Once your little one learns the magic of Santa, it won’t be long before they start writing their Christmas lists and dreaming about the toys that they will be getting their hands on. Making the magic come alive, from an early age, can give you and your kids plenty of special moments to look forward to year after year – from the first Christmas letters, comprising of cut up Argos catalogue pages, to more literate masterpieces as they grow older, the magic of Father Christmas is all around you from when your children are very young.
As they grow, they will provide you with more and more inspiration about what to get them for Christmas. As babies, you tend to guess what they will like, based on their stage of development and, let’s be fair, it’s more about what you like the look of in the toy aisles. However, as they turn into walking, talking toddlers, they will start to show more of a preference towards certain toys and you can use this to your advantage at Christmas time.
While they may be a couple of years off toys such as dolls and action figures, they will likely be showing an interest in the playsets that are suitable to their age group. Chunky, durable figures and sets such as the Little People House and Farm are a perfect starting point for any little one’s imagination and role play development, and will last for at least a couple of years before they move on towards more fiddly playthings.
Arts and crafts materials are also a fabulous addition to a Santa sack. Perfect for a rainy day, arts and crafts items will always get used and would be a great idea for a family member to get them for Christmas. A DIY art box would be super – fill a box with craft supplies, such as glue, paints, fuzzy felt and pipe cleaners, and let their creativity run wild!
Stock up their dressing up box with goodies as a cool and creative Christmas present. While they may be happy with a princess or knight costume, you could also consider some cheap and cheerful additions to their fancy dress stash, which will encourage them to create their own personas rather than basing their play on their favourite characters. Bags, hats, boas, sunglasses – let your imagination run away with you and wait for the smile on their face as they delve into their new stash!
Whatever you and Santa gift them this Christmas, remember that, with little ones, the box it all comes in is almost as fun as the toys themselves, so don’t worry about spending too much for a very merry Christmas with little ones!
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