Birthday present, 2nd birthday girl...

[nia82]

..sheesh I have no idea. Yes she loves toys, but we have a good assortment. Do you have any good ideas? She pretty much loves everything. From pretend play to stuffed animals to bikes, trikes, horsies, painting... I'm more interested in toys that hopefully won't be uninteresting within a few hours. The kids already get so much for Xmas (puppet theater with assortment of Folkmannis puppets, cooperative games and puzzles...).

I'd appreciate all ideas :D

[Bruebee]

when my dd was about two she started really liking dress up. now at 4 she still uses alot of the same dress up clothes and accesories. She also LOVED her easel she got for Christmas that year. Good luck!

[skycheattraffic]

Dd will be 2 in march and for Christmas she's getting a rocking moose from Ikea (among other things). I've practically had to pry her off the floor model the last couple of times we went so we thought it was worth the $40 for a simple, all wood rocker. For her birthday she is getting a balance bike (probably a strider). That may not work that great for a winter birthday depending on where you live but it could still be something to keep in mind. I know some parents do a smaller birthday in the fall/winter and then get a bike/trike to kick off the spring/summer. My DD was trying to ride the cardboard box the nativity scene came in so we thought rocker and bike should get plenty of use lol.

[nia82]

We have an Ikea easel and a European wooden horsie as well as a red rocker from Ikea :) She loves those things, and we have a balance bike in shape of a tiger from DS (but she is too little to use it)... You see we have so much stuff already ;)

What do you buy for dress up? Might sound dumb, but growing up we used my mom's clothes (there wasn't a lot to buy in our ex-communist country). My parents, the inlaws and so on all want to buy something for DD, even if it is small and the rest goes into her account, so I need to come up with an Amazon wishlist... :)

[skycheattraffic]

My DD loves beads, hats and purses. There's an accessory store here called Ardennes that has lots of good deals (3 for $15, 5 for $20, or better) but I also had really good luck in second hand stores like value village for dress up stuff. Generally she steals my stuff; wears my bras like bibs for instance lol. It's so hard to come up with new toys that are worthwhile, particularly if there's an older sibling with hand me downs.

ETA the one big item she is getting that Grampa built her is a learning tower so she can help me in the kitchen. I can't wait to try that puppy out!

[zebra15]

How about a membership to the zoo, the kids museum, aquarium, something like that?  Tickets to a play or kids show?  Pool pass, city rec center membership?  I've stopped being about 'stuff' and more about experiences.

[newmamalizzy]

Books and little kid magazines are always good bets for a wishlist, as well as consumable things like paper and crayons.  Bath toys, because they tend to get funky and need to be replaced.  And are there any areas where you're still using babyish stuff and can transition to big girl?  Like...bath towels, a step stool, utensils/plates/cups, bedding, etc.?  And lastly, perhaps a snow shovel, kid-sized rake, umbrella, something weather-related?   I know how you feel, BTW, because we had a heck of a time coming up with stuff for Christmas.  If you've chosen good toys up to this point, they really don't need more.

[nia82]

The memberships sound great, but we live 2-5 hours from zoos, orchestras and so on. No city pool membership etc - arrgh we live in ahem nowhere. But we'll move in June :D YEAH! That idea is really great though.

Maybe something like Kiwicrate for babies? We have a Kindle freetime unlimited subscription for her brother and she uses it sometimes. Argh this is so hard! I would just put money in her account because I really feel we have it all at this point. I just don't want to buy senseless toys, kwim? Maybe... we'll go to the aquarium on her birthday (2h down the road, the weather is ICY here so outside activities are a no-no)... With going out and all.

[alaskanmomma]

I really enjoy Melissa & Doug products :) They are really sturdy, pretty affordable, and it seems that EVERY kid loves them <3! We got my DD(4) and DS(2) a M&D mailbox and it's their favorite toy ever!

[nia82]

Yeah we like M&D too, we have the birthday cake, fruit set to slice, lacing set, wooden puzzles... We also have a learning tower. The mailbox sounds fun! Gosh the more I think about it, the more I think we have like everything. Missing is a real train set (HO) but I'm waiting for DD to be older and less... destructive (DS is 4).

What kinda bath toys do you have? We have letters, squirters and flutes... What else is out there (that's bpa free and such)? :)

[Amanda1]

What about a nice wooden kitchen? We made an awesome one out of an old entertainment center, DS loves it and every kid who comes over loves to play with it. Then when people dont know what to get him for gifts they can add to his food and dishes.

[katelove]

We gave my LO a clam shell sandpit for her second birthday and my parents gave her a little gardening set, both of which she loves. For Christmas she was 2.5 and we gave her a water table.

[nia82]

Thanks for the further suggestions, we have that all already :) from our older child and they use it together (like cooking, playing in our sandbox and watertable etc). I think a gardening set will be nice for once we move (we have 8 months of witner in our current location). DS really enjoyed to water our  basil for the short amount of time we have in summer to grow stuff, hopefully our new location will be better for gardening!