I know it's a bit early, but I am looking for Christmas gifts for my now 17 month old daughter. I buy Christmas gifts year round and I am completely stuck for our youngest daughter.
I know she won't know much of a difference of what she gets, but pictures and older sister will notice. Older sister will turn 4 in Nov.
The thing is is that we have everything that her sister had as a baby. Everything is is great condition and our playroom looks like a toy store. My hubby and I were checking out toys at Babies yesterday and we literally stood there and said, "we have that, and that, and that, and a version of that."
What do we get her that is unique? Or a great toy your child has that you swear by? We may already have it, but I need ideas! BTW, I'm super frugal and have bought a majority of these items second hand or they've been planned out gifts and bought on sale. We also give just a handful of gifts at Christmas. 2 from Santa, and a few others from us and the other sibling. It's that Santa gift I'm worried about. THANKS!
Keep the ideas coming! We have about 90% of what has been suggested....hence another reason to keep the items on the smaller side this year. We have the train table (last year's Santa gift to the oldest), a kitchen, trikes, tables, and wagons. We don't collect movies, but do have about 30 VHS tapes I got for $1 each to get us through the move and for special "movie" nights. We just moved and I sold/gave away a ton too. I have to stop shopping at yard sales, kid sales, and the clearance racks! And then there are those darn grandmas! Lol We can't even do clothes. The kid will not need clothes EVER. Is this the way it is? She'll never have HER OWN items unless we make a big effort to do it????
Picnic table to do crafts on, craft supplies, water colors and paper are great at this age. sandbox, asortment of plastic animals, little people.
We like the Melissa and Doug food items. The cookies that they can pretend to cut, cook and decorate. I know they also have some fruits and veggies that kids can pretend to cut too and I think those will be on our Christmas list this year.
A membership to a local zoo or children's museum is a great gift. It won't show up in pictures on xmas, but you'll get tons of great photos all year long when you use it. You can also get something personalized that she could keep forever as a special memento.
If you do want a great new toy, please visit my Discovery Toys website at http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao I have some really fun things for toddlers. Castle Marbleworks is a huge hit with kids that age and the older one will enjoy it too. If you want to be frugal, consider hosting a catalog party and getting your toys for free. Contact me for more info.
I've wanted to get my daughter a toy that I had when *I* was a kid. A Fisher-Price Record Player.
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Box-Record-Player-Classic/dp/...
I LOVED this when I was a kid (and my brothers did, too) and am DYING to get it for one of my girls. I will probably try to hold myself back until NEXT Christmas and get it for my younger one, since she (like yours) will already have access to whatever her older sister got. :)
a subscription to ZooBabies magazine?
new hair clips or something like that?
sticker books (dollar store)
a package of balloons that you will blow up for her and let her pop
a package of bubble wrap so she can pop it
puppets
I have a boy, so he liked his blocks. But actually, now that I think about it, at Christmas he was about 20 months old and got a pack of AppleGrove Pals and omg he played with those for the LONGest time. We ended up buying many packages of them. Their hats come off and each set comes with a book. This set was my favorite:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Grove-Friends-Heroes-Everywhe...
We got I think everything else (the farm, the train, other sets of characters/books) over the course of the next year and he loved them all. We actually have them in a box for our future child. My now 3 yr old saw the box and wanted to play with them again. :) Granted, my son has a wild imagination. He will have the characters jumping and swinging around and talking in voices......
Do you have trains or cars?
Cars were my DD's most favorite toys for for-ev-er!
My son is 17 months and loves playing w/ trains.
My DD (6) loves them too.
So if you don't have a train track and some trains I'd suggest that.
We do ONE Santa gift...and try to keep all of the other gifts to 1 present for each child from each family, couple, etc.
Maybe do a membership somewhere, where to can spend time together. Because we live near Disneyland, we might do a year pass to Disney. What do you have locally? And it doesn't have to be expensive.
IKEA kitchen. It's wooden and you can paint it your own color. My daughter loves it.
Roller skates, scooter, tricycle, Radio Flyer Red Wagon,
Books and add MONEY! they may not know what it's all about, but start an account for her so she'll have a nice little nest when she turns 20.
You usually cant go wrong with a new dolly of some sort. Dolls from Santa usually are BIG or they talk or walk or somethin. That's how I remember my santa dolls when I was little.
I am in the same situation as you as far as toys...don't know what to get my 17 month old at ALL for Christmas because her older sister has all the toys. Yeesh.
One thing I did buy her that she enjoys is a Little People "parking garage" with the ramps that the cars can zoom down, etc.
Books. You can never have too many books. :) Or invest in some awesome old school dvds....like Old School Sesame Street (my girls LOVE them, especially my 17 month old, and bonus, NO ELMO!!!), DuckTales, Looney Tunes, Garfield and Friends, etc...my girls love to watch these as a treat, and I'd rather put them on than the TV.
Wagon, rocking horse, Pop up tunnels, Playhouse for outside for the 2 of them, New Dress up clothes, Trains, cars.
Grocery cart with play food, cash register
Designate the money for her college fund. Let her continue to play with the toys she has from older sis.
Wrap up cute small things for her to open.
Books
Play dough
crayons, chalk
small trycycle
megablocks
puzzles
