What presents to give babies and young children (by age)
Non-parents or brand new parents sometimes struggle to find age appropriate gifts for babies and children. To make the present-finding process a bit easier, here’s a table with suitable presents and gifts by age range.
| Age range | Gift idea / suitable presents |
| Not born yet – 3 months | Resist the urge to give newborn baby clothes unless you know for a fact that the parents-to-be are not already drowning in baby clothes. If you can’t resist at least buy clothes for older age ranges like 6months or 12months and up. Instead of clothes get any of the following as gifts (which you can never have enough): picture books, wall stickers / murals for the nursery, bath toys or nappies (if you want to be really practical). |
| 3 – 6 months | Teething toys, bibs, floor mats (protective covers or to play on), picture books, baby gyms / activity sets or Lamaze toys |
| 6 – 12 months | Soft balls, stacking blocks, cardboard books and flash cards, toy animals, dolls, shape sorters, bubble guns or bubble makers (shapes and bubble liquid) |
| 12 – 24 months | Simple jigsaw puzzles (up to 20 pieces), play dough, crayons / chalk, doodle pads, simple musical instruments (e.g. maracas) |
| 2 – 3 years | Story books, toy animals / action figures, jigsaw puzzles (up to 48 pieces), train sets, dolls and doll house, toy vehicles (trucks, cars), fancy dress costumes or accessories (like dinosaur tails or princess tiaras), large LEGO blocks (Duplo) |
| 3 – 5 years | Children’s kitchen sets, ball games, water color sets, kites, paper planes or toy planes, LEGO blocks, paddle pools, scooters and tricicles |
With children 5 and up it’s pretty much down to what they are in to at the moment. Find out what they really like – common themes include fairies, trains, princesses, Disney stories and characters, dinosaurs, animated movies and related characters.
By DIYFather.com
Seeing as this piece was all about appropriate gifts for children, I thought this site might be of interest to any new mums or dads.
Rock a Bye Baby Gifts provides a range of safe, 100% Eco friendly gifts for new Born’s and their mothers. These gifts are uniquely packaged in wicker baskets and hampers to add that all important wow factor.
Lisa Mills
Creative Gifts Ltd