Are you a parent or family member looking for the perfect Christmas gifts that are not only fun but also educational for your children? Are you tired of finding toys and products that aren’t great quality or your child outgrows them ever so quickly that it just feels like a waste of money? We are here to help! We have curated a list of our favourite Christmas Gift Ideas that will delight your little ones while also nurturing their learning and development.
Christmas Gift Ideas for 0-2 Year Olds
If you have a baby, crawler or walker aged 0-2, we understand how important it is to choose gifts that are safe, engaging, and promote their early development. We also understand how costly these gifts can be, when in reality a lot of them only last a few months before your child has outgrown them.
Our top picks for 0-2 Year Olds are:
- Soft Toys: Soft and cuddly toys are always a hit with younger children and often become their security during separation from a parent or carer. Consider getting a plush animal or a soft doll that can provide comfort and companionship. These toys can also help stimulate their senses and provide a sense of security. Our top picks for this are Charlie The Weighted Puppy and his friends or if you are after a personalised keepsake, check out My Tiny Anchor for the most stunning handmade, one of a kind dolls.
- Movement Toys: Toys that engage pre-walkers in movement of different kinds develops a whole range of vital early developmental milestones such as tracking, hand eye coordination, fine and gross motor skills, and cause and effect. Look for stackable blocks or rings, shape sorters and wobble toys that are colourful, engaging and safe for little hands (and mouths!). Check out our Shape Sorter, Penguin Wobble and other great ideas in our 0-2 Years Range online.
- Musical Toys: Music is not only fun and/or soothing for younger babies and toddlers, but it also provides functional listening skills for child development. Watch as your baby moves and reacts to different music in their daily life to find what they enjoy and integrate that into their play. Small, simple to use musical instruments can be a fun activity for young ones to experiment with sound themselves. Try a Rainmaker, Singing Crocodile or even adding different textures into a Calm Down Bottle to create your own sounds. Stores like Baby Noise also stock a beautiful range of baby musical instruments that make beautiful gifts.
Christmas Gift Ideas for 2-3 Year Olds
Toddlers in the 2-3 year age bracket are full of curiosity, exploration and energy! It is also a time when their learning is in full swing and they are taking in absolutely everything around them to help them learn to navigate their world with their new found independence (even if it creates higher stress levels for their parents!). We understand that they require gifts that are suited to their stage of learning and development, but they also need things that will captivate their imagination and build on their play skills, whilst engaging them for longer periods of time.
Our top picks for 2-3 Year Olds are:
- Puzzles: Puzzles help develop problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination, whilst building a higher level of resilience and patience for trickier tasks. Look for age/stage appropriate puzzles with colourful and engaging designs. These puzzles can range from simple knob puzzles to more complex jigsaw puzzles, providing a challenge that grows with your child as their skills develop more. Our Balloon Sorter Puzzle is a great starting point as it offers multi-use pieces that are easy to use and have a handle for little hands to grasp.
- Sensory Play: This age is one of active sensory exploration as toddlers make sense of the world around them. Sensory play helps enhance their sensory processing abilities, fine-tune their motor skills, and promote brain development. Through sensory play, toddlers can learn to regulate their emotions, develop problem-solving skills, and improve their language and communication skills. Any opportunity to explore through the senses is a benefit to growing minds. Sensory play is one of our favourite things to do here at Little Ohana, so check out our website for fun ideas like Sensory Bases, Busy Books, Pick Up Pals and more!
- Family Games: Starting to introduce simple to play and follow games in a small group or pair at this age group, is the perfect introduction to game skills such as turn taking, patience and teamwork. Simple games that the whole family can enjoy or that can be adapted to cater for everyone are best at this stage. Our range of Memory Discs are the perfect stocking filler or small gift to provide hours of fun now and into the future. Pick your favourite theme or focus on numbers, shapes and colours for an added element of learning.
Christmas Gift Ideas for 4-6 Year Olds
This age group is probably the trickiest for most people on knowing what to buy that is educational, fun and age appropriate. There is a lot out there that might be too grown up or too young for this age and you risk them growing tired of the gifts quickly or not knowing how to use them for a while so they get shoved into the cupboard and get forgotten about!
Our top picks for 4-6 Year Olds are:
- Arts and Crafts: This age group love to be creative and express themselves, which makes art and craft gifts so much fun! Encouraging exploration, creative control and fine motor skills whilst giving the freedom to create a masterpiece or two of their very own is the perfect gift to a 4-6 year old! From our Water Colour Paints to Animal Droppers, Bath Crayons to ReUseable Colouring Mats - there are so many creative ideas to choose from!
- Mindfulness: Mindfulness and emotional regulation are such important aspects of our lives these days, and it is important to instil these skills in our children from a young age to ensure they have the best skills to cope with whatever comes their way. Adding mindful practice products into gifts is a great way to promote good practices from the start in young ones to manage stress, enhance concentration and improve overall emotional resilience. Our ABC Affirmations, Mindful Breathing Ball and Love Notes are the perfect start to creating these practices and make beautiful gifts for 4-6 year olds.
- School Readiness: Arguably one of the most exciting and nerve wracking times of a parent’s life is watching their little one venture off into the big wide world of school! With school starting in the first few months of the year, Christmas is the perfect time to give a gift that will help them on their transition to ‘big school.’ Whether it be Maths Tens Frames or Number Memory to build on their knowledge and learning before they start, or a Visual Timetable to help make their routine smoother for all; there are so many ideas to help our school starters on their journey!
Remember to visit us at Little Ohana for more Christmas gift ideas and to browse our wide selection of products for children of all ages. If you are still stuck for Christmas Gift Ideas, shoot us a message and we will be more than happy to help take the stress out of gift giving this Christmas Season!