Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts for the Little Ones

I hope you’ve been enjoying my gift guides so far! They’ve been so fun for me to put together and I hope they’ve given you some thoughtful gift ideas for your loved ones. We’ve covered gifts for the foodie, the home decor lover, the new mom and for her. Up next is my gift guide for babies and toddlers. Even though it’s Lively’s first Christmas, we won’t be overloading her with gifts (I’m sure her grandparents and family will do plenty of spoiling. 🙂 ) As she gets older, Todd and I have talked about implementing the “WANT NEED WEAR READ” idea. Have you heard of this? Basically, a child gets four gifts from their parents. Something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read. I like this simplified concept of gift-giving mainly because Christmas = Jesus not gifts, and I want to do everything I can to impress this upon Lively’s heart early on.

If you have kids, how do you handle Christmas presents? I’d love to hear your ideas for setting aside the usual distractions and keeping Christ the center of Christmas throughout the holiday season. Here’s a few great ideas I’ve seen recently:

• I recently came across the Giving Manger on Instagram and I absolutely love this family Christmas tradition focused on giving. Watch the video on their website. It’s so sweet!
• My friend Blaire of Texa Flora just wrote a “Non-Gift Gift Guide” that is SO good. I highly encourage everyone (kids or not) to read it. She has so many wonderful ideas for ways you can celebrate the Christmas season that are more meaningful and lasting than anything you can add to your cart.
• I love following Redemptive Parenting on Instagram for encouragement in raising Godly children. I loved this recent post on a giving/serving tradition they’ve implemented with their own kids.

I’m certain at some point I’ll over do it with gifts (it’s one of my love languages), but my hope is to be intentional about the gifts I do give and to teach Lively the joy that comes in giving more than receiving.

Here are a few ideas, some practical and some fun, that would make for sweet and thoughtful children’s gifts…

1. Bunny Musical Pull Toy – So sweet for a baby! I love how Lively rocks back and forth when she plays with a musical toy. This one plays “bluebirds of happiness” (I have no idea what song that is but it sounds lovely! :))
2. Weekender Bag – This is something practical that we could use so I shared this with my mom and this is what she got Lively for Christmas. Anytime we’ve traveled I’ve put all of her stuff in one of my old tote bags and it ends up being an unorganized mess by the end of the trip. Looking forward to having a bag just for her stuff! (After I made this the strawberry print when out of stock. There’s still a cute duck print available for boys or I also love this quilted set and think this one is cute.)
3. New Pajamas – a new set a pj’s is always nice to have. This red one from The Beaufort Bonnet Company is currently sold out but these are really sweet and I found this similar option that’s also budget friendly. These are awesome because of the magnetic closure and these pima cotton bubbles are great year round. I also love these. I know they’re pricey but they are so stinking cute!
4. Modern Play Kitchen – how cute is this?! The farm sink! The gold fixtures! Lively is too young for this right now but I can see her loving one of these in the next year or so. The price is pretty good too compared to other play kitchens I’ve seen that cost upwards of $500. I also really like this one and this one.
5. Mix and Bake Blender – a delicious spin on playtime! This play food set also includes a bowl, flour bag and sugar bag, while the mixer has a realistic dial that’s easy for little ones to twist.
6. Origami Boat – fun little teether or bath toy made from 100% natural rubber from Malaysian Hevea trees and hand painted with safe, natural food graded dyes.
7. Baby Fox Stacker – cute and colorful stacking toy perfect for building fine motor skills.
8. This is the Christmas Story – I love anything She Reads Truth does so I have no doubt these children’s books are wonderful. This is the Christmas Story presents the whole Christmas story–the story of God promising His people a forever King who would bring light into a dark world. These books are written for ages 4–9, but are perfect for the whole family!
9. This is the Gospel – this book introduces kids to the Good News – the story of God’s love for us!
10. Knit Strawberry Cupcake – The cute chime toy fosters the development of fine motor skills, color identification and encourages play.
11. Taco Tuesday Plate – I have one of the bibs from this brand and it is such great quality. I also love all the witty sayings they have on everything. This plate is made of 100% food-grade silicone and it suctions to any table or highchair tray to keep meals in place.
12. Wood and Silicone Teether – This teether offers two different textures of teething material for baby to chew. The double beech wooden rings also rattle when shaken. So cute!
13. Baby Caterpillar Toy – an adorable toy that’s also a wooden puzzle and sorter. Babies can learn to sort by shape or color and the 6 pieces connect together to form a caterpillar. Recommended for children 1-3 years old.
14. Wood Blocks – Classic set of wood blocks made with non-toxic paint. They also have rounded edges and smooth sides so they’re safe for baby to play with. I also think these are super cute.

A few more little random inexpensive things: baby crinkle paper, indestructible book and corn popper. I also really like all the Fat Brain developmental toys that encourage learning.

Affiliate links are used in this post. This means that if you choose to purchase something, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. 🙂