Kid-Approved Gift Ideas

Between Christmas gifts for two children and my daughter’s fourth birthday earlier this month, we’ve received a bounty of presents in the Lunday household in the last few weeks. Many of the gifts were things we as their parents had picked out or that Lucy and Isaac had requested (or in the case of the 20-month-old, things we knew would be slam dunks).

But many of the gifts were things that friends and family members bought on behalf of the kids with little guidance from us, and you know, it’s these toys and games that have been the most fun for them in the end. I have to say that the influx of good gifts has kept them so busy that they’ve watched very little TV in the new year, so little that I’ve retroactively declared it a new year’s resolution to have them watch less TV, as if I can really take any credit for it.

Though the holidays are over, isn’t it always a little somebody’s birthday, and aren’t you often left scratching your head over what to buy? In that spirit, I’ve pulled together a short list of the hit gifts of the moment at our house. The good news is that they are all fairly inexpensive and several can be bought locally.

For the pre-K set:

1)   Make Your Own Monster Kit. This cute little sewing and craft kit was so much for Lucy this past Saturday when we were holed up in the house after the season’s first dose of “wintry mix” weather. It includes a “pre-stitched creature shape” that can be stuffed and then decorated with the colorful scraps of fabric, string and buttons that are included in the kit, and no two kits are the same. It’s definitely not a craft project that a little kid can do all on her own; I had to track down my long-buried sewing kit and hot glue gun to help her out, but it was a fun way for us to spend some time together.

2)   Alex Toys Little Hands Ready, Set, Cut! Here’s another one that’s great for busy little hands. This kit comes with plastic scissors that are like training wheels for the real thing – they cut paper, but not wayward fingers. There are several projects included like paper chains and faces to decorate with pieces that the kids cut out and glue on with a glue stick (also included) and many stickers. This kit also takes some grown-up coaching and assistance for the scissors novice in your life, but that’s the whole point: to help them learn how to cut like the big kids.

For toddlers:

1) Green Toys trucks. Ike has plenty of age-appropriate girly toys to play with, thanks to the big sister who came before him. But there was definitely a deficit in stereotypical boy toys before Christmas, when we stocked up on Green Toys trucks. I love the way these lightweight plastic trucks feel. As the name suggests, they are made from recycled materials, like the recycling truck, which is made from recycled milk containers. We have the fire engine and the flatbed with a racecar on the back, and next I have my eye on the school bus. You can buy Green Toys locally at aMuse Toys, which has locations in Fells Point and Quarry Lake.

2) Ugly Dolls. Isaac loves stuffed toys, and his favorite snuggle buddy these days is his plush toy, Ugly Dog. We actually have three of these homely but adorable stuffies in rotation because the original, purchased for his first birthday, is showing signs of extreme wear and tear from all the loving he’s gotten (if you count the gnawing off an ear as “loving”). You can also buy Ugly Dolls at aMuse Toys and Greetings and Readings in the Hunt Valley Towne Centre. Greetings and Readings is great place to find kids gifts like all of these mentioned here – they have a huge variety of unique toys, games and puzzles that the big box discount stores can’t match.