]

OMG, DS1 will go nuts for that bathtub spout. He never wants us to turn the water off in the bathtub.

We're going pretty low-key. He's getting a sweater-hat-mitten set knit by me, we're going to make him a few "Memory" games (one with extended family members' pictures, one with local plants and animals, and... we haven't decided what else) and a few store-bought gifts.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe 

OMG, DS1 will go nuts for that bathtub spout. He never wants us to turn the water off in the bathtub.

DITTO!! That thing looks great! DS is getting lots of trucks. A tow truck, a trash truck, an excavator and dump truck. He is also getting a Plan Toys parking garage for all of his matchbox cars. For his birthday he is getting a Thomas the train Duplo set that I got at a consignment sale. I think I'm going to have to add that bathtub spout to the list!

[tabrizia]

I'm getting DD and DS each a stick horse from here ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilsgarden?ref=pr_shop_more ).  I am also going to get DD, who is 20 months old,  a doll sling to go with the doll bed I got her from IKEA and the doll that I got her.  She'll also get a puzzle, a few books, 2 outfits (dresses), the start of a dress up box, and 2 magnetic dress up dolls ( http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-24-Piece-Princess-Magnetic/dp/B000IEBY30/ref=pd_bxgy_t_text_b ).  It sounds like a lot, but we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, so she needs 4 gifts for Christmas and 8 for Hanukkah.

[Mal85]

I just did my Christmas shopping for DD who will be 22 months old for Christmas. She is getting two Little People sets, a big tub of Megablocks, a play tent, an ornament and some kind of stocking stuffer. DH is also building her a table and chairs as her big gift. Oh, and a book about using the potty since she's really starting to show interest in that. Last year, we did the something she wants, needs, to play with, and to read thing. It worked well, but we really needed to re-stock her toys this time. We haven't bought any in a very long time and she's really outgrown a lot of what she has.

Her birthday is the first of March, so I'm already thinking about what her gift will be for that now that the Christmas shopping is done.

[blizzard_babe]

If gift-givers struggle with giving experiences because "There's nothing to open," there's always something to give that somehow represents the gift. A YMCA membership and a new swimsuit, a zoo membership and a t-shirt from the zoo or a sun hat to wear at the zoo, children's museum membership and a new paint smock, etc. Cuz... I get it. Watching someone open a gift you've chosen with love is FUN. I like giving gifts at the holidays more than receiving. But I've sat through too many Christmases (and DS1 has only had two Christmases!) where it's just gift after gift after gift. It loses its "specialness" and I think that gifts lose their impact after the first couple. I can tell that the gift giver just walked around the toy department and thought, "DS1 might like this, might like this, might like this." I'd much rather one really well thought-out gift than the bonanza of random stuff that really isn't all that personalized. Yes, DS loves vehicles of all sorts. That doesn't mean that walking through the toy department and grabbing everything car-related is the right toy-buying philosophy. How about a nice box of Legos/Duplos? Then he can make anything, car-related or not. I'm excited for Christmas this year, because... family is coming to visit us (well meeting us in Anchorage). By plane. Luggage fees. As a result, they're opting for a few big-impact gifts. My parents are giving DS1 a children's digital camera. Still not sure MIL will be able to resist... she might go on a shopping bonanza when she gets to Anchorage. BUT, we'll all be together so DH and I will be able to mitigate it somewhat.

[Magali]

So far Toy Story 3 stuff all the way in our house this year, plus a few books.

[Poodge]

A wooden play kitchen, felt food I plan to make, and play kitchen accessories. DH parents bought him a Cozy Coupe and I am not sure what my parents will get him.