Christmas Ideas 0-12 months
As if making out your own Christmas list wasn't hard enough now you're faced with what to get for your sweet cuddly baby. We don't have a large family but by the time you give a list to grandparents and aunts and uncles you really need to have a variety of ideas.
Some of my favorite gifts are--
--money to contribute to an education fund
--books
--appropriate clothes (ask the Mama what size/season her baby needs!)
--gift cards to stores Mama might frequent for baby
If you are looking for toys though, here are some of my favorite options for a new baby. Keep in mind that they grow and change so much the first year. You may think at 2 months that you don't need toys but you'll find that before their next Christmas there will be so many skills they'll learn that it will be nice to have a few toys that are age appropriate.
I also think it is a great idea to rotate toys and/or pull out toys throughout the year. I always save two or three toys to pull out about once a month since we have about 8 months between Christmas and birthdays.
How cute is this elephant? Babies love to pull things out and put things back in. This Surprise Inside the Elephant is stuffed full of fun little creatures for baby to play with. This one is on my list for the Littlest Guy this year.
We LOVE this toy at our house. It's also by Tiny Love. The elephant doubles as a stacker and you can also put the balls in the funnel. They hit a button on the base and the base lights up and plays music. The balls are noisy as well. I remember watching the Little Guy play with this and thinking he'd never figure out how to put the ball in the funnel and then all the sudden one day he did it! He still loves this toy at 2.
This is Follow Me Fred by Tiny Love. (You can get Fiona if you want a pink one.) The little dog walks and it encourages babies to crawl behind it. I think it is a great one if you think you'll have a crawler soon!
Another Tiny Love toy! This is the Sort N Learn Pelican. I have really enjoyed their products and this one is no exception. It has 4 shapes and you can place them in the pelicans mouth. It can be set to say the shape or the color and also speaks in multiple languages! It is probably a tiny bit advanced for a 12 month old but that is when we started playing with it at our house. Little Guy still loves this one as well!
Oh man have we gotten hours of fun out of this toy! Any version will do but this one is made by Leap Frog. You can set it for English or Spanish and it plays music and sounds. The legs come off so you can use it on the floor or even propped up on 2 legs. Little Guy still plays with this all the time and the Littest Guy is using in to pull up. It's the perfect height for little ones and have volume control. A must in my house!
I love these stackable boxes made by One Step Ahead. Many of their products are unique and innovative. I like this stacker because the boxes are made of cloth and they are so colorful. That is a must for babies who are stimulated by color and variety at this age! This one is on my list too!
Scout. We owe a lot to Scout in our house. Leap Frog is a superb toymaker and there isn't a toy made by them that we haven't enjoyed. Not only do they make great toys but they made fabulous phonics and numbers videos. The Little Guy loves watching Scout and learned all of his letters, numbers and phonics quickly and early. I couldn't believe it! Almost all of their toys can be programmed to call your child by name (unless you're like me and they don't have his name in the list!). You can choose which songs and games you want Scout to play. This is definitely a favorite! You can also get Violet, which is the purple version!
These blocks win as the cutest named toy ever. They are "Elemenosqueeze" blocks by one Step Ahead. Even though the Littlest Guy won't be able to stack them for a while they are great because of their bright colors and varied textures. This is another one on our list this year!
I'd love to hear your ideas too!!
Some of my favorite gifts are--
--money to contribute to an education fund
--books
--appropriate clothes (ask the Mama what size/season her baby needs!)
--gift cards to stores Mama might frequent for baby
If you are looking for toys though, here are some of my favorite options for a new baby. Keep in mind that they grow and change so much the first year. You may think at 2 months that you don't need toys but you'll find that before their next Christmas there will be so many skills they'll learn that it will be nice to have a few toys that are age appropriate.
I also think it is a great idea to rotate toys and/or pull out toys throughout the year. I always save two or three toys to pull out about once a month since we have about 8 months between Christmas and birthdays.
How cute is this elephant? Babies love to pull things out and put things back in. This Surprise Inside the Elephant is stuffed full of fun little creatures for baby to play with. This one is on my list for the Littlest Guy this year.
We LOVE this toy at our house. It's also by Tiny Love. The elephant doubles as a stacker and you can also put the balls in the funnel. They hit a button on the base and the base lights up and plays music. The balls are noisy as well. I remember watching the Little Guy play with this and thinking he'd never figure out how to put the ball in the funnel and then all the sudden one day he did it! He still loves this toy at 2.
This is Follow Me Fred by Tiny Love. (You can get Fiona if you want a pink one.) The little dog walks and it encourages babies to crawl behind it. I think it is a great one if you think you'll have a crawler soon!
Another Tiny Love toy! This is the Sort N Learn Pelican. I have really enjoyed their products and this one is no exception. It has 4 shapes and you can place them in the pelicans mouth. It can be set to say the shape or the color and also speaks in multiple languages! It is probably a tiny bit advanced for a 12 month old but that is when we started playing with it at our house. Little Guy still loves this one as well!
Oh man have we gotten hours of fun out of this toy! Any version will do but this one is made by Leap Frog. You can set it for English or Spanish and it plays music and sounds. The legs come off so you can use it on the floor or even propped up on 2 legs. Little Guy still plays with this all the time and the Littest Guy is using in to pull up. It's the perfect height for little ones and have volume control. A must in my house!
I love these stackable boxes made by One Step Ahead. Many of their products are unique and innovative. I like this stacker because the boxes are made of cloth and they are so colorful. That is a must for babies who are stimulated by color and variety at this age! This one is on my list too!
Scout. We owe a lot to Scout in our house. Leap Frog is a superb toymaker and there isn't a toy made by them that we haven't enjoyed. Not only do they make great toys but they made fabulous phonics and numbers videos. The Little Guy loves watching Scout and learned all of his letters, numbers and phonics quickly and early. I couldn't believe it! Almost all of their toys can be programmed to call your child by name (unless you're like me and they don't have his name in the list!). You can choose which songs and games you want Scout to play. This is definitely a favorite! You can also get Violet, which is the purple version!
These blocks win as the cutest named toy ever. They are "Elemenosqueeze" blocks by one Step Ahead. Even though the Littlest Guy won't be able to stack them for a while they are great because of their bright colors and varied textures. This is another one on our list this year!
I'd love to hear your ideas too!!
my son is 2 and would still probably love some of these toys :)
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My almost one-year-old loves her wooden block set from Melissa and Doug and also the wooden toy piano they sell (a little more expensive but so adorable). Those are my best recommendations for the youngest children.
ReplyDeleteHeidi @typativemamacat.com