2 Year Old Bday/holiday Time

I would highly recommend the book, "The Creative Family" by Amanda Soule (www.soulemama.com) - she has beautiful ideas for family celebrations and marking holidays in simple, creative ways that don't involve plastic noise-making toys and licensed characters. =)

My daughter turned two Wednesday - and prior to that, I had very insufficient toys. Nothing that really stirred her imagination. I asked some people for specific items and also requested not to recieve others (space issues) - of course my requests in that department were mostly ignored. I wanted imagination toys, and boy does she play with the things:

1. Little people starter town
2. a cash register with some vegetables - it sings and beep and scans and she loves it
3. the kitchen.....i did not want this and in fact we left it at her aunts house b/c we couldn't fit it in the car, but she looooooves it. she was making eggs and coffee, it was hysterical.
4. the fisher price camera....it's really for 3 year olds - don't expect good pictures, but she loves pushing the buttons and trying to take pictures.

hope that helps.

I always felt like the gift giving around the holidays was excessive, and sometimes I still do. Still, I find myself going overboard sometimes because I find things that I'm sure my kids will love, and I get so excited thinking about how excited they'll be. It's not anything that breaks the bank, and I've found that it adds so much joy to my holiday season that instead of feeling guilty for buying, I look forward to sharing the gifts with the kids. Not saying that you shouldn't keep it simple, etc, but in case you were feeling bad about the flood of things that might be coming your way, just know that it can also be a really good thing. Also, we almost never buy "just because" toys, so what our kids get for the holidays and their birthdays are the toys that they'll have to play with until the next year. That said, since they will be the toys they'll play with for at least a year, they better stand the test of time.

Here's some things that my kids have played with for at least that long:
A tea set (plastic, not porcelain)
wooden blocks
cardboard stacking blocks
baby doll and bottle
magnadoodle
pretend guitar
dress up clothes
pretend baking/cooking/food
a crawl through pop-up tunnel and/or tent
books, books, books (olivia, madeline, ferdinand, caps for sale, where the wild things are, ella sarah gets dressed, knuffle bunny, strega nona - these are all the ones that immediately came to mind as the ones we read over and over)

We do also often ask for clothes, but remember that's really more a gift for you than for her!
We've also gotten better at saying specifically that we don't need any more stuffed animals. Even if people don't ask what our kids want, we ask them not to buy more stuffed animals - they're coming out our ears!
Have lovely holidays!

I just had my sons 2cd b-day party over the weekend and I asked for things like lacing cards, large stringing beads, dress up clothes, art supplies,playdough also some outside toys for when it get nice out again. I also did a wish list at Toys r us so it made it easy for my family and friends to pick somehting.

Hi, I like to keep presents simple and minimal myself. I second an earlier poster's suggestion of art supplies.

Other ideas.... a children's cookbook that you can use together to prepare simple and fun dishes, bubble solution and items to use as alternative wands, wooden musical instruments like egg-shaped shakers and maraccas (sp?) that are fun for years, a child-specific fun box filled with items that have meaning for your child. For example, my daughter loves cards (credit cards, business cards, tags from clothing, etc.) and any kind of container that she can put items in and close up. So I might decorate a shoebox with pictures of animals (she loves animals) and then fill it with various cards, an old wallet, small bags with zippers or snaps, etc.

Another way to dial down the holiday materialism is to present the gifts gradually, rather than giving your child everything at once. I give my daughter one present and allow her to process it and explore it for at least a week before presenting another one. Relatives get impatient asking if my daughter has gotten xyz present yet, but they get used to the system, and my daughter really appreciates and explores each gift, rather than getting caught up in the chaos of opening the gifts and then not being able to focus on any of them.

Best,
D.

My son just turned 2 in September - he was blessed with very generous grandparents and friends; he received a train table, play kitchen, some Thomas toys, MegaBloks, a Tag Junior, books, and clothes. A LOT! For Christmas everyone is collaborating to get him a bedroom set; big boy bed, dresser, linens, accessories,... All that being said I think some fun, appreciated, homemade gifts that would be good are a personalized ABC book, number book, or simple words book - including pictures of your daughter's things and family & friends. Maybe frame and hang some of her artwork - we just did this for my son and he is uberproud to have his paintings hanging in our living room. Art materials are great. A big calendar would also be a good investment. Etsy has a ton of sellers who make felt food - very cute, organic, and fun to play with. If you are a seamstress you could make a quilt or an I Spy bag.

Happy birthday to your little one!

One thing I have asked someone to make this year is an apron. My daughter loves my apron...when I wear it...and we only have a smaller one that is way too big for her still.
She's 2 so she wont really remember too much, unless she's like my daughter who remembers our Disney trip when she was 18months.
Also sense you are organic gardeners, I would say wooden kitchen set and food is a great idea to spark her imagination in cooking. Create some things that you use on a regular basis and have wooden ones for her to play with. Not sure if you know anyone who makes wooden toys but thought I would through it out there.
My daughter got her kitchen set at 2 and we even found her under the sink fixing it!!! Daddy's a plumber.
A tradition I guess you can call it is for me to make candy's and cookies for gifts to the people who you just don't know what to give or when money is tight. So getting the kids involved is a great treat to them. Especially when they can say, "Papa, I made those for you!"
Hope this helps.
I also do stampin & scrappin. My dughter loves to create cards and pages with her pictures of family pictures I don't use. When I do this with my niece and nephews you can really tell the difference it makes with my daughter seeing mine and learning the creativity aspects. She loves this time. Sometimes I just give her a ton of my scrap pieces and she can go to town!

Hello I am a grandmother of two beautiful children ages 3 and 5.when my granddaughter was two we took her to Chucky cheese for her birthday party.She had lots of fun.You get a reserved section,they have the tables for as many guest you invite set for them,they have a birthday cake.This is a place where your child can play games.They get to wacth Chucky come out and dance and sing

You've already gotten some great suggestions for toys that allow for growth and creativity. How about a gift certificate for a music class (Music Together, Kindermusic) or gymnastics class or winter swim lessons? (At her age, they'd likely be parent and tot classes.) In Vermont, you must have horse-drawn carraige rides. That would be a great experience that you could do w/ the family. And, books are always wonderful.
Enjoy the celebrations,
J.