Whether you are someone who starts celebrating Christmas the second the clock strikes midnight November 1st OR you wait till Thanksgiving is over… It’s about time to think about presents! When you’re a parent to a little one, presents can seem like the hardest thing to buy. You don’t want to clutter your home with sooo many more toys, you want to get them something they’ll enjoy for a long time to come, and they are likely to play with the box more than the toy! So let’s go over my most favorite Christmas gift ideas for the kids in your life.
I have some tips I always use when buying my babies Christmas presents and I’m here to tell you them! As well as, give you my ultimate Christmas gift guides for the little ones in your life. Whether you’re a parent or buying a gift for your niece/nephew/favorite little human, these gift guides are for you. (Trust me, the parents of that little one will thank you for getting these gifts over another Squishmallow to fill their house!)
How I Think About Buying Kid’s Christmas Presents
I like to be mindful of what I fill my home with. So instead of just buying my kids the latest toys that will quickly be thrown aside, I try to pick gifts that will help them learn and grow. I also choose toys that can be kept forever! A lot of the things my girls play with now are toys from when my 11 year old was just a baby. Quality, wooden toys especially, are what last! When people ask us what gifts we want for the kids, I’m always quick to say art supplies, books, or anything creative!
We once asked for no toys at my son’s birthday. Instead we asked for board games. It was the best idea! We have so many games now. It gave us years of quality time playing together rather than a house full of toys he only played with once.
Here are some gifts and books that have either been on my list for my own children, or we already own that we use and love so much! If you want to see all the guides, head to my LTK! They are all linked over there, as well.
Christmas Gift Ideas: Mindful Kids + Toddlers Books
I have a couple book based gift guides for different aged littles. For baby to toddlers, this gift guide will be best for you. My toddler loves yoga books. We will do the poses together as we read. It’s such a fun way to be active with her while teaching her moving her body feels good and how to be mindful about what her body needs.
I’m always so quick to buy my daughter a book that will help her understand her emotions and remember that her thoughts and feelings are normal. I’m on a mission to teach them how to be their best self, so I love finding books that help that journey! Many of the books on the guide are my toddler’s top favorites, but she does have a top 5. Here are Palmer’s top 5 favorite books right now: Ruby Finds a Worry, Dear Girl, Be Brave Little One, I Like Myself, Puppy Mind.
For the bigger kids, this gift guide will be best for you! One of my favorites on this guide is The Big Life Journal. They also have an amazing adult version that goes over the basics of retraining your brain. I think everyone needs it! We used The Big Life Journal with our son and it was so great.
Something a little off the path of books I added in this gift guide is this card game. My family uses this to get fun conversations started. Those conversations that might not be brought up organically, but are great to talk about with your kids.
Christmas Gift Ideas: Art Supplies Gift Guide
Buying kids art supplies as presents is a favorite of mine! Arts + crafts time is so great for times when you need to get stuff done or need a break. Let your kiddos get creative and do art on their own while you do your thing. On the other hand, it’s also so great to interact with your children this way. Get creative with them and create art you both can enjoy! Creating is good for the soul and personally I love art. I included in this gift guide some of my favorite art supplies we always keep stocked in the house. What’s great about these are, you can use them for a long time to come and they have so many uses! You’re going to buy the arts + crafts supplies anyway so why not use some as a gift?
Christmas Gift Ideas: Baby Toys Gift Guide
In this baby toys gift guide you’ll find toys we actually own and that my kids loved as very small babies and through toddlerhood. Many of them are from when my son was a baby and have lasted for years and years. This blue ball has been each one of my kids’ first toys as a baby. It’s also sooo cheap!
My 6 month old’s favorite toy right now are these carrots. We actually got these for my toddler for Easter and my 6 mo ended up playing with them so much more! But this is the perfect example of getting quality things for each holiday, so I don’t feel like I’m throwing my money away.
This stand up toy is a lifesaver for when babies are big enough to go in it. It’s, seriously, the only reason I’ve been able to go back to cooking dinner.
Christmas Gift Ideas: Wooden Toys + Puzzles Gift Guides
My least favorite thing about toys is how short their lifetime is. What I like to do when buying toys for my kiddos is buy wooden, the quality is just so much better. I’ve found wood just lasts way longer! My kids favorite wooden toys are anything and everything for their play kitchen, puzzles, train set, and anything and everything from Kinderfeets and Lily & River. I included all their favorites in the wooden toys guide here and the wooden puzzles guide here.
Christmas Gift Ideas: Kitchen Toys Gift Guide
For this kitchen toy gift guide, again we’re all about the wooden + quality! Anything from Hearth and Hand Magnolia Kitchen from Target is a big favorite in our house. They have such good quality and goes with my house aesthetic so well! Their wooden toy kitchen is our favorite play kitchen and, again, goes with my home decor so well. I, also, included a bunch of add ons that go well with it in the guide. My kids are obsessed with having tea parties so there are also supplies to have your dream tea party in this guide!
Christmas Gift Ideas: Calming Toys Gift Guide
Calming toys are some of my favorite toys to get for my kids. Anything they can fidget with to help calm down the crazies when they’re overwhelmed or when they just need a distraction. When it comes to tantrums, my go-to is distraction. While it’s not 100% fool-proof, it works a majority of the time!
Calming + fidget toys are also some of my favorites for car rides. They are normally small enough to not take up the whole back seat, you can bring tons for when they get bored of it after 10 minutes, and children of any age can use them! Needless to say, again, these are some of my favorite toys for my kiddos. Orbees are a big favorite in our house and these wooden stacking rocks are so pretty and fun!
Some of My Favorite Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids
Okay so we’ve gone over the Christmas gift guides and all my favorite toys in those, but let’s chat about some of my favorite overall toys for Christmas gift ideas!
My ultimate favorite gifts are definitely the mindful books for kids! Specifically my daughter’s favorites. They teach her about loving herself and others, that worry is normal, how to be brave, her mind, and taking breaths to calm down. Teaching your kids these things can be tough to talk in a version they understand. That’s why I love getting books that teach them this in a language they understand.
A favorite book of mine for my children is I Think, I Am! by Louise Hay. Louise was one of the first authors I dove into and learned so much from. You can find out more about her here. She passed away at 90, but taught so many people the power of their mind and thoughts. All adults should read You Can Heal Your Life.
This baby stand up toy (above) is a lifesaver for when babies are big enough to go in it. Its the only reason I’ve been able to go back to cooking dinner.
We love this Play and Learn Cube for our littles. It’s SO GOOD to get kids learning and bonding. We got it as a gift from someone else, but it’s now a new favorite gift of mine to give!
We use the Lily & River Little Creator Table (above) for so much! My family uses it for painting + coloring. It has a hole in the middle where we keep crayons and legos. It also comes with a lego top so you can build legos on it without them falling over or risking knocking them off!
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know we LOVE Kinderfeets. Their Natural Play Tent (above) and Wooden Balance Bike are some of our most used Kinderfeets toys in our house. My daughter looks like Saw rolling around the house on her balance bike. It’s hilarious, but she loves it so much. It’s such an easy way to get her energy out, without depleting me of all my energy!
Happy Holidays to YOU!
I hope this helps you find the perfect Christmas gift for the kiddo in your life. For more Christmas gift ideas, I’d recommend the brands below. They aren’t on LTK so I couldn’t link anything that way, but they have great gifts that my family loves! No matter who you are or where you are, I hope you have an amazing holiday season! All the love from my family to yours.
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