Creative gift ideas for 2?

[OTMomma]

My youngest child will turn 2 next month, and I need some ideas. We already own all the blocks, play kitchen, dolls, and usual stuff from the other 2. My best ideas are for accessories to play dolls with, because that is her favorite activity, but I will probably let family get those for her, because it is easy to find. So I need some ideas for gifts to be from me and dh that are less common. I love things that are natural, fair-trade and organic, but dd could care less and I don't want to rule something out based just on that.

All ideas are appreciated!

Peace,

[sewaneecook]

I discovered early on that the grandparents buy more than enough "stuff" for  the kids to open, so we've started doing experiences rather than gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc.  Some favorites have been:

-Memberships to local attractions (zoo, aquarium, kid's museum, etc.)

-A night out in a hotel in a nearby city (using DH's hotel points and doing all the free or cheap things we can find in that city - parks, splash fountains, etc.  The hotel front desk is often great about little-known free attractions). 

-A day camp at the local zoo, kids museum, YMCA

-A family vacation instead of exchanging gifts at Christmas or for birthdays

Be creative and do somthing special that your child will appreciate.  Creating memories last a lifetime, but many toys only last a short time.

[BeachLove]

My DD turns 2 next week. Here is what we got her:

Little table and chairs set for her room

A couple of books (Clifford the Big Red Dog and Curious George)

A ride-on elephant that tows a little baby elephant behind it

a wooden dinosaur that you pull along on a string

some little toy cars

new sunglasses and a hat (she loves accessories!)

stuffed monkey and stuffed Lowly Worm (from the Richard Scarry books)

A pack of toy farm animals

a CD of toddler songs

A transparent purple ball (every time she sees them at the store she calls them "marbles" and she's obsessed with them!)

And I made her a pair of pants with skulls and hearts on them and I'm also making her a dress with cupcakes on it.

I know, we ended up getting her a lot of stuff. I didn't really intend for it to happen that way, but almost everything was on a great sale or clearance, so we really didn't have to spend that much.

[samstress]

Originally Posted by sewaneecook 

...we've started doing experiences rather than gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc.

we do this too and she loves it (we all do).  she still talks about many of the things we've done.  it's fun to see how excited she is about it, even months later.

that said, dd got a tricycle when she turned two.  she loved it and still rides it (she's four).
 

[OTMomma]

Thank you all for the ideas! We generally do take the birthday child to do something fun on their special day, instead of doing a big party or such. We just moved, so I need to find out what a 2 year old would like here (VA side of DC). The idea of a table and chairs set is good, because we could use that for a lot of activities this fall. I am thinking I might also invest in a Waldorf birthday ring- it seems like a nice tradition to start, to add to the experience of their birthdays.