Gift Guide: Children

I’ve never done gift guides before, and I have to say it’s been an emotional ride! These are coming to you a tad later than planned due to the waiting of a few items BUT I am so excited to share some amazing products with you all. There are gift ideas for children of all ages in this gift guide. Some will be given to Molly as either Christmas or Birthday gifts ( we haven’t quite decided yet ) and others will either be given to family & friends or to a local charity shop.

The first item up is this Wooden curved puzzle from Mothercare. This is a beautiful toy that I fell in love with instantly, the beautifully bright colours and cute characters. There are so many ways you can play with this puzzle, you can nest them inside each other to make a rainbow or stack them to make them balance, even line them up in various combinations. The characters stick on top of the curves by magnets. I love anything rainbow as Molly is a rainbow baby, so this was right up my street! It is currently priced at £12.00

Molly has always loved music. Even in the womb she would wriggle and ‘dance’ to any music that was played. Now she loves dancing to music and loves people singing her songs. Musical instruments are a perfect gift for any child of any age. Wilko have a beautiful range of wooden instruments that come in a range of different colours. We got her the drum (£5.00), recorder (£3.00) and tambourine (£4.00) and managed to get them so they all matched! Musical instruments are great at helping your little one develop sight, sound and co-ordination skills whilst having fun at the same time!

If you are having trouble finding toys for little ones, Wilko have an amazing range of wooden toys. One of the toys they have is this wooden safari peg and hammer set from their Safari Buddies range. It’ll help to develop their movement and co-ordination too! The set includes a wooden hammer, 6 coloured pegs and a bench. Its a little smaller than i imagined, but i think Moly will love playing with this! It is currently priced at £5.00.

We were kindly gifted these fun bricks to try out. They are so much fun! I remember having these when I was at school and I can’t wait for Molly to try them out too. They easily fit together any way you like, they are pliable, tactile, durable and provide safe play for little ones. You can get sets of 35, 50 or 100 pieces to create a world of fun! The great thing about these is that they help develop hand-eye coordination all whilst having fun! Debenhams currently have the 100 piece set for only £13.60 down from £17.00

You can never go wrong with a classic toy like a wooden shape sorter. This is perfect for Molly as she is starting to get the idea of shape sorting. I’m a big fan of toy’s that are fun but also educational, and ones that will help with their development in one way or another. Shape sorters are fab for aiding problem solving and co-ordination skills whilst having fun at the same time. This one is from Wilko at just £7.00. They say on their website :

This is part of our My Global Adventure toy collection, which is all about encouraging little ones to get out there and explore the world. Helping kids discover the importance of caring for animals and the world we live in, this collection is as vibrant as it is colourful. What’s more, the toys in this collection have all been specially designed to meet the developmental needs of little ones to help aid physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.

Win for baby – Win for parents!

Early learning puzzle toys are an amazing way to help a little one start learning and recognising letters, numbers and shapes. Sainsbury’s had this cute letter puzzle that i just had to grab. They also have a number puzzle game, includes 10 pieces ( 1- 10 ) and 5 different shapes and then they have an animal puzzle game, 9 different animals. Currently priced at £2.62 each – Bargin!

Now, something for the older children. If you haven’t heard of a brand called Smiggle – where have you been?! Smiggle is a super fun stationary brand that was created in 2003, making it’s way to the UK in 2015. Since then they have pretty much taken over kids stationary and expanded into other areas such as lunch boxes, drink bottles, toys and crafts. Smiggle were kind enough to send me a few items to share with you guys.

First up is a Mash Light Time Watch. For those kids who are into watches, this is the coolest one out there. This analogue watch plays a colourful 15-second light show at the press of a button. There are several different designs to choose from, sure to be the envy of any classroom! It includes a seconds hand, silicone rubber strap  and a metal buckle. Currently £17.60 down from £22 until Sunday 9th December! So get in there quick!

Next is a Game over lockable notebook. These notebooks are a perfect gift for any pre-teen who loves writing. It comes with a removable slip cover which reveals a scented cover! There are 84 sheets / 168 pages with 3 different fun page designs separated with PP dividers. Plenty of room for writing or maybe the occasional doodle. Again there are many different styles and designs that you can choose from: Unicorn, poodle, fluffy, sequin, football and more. You can even get ones with the letter of your child name on the front. This particular one is currently prices at £10.80 down from £13.50.

Want to help get your kids to save their pocket money? Smiggle have a range or Nifty safe style moneyboxes. Made from coated metal featuring a range of fun prints & designs, a pull out tray inside, all with a working dial combination lock! Currently priced at £13.20 down from £16.50 until Sunday 9th December!

Next up we have Super juicy highlighter pens. These bad boys took me back to my teen years when I used to write everything in my planner with scented gel pens, anyone else? Popcorn had to be a personal fave. These fruit smelling highlighters would make the perfect addition to any pencil case. They come in 5 different scents, grape,strawberry, pineapple,watermelon and blueberry. Smiggle dont have them online at the moment but have a product similar. However you can get these you Amazon for £8.45

Last but no means least, we have Smiggles Lip gloss lanyard. When I was about 9/10 I was very into my flavored lip glosses and balms ( Coke flavored lip balm to be precise ) and always had one on me, as well as my candy watch/bracelet, Groovy chick bag and plastic choker i got from a S Club 7 magazine because..well..it was the 90’s! My point is, this would be perfect for those who are just starting to get curious about make up. Its a tuti fruiti scented gloss and lanyard with a safety release opening & lobster clasp attachment. Currently priced at £6.40 down from £8.00 until Sunday 9th December 2018.

  If nothing above has taken your fancy, here is a few more bits that you can have a browse of below…

I hope you have managed to gain some ideas or inspiration from this gift guide. This is Molly’s First Christmas and first birthday all wrapped up into one and we couldn’t be more excited!

This post contains products that have been sent to us for review.