A GIFT GUIDE FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
As I prepare for Mahi’s third birthday I thought I’d share some of the toys, games and other baby/toddler-friendly items that have given her the most enjoyment. When it comes to toys, there is a lot of research into the less is more theory in order to nuture the child’s imagination and creativity, and avoid overstimulation. This is much easier said than done in a world of consumer culture - - the amount of toys out there now seems to be a thousand fold since my childhood! We’re very lucky to have inherited plenty of toys from friends whose children have grown out of them, so a bit like ‘shopping’ I’ve been able to pick and choose, and pass on what I don’t need. Aside from her carboot and charity shop baby dolls and books, below are some of Mahi’s firm favourites during the past 3 years that I would recommend to others.
We were lucky enough to receive two of these Montessori-inspired boxes, The Babbler Playkit for months 13-15 and The Realist playkit 19-21 months, both of which Mahi still plays with now. The flexible Wooden Stacker and Mahi’s all time favourite (and already now Dash’s) - the Circle of Friends Puzzle with children’s face smiling back has been so much fun for both of them - Mahi always said hello goodbye to the friends and Dash just babbles at them and then covers them back up with the wooden circle jigsaw piece. Created by a team of experts, academics, researchers, and specialists, these award-winning products support your child's brain development at each important stage.Thoughtfully crafted with durable, sustainable, and organic materials that are designed for your child to enjoy independent play and made to last.
CHILDREN’S CUTLERY BY NANA’S MANNERS
Designed by one of my oldest friends Kathryn, a former primary school teacher, who found the hardest part of her day working with 5 year olds was helping them to eat their lunch using cutlery. You might have even spotted her on Dragon’s Den a while back! I’ve been gifting this ingenious set for years, before even having children of my own, to very impressed parents. Mahi intuitively put her fingers into the ergonomically designed moulded parts of the fork and spoon from first use. Check out the stage three cutlery set too, which is a knife and fork set, as well the brand’s natural, plastic free bibs made from Scottish-made waxed cotton - I’m just about to start weaning so I’ve got my eye on these!
VIVOBAREFOOT X JASMINE HEMSLEY PLUMAS
Last year, I collaborated with my long-time friends at Vivobarefoot to help design the Pluma - a barefoot first-walker shoe. The sizes go up to toddlers so Mahi is still in them and Dash will be very soon! The shoe safeguards the foot’s natural desire to be free and wriggly and ‘in conversation’ with the ground which is so important for babies whose feet are only made from cartilage, their feet bones don’t start developing until they put weight on them and don’t stop until their late teens. Soft and malleable, their feet are easily moulded by footwear, so it’s crucial to take care of the natural foot shape and allow for natural movement from the very moment they need shoes.
For Mahi’s birthday last year we bought her one big sun balloon in an effort to be more sustainable - and because she loves balloons. You might have seen it on my insta in a couple of videos and that's because one year later it is still going… We’ve refilled it maybe 5 times and it’s a constant companion in our living room (sometimes making it upstairs and scaring Nick on one occasion when it floated into the bedroom). I wouldn’t say it’s been gently played with (not sure if all balloons like this are as hard wearing or we just lucked out) but yet here it is still going, still popular and almost like another member of the family!
“Where was this when my son was young?” said my best friend who has two children, one of whom is obsessed with anything fiddly - switches, buttons, dials, locks, keys and the like. There are a number of different busy boards and blocks on the market, including some with laces, ties, an assortment of buckles, clasps, zips to keep your child entertained while also learning and refining their key motor skills.
I discovered these at Christmas and gifted them to boys and girls from age 3 upwards. These are great for the car (if your child doesn’t get travel sick), at restaurants, or just out and about in general as they don’t make a mess - no marks on tables or pens lost on the floor. You must however keep a hold of the scratch stick, to scratch the black pad and reveal rainbow colours, as other items which I thought might work haven’t. Some of these scratch pads come with templates etc too which have been popular with older children. Mahi likes colouring in as well as free styling.
Mahi loves to help in the kitchen and this is on her birthday wishlist from her granny after I spotted them at her at a friend's house. There are lots of plastic knife options on the market with plastic chopping boards, but I prefer this stainless steel and form wooden gip handled set which has a variety of knives rather than 4 of the same in plastic. The use of these serrated knives with rounded tips should still be supervised (and in the chefs world we know that a blunt knife is a dangerous knife so I would veer away from hard to chop items like raw carrot and beetroot which require more force and might cause a slip) but they are of course much safer to use for very young children than the usual kitchen knives and a great way to encourage cooking and getting involved from an early age.
You may well know about this one! The Slinky has been a firm family favourite across the last 50 years, but I just had to mention it because it’s on the table in front of me ready for action as I type this. My daughter loves it, it’s picked up often and played with, even though she’s not even seen it do it’s magic trick of traveling down the stairs (for some reason the one we have isn’t long enough to do that). Not sure if it’s because she’s seen it at older friends’ homes and it’s therefore high value but it has definitely brought her more joy than many other gifts. I would supervise play with this one, as twisted it the wrong way will ruin the spiral.
A speed and observation game for the whole family, kind of like ‘snap’ but on steroids! Again maybe a bit old for Mahi but something I love playing (in an embarrassingly competitive way with my friends and friends' children) - because of this Mahi also likes playing it with me. It’s obviously not as fast paced a game with her but she has really started to get the knack of spotting the matching symbol between cards. A great game (and easy to travel with) for 2 or more players from age 3 to just-turned-44 and beyond!
AFFIRMATION JIGSAW BY SUNCHILD
Hand-painted with nature themed illustrations, this beautifully designed board was lovingly received when we were gifted it for Mahi’s birthday last year. A wonderful way to incorporate positive affirmations into daily playtime with the shape / hole puzzle which is always a popular task.
It’s big and bouncy and takes up more space than I’d like but my kids, and every kid that visits, loves it. A gift for Mahi on her first Christmas it still gets almost daily use. I’m in awe at the power of Mahi’s legs bouncing about on what is essentially the horse version of one of the Hopper toys from my youth, albeit a more sturdy version when just sat on. In the 2.5 years we’ve had it, we’ve only had to top it up once with air and despite being drawn on, covered in tape and walked around on a dog lead, this toy looks as good as the day it arrived. Seriously durable even with serious bouncing. It’s excellent for helping to burn off energy on a rainy day.
A grown up water bottle like her friends have is something that really helped encourage Mahi to drink when she turned two and life became all together very exciting and distracting. She feels independent, she knows it’s ‘hers’, you can keep an eye on how much they are drinking in the day and it helps prevent spills when in use but also when stashed away in your bag. We always opt for stainless steel food/drink storage rather than plastic so it’s a big tick on that front too.
These haven’t become part of our family of dolls yet but, when I found this brand on the gram, I fell in love and have had it bookmarked for gifts. Made with natural, high-quality cotton and lovingly handcrafted by women artisans in Peru, making these dolls provides them with a sustainable, fair trade income. Plus, for every handmade, fair trade doll sold, the brand provides 10 meals to children in need. Since September 2015, Cuddle and Kind purchases have helped provide over 30 million meals to children in need!
A screen-free device that plays music, audiobooks, podcasts and much more via individual cards or a wifi connection. It keeps Mahi off my phone and other adult tech while making her feel independent by being able to choose and play her own music and stories. We got this for her second birthday but it has really come into its own in the last 6 months I’d say. The travel version is also brilliant and if I was to do it again perhaps I’d just get the travel one. She listens to classical music, The Beatles and The Snowman, as well as some really funky, funny (heck I like them) children's songs about fleas and the like. She also loves that the story and song cards look like the credit cards which she sees us using. You can plug in headphones and even make your own card recordings - we have Devon granny lined up to do a recording of Mahi and granny’s mutual favorite books and songs so that Mahi can listen to granny’s voice whenever she likes.