Hello. I am wondering if anyone has a good suggestion for a birthday gift for a child turning two. I would like to spend about $20. It could be a toy or something else. Anyone have a great gift idea?
A.,
Blocks are always a good choice. My son has been playing with these since he was a baby. He still plays with them even though he is five. I really like blocks because they let the children use their own imagination and creativity. We have blocks that are different shapes and colors. These are his favorite. Also, boys like to have a super hero doll or character toy.
I have a son who just turned three, and he is all boy. He really loves building, vehicles of all kinds(race-track?), books(Tonka), and tools! Another idea that I like because my son has a lot of toys is any kind of movie.
I agree with play-doh if he likes art at all.
I like the blocks idea...they are a favorite at my house. So are cars and trucks. Matchbox cars, dump trucks (especially the big ones), really any kind of car or truck, trains...my son really likes the Geo Trax. I also like the crayola wonders idea, those are really nice to travel with or bring to someones house or for use in waiting rooms to keep them busy w/out making a mess.
Books that are the hard, card board type. Although we always read to our son, it seemed at about two he really started to enjoy it and look forward to it. He'll even "read" on his own.
Crayola Color Wonder markers/paper. His/her Mom will be grateful for this as they only mark on the paper, not on anything else.
Play-Dough. I think the age recommendation is 3, but our son has been playing with it since he was 2 - supervised.
Legos, not the Duplo, but the next smaller size.
Blocks of any kind.
Really, they just love opening the presents at that age and any toys are great.
Some ideas NOT to get...
Stuffed animals. I think we have like 100 of them.
DVD's/movies - only because some parents really limit the TV that thier kids watch.
My little boy loves lights and music.
At target they have a robot, kind of looks like a generic power ranger or a transformer. It's only $10. It walks, talks, lights up, has a fake lazer sword. It's about 2 feet tall. They boys just loved it. Out of all their toys that cost so much for X-Mas that's the one they both fight over and love the best. I should have bought more of them.
My other suggestion is the Spiderman plush toy that sings and it's arms move. It's super cute. It sings the spiderman theme song and itsy-bitsy-spider. And... it has an OFF button!
My boys also like the Kids K'Nex. It's a toddler set of tinker toy like items made of plastic. It's the same theory as legos. You can make a little space alien, spider, puppy or whatever you can think of. A set is about $20.
My son is really into sports. I know there are age appropriate sport toys out there. You could get something baseball or football oriented and maybe a matching outfit for the summer.
I always think books are a great gift for any age. The hard cardboard ones are great and often become one of the first books the child can read to themselves later on. Train tracks like GeoTrax or the kind for like Thomas the Train (there is a generic like brand that works with classic Thomas the Train tracks too). Magnetic letters that go one the fridge are great too.
Trains, cars or anything that moves. We also like to give bath toys or bath tablets (the ones that change the color of the water). A really great place to find toys is the Learning Express, there is one right in Fishers off of 116th.
Hope this helps,
L.
Hi A.!
We've always had good luck giving and receiving Rescue Heroes. You can get one hero and a vehicle and most likely if he doesn't have them already he will want more! I haven't known a boy yet who doesn't like them. The good thing is that they are action figures that fight fires and help people. They have books, coloring books, and sticker books too. I'm sure that what ever you get, he'll like it!
Hi A.,
My son is 2.5 and is big time into hotwheel cars, monster trucks and trains. I know you can get a variety of these types of vehicles big and small. He also likes anything he can relate to with cartoons...Diego, Mickey Mouse, Cars: The Movie.... He also is into coloring...Crayola Color Wonder markers have been a blessing because he can color and there is no mess. Hope this helps!!!
A. ~
Leap frog makes GREAT gifts - our standard for the two year olds are the alphabet ones where it goes on the fridge or office file and sings the ABC’s and the letters are BIG and colorful and they start matching, sorting and learning. We had it for our kids and when I gave it to my niece my sister thought it was ‘to old’ for her two year old YET: two weeks later she was singing the ABC’s and identifying letters and colors!!! Its at most Wal-mart/L-Mart type stores for under $20, and even ‘big’ kids like it when they visit too. It’s a nice ‘grow’ with me toy. We moved up to Word Whammers (same idea but uses 3 letter words, has over 8 games to play) when the kids get to their fourth/fifth birthdays. My kindergartener gives the ‘whammers’ out as gifts now for birthday parties for her class mates; parents are loving it as the kids are now learning their words and reading.
