A Few of My Favorite Things: A Christmas Gift Guide for Toddlers

November 25, 2020

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission when you buy through the links on this page.

I cannot believe it’s already time for Christmas shopping! With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite things for boys & girls ages 1-3 years old. These are toys we have used and loved that are perfect Christmas gifts for your toddler. Check out the full list on Amazon here. If you’ve got an older kiddo, check out my space-themed Christmas gift guide here.

Check out my full list of gift guides here, including the perfect gifts to give to the Christian in your life.

Step2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table

I have this as #1 on this list because this is the BEST gift for a toddler. Not all water tables are created equal – we’ve experienced that the hard way. We purchased this for Justus’s 1 year birthday after A LOT of research and an earlier “fail.” This water table is endless fun and, unlike other water tables, it is sturdy and has lots of options to keep everyone entertained. Our 16-month-old AND 4-year-old enjoy this table a lot!

Little Tikes Cozy Coupe

This is Justus’s favorite toy, hands down. I love that it has a removable floor so that he can get around on his own – or we can take him for a walk in it! This is a timeless classic that is a big hit in our home.

Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone

I haven’t found a kid who doesn’t love this toy. Little ones enjoy pounding the small wooden balls onto the xylophone, which makes a fun cascading sound. It checks a lot of boxes: it’s helpful for those fine motor skills, hand/eye coordination, as well as sensory/musical development, and best of all it’s a lot of fun for the kids! Also, adults can have fun trying to figure out how to play songs on the xylophone. (Here’s some help if you want to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 😉 )

Little Explorers Flap Books

My kids love these books AND they’re super informative. My 4-year-old, Finn, loves the Outer Space and My Amazing Body books. Lift-the-flap books in general are a big hit with my kids, and these get extra points for reaching a wide audience and having great information that can grow with your child.

Sensory Table

We use our sensory tables A LOT in a variety of ways. We have this one for outdoor use:

I love how multipurpose this table is! We’ll eat lunch on it and then take the top off of the table and use it for sensory play. Recently, we played a letter game where we scooped letters out of the sand in the sensory table.

We also have this table from IKEA that can be used for sensory play. We use it as a LEGO table for Finn and it is awesome. We have the TROFAST storage boxes that fit into the table along with the FLISAT children’s stools.

(Side note: this table is only $50 from IKEA if it’s in stock! My dad drove down to Miami for me to pick up this table when it suddenly came into stock there after WEEKS of me tracking the stock throughout the state!)

If you’re looking for sensory play ideas, two of my favorites are kinetic sand and water beads! I have a bin of sensory bin tools such as scoops, tongs, cups, etc. that I keep with our sensory table. This is a perfect set here!

Play Kitchen

Our boys enjoy playing with our play kitchen and it’s typically a hit with kids in the 1-2 year-old range. I love how there are so many modern options these days – a far cry from the plastic play kitchens that we played with as kids! Our play kitchen blends nicely with our own kitchen and the boys like to “cook” while mama cooks! 🙂

Radio Flyer 4-in-1 Stroll’N Trike

This trike is a winner. We received this for Finn’s 1 year birthday and he used it up until we started using it for our youngest. I love that it really does transition with your child as they grow. I will say that it took a while to put it together – so if you purchase this, be prepared for that! It’s well worth it, though.

Large Sandbox with Seats + Construction Trucks

Playing in the sandbox is one of our daily go-to activities. I love that both of my boys can play in this sandbox and that I can sit on the edge without getting (too) sandy. We also like that we can pour water into this sandbox and it will eventually drain (versus some other plastic sandboxes that are completely enclosed at the bottom – when it rains or you pour water into them, the water will pool there sometimes for days!). The boys love to use their construction trucks to move the sand around.

Mega Bloks or LEGO DUPLO

I am a big fan of any building toys – wooden blocks, MagnaTiles, LEGOs, Goobis… These types of toys stimulate creativity, sequential and mathematical thinking, problem solving, fine motor skills, and more. If your kiddo is closer to 1 year old, I recommend the Mega Blocks. If they’re a bit older and more developed with their fine motor skills, I highly recommend getting a LEGO DUPLO set or two.

I can tell you from experience that it is a miraculous moment when your child starts playing with these types of toys and really enjoys them. Their imagination and creativity expands so much and they begin to be able to play by themselves for longer periods of time – which is every moms dream, amiright?!

So, those are some of our favorites! If you want to know what’s on my Christmas wish list for my 16-month-old, here’s a few more ideas (that I have not tested but am excited for him to receive!):