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Christmas will be very different this year. I know with my daughter’s birthday last month we found ourselves compensating for the fact that we couldn’t have a party. I can see myself doing the same at Christmas as I know we won’t be able to see family, go to a Christmas party or visit Santa in his grotto.
This year I’m looking for Christmas presents which offer hours of entertainment as I know there are fewer things we can do to keep busy.
We have some reward vouchers from our John Lewis credit cards and I’ve also been earning Amazon credit on I-Say so these are all things you can get from one of those places.
I have a 4-year old daughter and almost 2-year-old son so the ideas here are for this age and are either things we already have and love or other things I’d like to get.
Toniebox
My daughter is turning into a bit of a screen addict. We are trying to cut down on that and encourage more independent play, so I was intrigued when I found out about the Toniebox.
It’s an audio player which lets children play songs or stories which are preloaded onto little figurines (Tonies). You can also fill some with your own content. These are the ‘creative Tonies’. I liked the fact that they can choose what and when to play – it doesn’t end up in them coming and asking me to play something from my phone.
The one thing I wasn’t so sure about is that you can’t use content from iTunes and there’s no way to play songs from streaming services from Spotify. However, I’m glad of this now because it’s pushed us to ask family and friends to narrate stories onto them – via an app – which has been really special.
For this reason I think it’s a great gift because although it’s not a budget gift, it does allow other people to contribute either for free (by recording stories) or they can buy a compatible Tonie.
Our daughter speaks German and as the Toniebox was first made in Germany there is a great range of German-language Tonies.
Stamps
My daughter’s other favourite present were these beautiful stamps. What makes them special is that they are made up of lots of different bug/insect parts so allow you to create your own custom-made creatures by mixing different wings, bodies, antennaes etc. This occupies my daughter for ages as she makes up new types of insects along with their defining characteristics – “this farts metal out of its bottom” was a recent one.
I must admit this is a present I like to play with too and the prints are gorgeous, you could make our own gift wrap out of it.
Lego
We buy most of our Lego second hand – and I think that’s a great idea for Christmas too, but in case you can’t find what you are look for, here are the Troll Lego sets that we got this year and that my partner – I mean my daughter – has been enjoying playing with.
Warm Wellies
Our kids’ nursery is outdoors now so we are stocking up on better wet weather gear. I love the look of these cosy wellies which were recommended by our nursery and I’m planning to get some for my daughter. It’s worth following their Instagram @warmwellies as they sometimes have discount codes except I expect they will be selling out over Christmas.
I also like the look of these Demar wellies which you can get for about half the price.
So here are my ideas so far – I’ll keep this updated as I come across more. I’d love to hear what other parents are planning to get – or any birthday gifts they’ve given this year that have gone down well…
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