Are you stuck for decent Christmas (or even birthday) present ideas?  By 18 months, your baby is definitely a toddler and already looking for more entertainment..  So take a look at these ideas and see if there is any good inspiration for your kids’ presents!

I mostly haven’t listed brands so you can shop around for yourself according to your budget.  You can do the rounds via the usual stores – Big W, Kmart, Target etc, but also don’t forget toy stores, specialty independent toy stores, online toy stores (google ‘children’s toys online Australia’ or ‘educational toys Australia’), markets, online markets (such as etsy.com), op shops, and eBay.  Sometimes the more ‘fancy’ the toy (with lights, buttons etc) is not necessarily the better toy.

Look out for my other lists, from birth to toddlers, as I have listed toys from when the age they may first be used, so some might be included in these lists..

Here we go:

–          Table/chairs

–          Magna doodle

–          Aqua doodle

aquadoodle

–          Doll’s house

–          Playdough

–          Easel, paints, smock, paint brushes

–          First crayons (think thick, easy grip or Crayola TaDoodles crayons), pencils

crayons

–          Books with a simple story

IMG_5375[1]

–          First peg puzzle with shape pieces

peg_puzzle

–          Bucket/spade set for beach

–          First slide or climbing frame

–          Wooden food/Velcro set (comes with knife to cut food in half)

wooden_food

–          Little Tikes 3D farm memory match up

–          Little People sets – think farm house, zoo

I’m sure you can think of other classics I’ve forgotten – please list any more great ones! Or alternatively, post them on I Raise My Kids’ facebook page 🙂

(And my disclaimer : I have two boys and work with more boys than girls, so I’m sure some classic girls’ toys could be missing! ;))