Or, if Christmas is around the corner, you may need to start thinking about finding the best gifts for age-appropriate kids. Below we have listed a summary of the two best gift ideas for kids aged between one and eight years old to take a lot of the hard work out of the selection process.
Best Gifts for 1-year-olds:
The two best gifts for kids of this age are Plush Toys and a Bucket and Spade. The important features to look for in Plush Toys are softness, short fur, flashing lights, special sounds, and preferably a big smile with engaging eyes on the toy. The talking Elmo is often the most popular of the plush toys but is expensive. In terms of a bucket and spade, go for a small set at this age with a short handle on the spade, so they can dig little holes and build sandcastles. If sand is flying in every direction from the spade, the kit will usually have a small rake in it as well, which you can swap for the spade. A bucket and spade are among the best value gifts you can buy for kids, typically costing under $10.
Best Gifts for 2-year-olds:
The two best gifts for a two-year-old are a Kid’s Car and a Bubble Machine. A small plastic kid’s car where children can open the door, sit in and push around with their feet is a big winner. Hopefully, there is also a horn for kids to toot, a key to start the car, and a petrol cap when they feel it’s time to refuel. Kids will have a year or two of fun with this, whereas many other toys for this age group are played with for only hours. The second idea of a Bubble Machine is an inexpensive present (<$20) that gets lots of kids active chasing bubbles around the outdoors. Most kids will like to pick up a bat or stick for extra reach to swat the higher bubbles. Just make sure you have plenty of bubble mixture as it can run out quickly. Great for kids’ parties, Christmas events as well.
Best Gifts for 3-year-olds:
The two best gifts for a three-year-old are Duplo and Play-Doh. Duplo is quite possibly one of the best kid’s toys of all time as it engages the child’s creative mind, keeps them busy for hours, never breaks, and is scalable, as you can never have too much Duplo. One of the best activities is building a tower so tall that they can no longer reach to put more bricks on top. They will then marvel at their creation and undoubtedly tell their parents how high they have built their tower.
Play-Doh is a little messy, but it stimulates the senses with bright colors, soft texture, and lots of add-on toys that help mold, cut, and craft the Play-Doh into various objects. Some of the best add-ons are the Play-Doh Spaghetti factory and the Play-Doh fun factory. Adults will also have fun creating different types of spaghetti.
