What are you buying your toddler for Christmas?

[gpmom]

Hi there!

Dd is 3.5 and I am having troubles coming up with a great gift this year.  What are you getting your toddler, or what is there favorite toy?  Please put their age!! 

Thanks so  much

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Spence is 2.5 and we are getting her a train set as the main gift.  She is also very into the Fisher Price little people sets and totally loves those Furreal dogs that you can walk on a leash, but Toy r us was sold out!

[Aly Mac]

DD is 4 and we are getting her a doll house. She did get a trampoline for her birthday too.

Last year she got a guitar

[We Three]

Amelia will be 4 just after Christmas....last year her gifts were a sit-down piano, (she still plays it, almost daily...it has a microphone too..she can sing and play!), a cash register (with a scanner and things to scan), and in her stocking she got a view-master and some discs for it...she still loves that!

This year, she is getting The Loving Family Dollhouse (after much debate over wooden/plain or platic/detailed), a Step & Play Piano (like from the movie "Big"), the kind that you roll out onto the floor and play with your feet! And a c/d player with an attached microphone, because I tell you...this kid loves to sing!     In our house, Santa brings 3 gifts...so I think that's about it except for some fun stocking stuffers.  Her birthday is 2 days later, though...so there is still a thing or two I need to decide on!

p.s. Something she got for her 3rd birthday but still loves too...is (I think it's Playschool) her digital camera. The pictures are horrible quality, but I can't tell you how much she loves that thing! 

She discovered Legos this year too....she has a farm/horse set that she LOVES. 

[Aly Mac]

Anne I hear you on the Dollhouse debate.  My DH and I have been agonising for months!! And have found a great wooden one with all the furniture and people on ebay (new!)

[elf]

Seems that these girls are so similar!  My DD got a guitar last Xmas and this year is getting a Wooden Dolls house with the little furniture etc (this is from her Grandparents though) and from Santa will be getting a trampoline, another My Little Pony (her choice) and since being to a friends house this week has shown interest in her Barbie Doll but I'm thinking Barbie should be for her 4th birthday? I'm trying to find ideas for my 15 month old son though so will se if someone posts good ideas for him... was googling and it seems that Fisher Price Little People and Garages with cars etc are quite popular for that age. 

[elf]

Ooops - DD age is 3.5 as well.  We are also doing a few practical gifts like a new backpack for Kindy, drinkbottle etc and she always gets some new books...  We keep in pretty simple in this house, mainly because I know that all relatives go a bit crazy.

[We Three]

Alyssa, I get so torn about that stuff.  I am SO drawn to the more plain, "use your imagination" stuff.....but when I looked at Loving Family's Dollhouse, with the colors and the furniture and the lamp that really lights, and how EVERY parent in the reviews gave it 5 stars (I have never seen that before!)...I just felt she would play with this alot more than a plain one.     Plus...I love that it is large enough for her to have a friend or her cousin sit with her....big enough for 2 kids to play at once.

[gpmom]

Wow great ideas ladies thanks.

I was toying with maybe a fish and fish bowl from Santa.  I thought it might be cool to have a pet of her own.  I am not sold on that idea which is why I asked you all about toys.

I thought about that Leapster explorer but dh wants her to wait on computer things.  She has a doll house, which is a great gift btw.  She has a piano with mic already too.  She loves music as well.  How funny that so many little girls raised in different houses have the same likes!!

We ordered her a few games because she LOVES LOVES LOVES to play games.  Memory and Elefun are her faves now.

[We Three]

OOH than get Candyland! DD LOVES Candyland!

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

Enfys is 3.5 as well, and we have bought her a kiddizoom digital camera and a bicycle.  She got a playmobil toy farm last year and really enjoys that so I might get her a few pieces to add to that as well.

[brenda2]

great thread!  dd1 is almost 3.5 and we are getting her some puzzles (which is what she asked for and loves to do) and arts and crafts things (sets that have all the supplies to make various projects and crafts - all melissa and doug) she really loves to do pictures/crafts/glueing etc.  and we were thinking of getting her a leapster as well but haven't gotten that yet.

if you don't have a bike that would be a good idea, dd1 loves her balance bike.

we were also thinking of a dollhouse but i'm not convinced dd1 would play with it and the nice ones are so expensive so i passed on it.

[Intransit]

gpmom, I am going to have to steal the fish idea ( i just won't tell dh!) for my son who is 5.5. I know he would love a pet (more like a dog, but this will have to do!) --I just have to remember to hide the food so he doesn't over-feed it!

As for T who is almost 14 months, I picked up this B. musical toy from Target yesterday...19.99...

[~Emma~]

We are getting Brodie ( he's 2) one of those bikes with no pedals. Its a big buy but we think it'll be worth it.

 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hotwalk-runner-2011-kids-bike-ec023677

[Lissybits]

Nicholas (very nearly 5) is getting a new bike for Christmas and then for his birthday (which is 23rd Dec) he's getting a helmet and a ramp
Leo (16 months) is having the Fisher Price garage and some books! Not much for him as he has ALL Nicholas's toys to play with KWIM?
They'll both have a few bits in their stockings too

[skatty]

Leorah is getting a Vtech Mobigo for her main Xmas present, my brother bought it because she is now at 4 getting very interested in computers and games. For her birthday she got and Leapfrog Tag pen so she will be getting some new books for that, I cannot recommend this pen enough, there is a junior version for under 3s as well. MIL has bought her a dolls house, not sure how this will go down because she is not into dolls at all but loves small figures, still even likes her Little People so maybe we can get her some animals for the house. She got the Kidizoom camera last year and that has been one of the most successful presents ever! Crikey she sounds so spoilt and she is  BTW we don't spoil her our families do enough of that so she just gets books and dvds from us 

[elf]

In the end we have ended up keeping DD's Xmas pressies from Santa quite small - I decided that this is the year that she will really understand it so if we go overboard then she will think that is what happens every year.  When she wrote her letter to Santa all she actually asked for was a 'Rainbow Dash' My Little Pony and a Wizard Costume - so she can turn people into frogs!  So that's what we got her!  It's all she has been talking about and says she wants to dress up for Halloween next year - bless her, because it's not that big a thing here in Oz!  I found a gorgeous pink cape and a cute black witch hat with pink stars and am going to get her a magic wand to go with it.  I also picked up a $20 cardboard cubby - it's a Disney one with Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty on it and comes with Texters.  I bought her a different one last year and I can't recommend them enough if you ever see them in a shop.  DD and I painted it together and then decorated the inside by making clocks and other crafty things and she played in it for months and months - until it fell apart!  I got her the 3 Disney Dolls (Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty) so she can role play in the cubby and her and I can decorate it again and it can be her little castle as she is enjoying listening to all the Disney Stories - but only the book versions at this stage.  And I also was thrilled to find a Viewfinder as I've never been able to find one before.  I went and looked at the Playmobil and DH and I decided that we will buy her it for her 4th birthday and get the 4 year old stuff.  We also decided against the scooter as she has only just really got into riding her bike the past few months and we thought we'd let her keep enjoying that for now.  DS has got the Duplo Dumptruck and a really cool toy for the Sandpit - made by this great German company - where you pour sand in the top and it turns around - hard to describe, but he's only 16 months and I already feel there are too many toys in this house!  He is getting so much use out of all the things DD had, so will focus more on his 2nd birthday - had to stop myself looking at all the trains and tracks!  I actually went into the toy shop last week and got so overwhelmed by all the wonderful things that I had to come home and remind myself that she doesn't need all these things to be happy then went back in the afternoon and only got what was on my list...  Thanks for all the great ideas on this thread - I'll be coming back to it next year when she turns 4!

[skatty]

We had a "danish xmas day" today as we are off to the Uk and as L has mainly books we didn't want to drag them over so we had this whole thing going on where Santa's head elf came for him last night etc  Anyway it was the first time she REALLY understood what it is all about and was unwrapping all her presents very excitedly and the main one which is a portable dvd/karaoke from her grandad was last and she opened it with lots of wows etc and then exclaimed "yippee, I have a new box!" and played with that for about 2hrs with her Little People!! Ironically one of her nans came around later and with a dolls house, did I mention she is spoilt 

[Tweakster]

Well in the end I think Finn was totally spoiled, mostly by my mom lol

He ended up with Alfie the Robot (still age inappropriate though so we may put away), a doctor/medical set (now that's something quite cute and he's enjoying already), Mr. Potato Head which he already loves, Plasticine, Hot Wheels, a shape sorter from his head daycare teacher, a Hot Wheels floating bath set from us, a wooden bike thing from DH/Grandma (the kind where you learn to balance - it has no pedals), wooden puzzles from me, and some books from Nana.

I think that's all but it's all a blur lol

[gpmom]

My lo got Alphie, she is 3.5 and LOVED it.  Great toy for sure, a guy I work with got one for his lo and he loved it as well.