What are you getting your 3 or 4yr old for their main present?

[SlinkyB]

I'm stuck! Was going to get my son some Lego Juniors, to start him on his Lego journey (he has Mega Bloks and a little tiny bit of Duplo) but I've made the mistake of telling family, who are now getting him three sets between them.

I don't want to bombard him on Christmas Day with tooooo much Lego Juniors, so that he doesn't appreciate/play with each set individually (yy, I know it'll all end up in a big bucket mixed up eventually, but I'd like for him me to be able to make each set up separately for a few days at least).

He'll be four at the end of Jan, so we can always buy him one of the bigger Lego Junior sets then.

What is everyone else getting? He keeps asking for nasty plastic crap he sees on tv adverts (groan) like Mousetrap or that Play Doh launcher game, but we're not keen.

Budget is up to £70. Any tips appreciated! (friends are buying theirs a bike, but he already has a balance and pedal bike from his last birthday).

Big stuff DD (4.2) is getting:

Doll clothes (made by me)
Fancy doll pushchair with a basket underneath (what she asked for but we already had stashed away secondhand)
Big marble run
CD player (and lots of copies of CDs so we don't have to worry about the originals

She got the pedal bike for her birthday, and has a tonne of duplo and daddy's old Lego plus a wooden train set already. Also has the Playmobil take-along house which is finally starting to see some use though she got it last Xmas. A big pop-up tent was also a hit last Xmas. We put it away over the summer which meant it was "new" when it came out again.

Our most popular present last year (DS is about a year ahead of you) was a GALT marble run, brilliant toy!

What about one of the Le Toy Van wooden items eg this pirate ship
www.amazon.co.uk/Le-Toy-Van-Barbarossa-Pirate/dp/B000B7TG9S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418297990&sr=8-1&keywords=pirate+ship+le+toy+van

Then fill it with Scleich or Papo figures (I find the budkins ones odd). If not pirates then farm or something. If it's not brand related (eg Jake) there is less worry about it going out of favour.

My ds is 4 in jan, he is getting the imaginext batcave, plus loads of figures as we got it second hand off ebay and a furby rocker as his step sisters have furby's which he loves.

Smaller things - light saber, spiderman figures, ladybird easy readers (can't read but figure this is the year he may start to).

Oh and also got snakes and ladders, hungry hippos and kerplunk as all the dc will enjoy playing those together.

DS2 has just turned 4. He got Thomas take 'n' play sets for his birthday which he loves despite him not being that fussed about Thomas.
He's getting some of the Superhero Duplo for Christmas, he is nowhere near ready for Lego despite master builder DS1's best efforts to teach him the ways. It's just too fiddley and the finished products break too easily. DS1 was nearly 6 when he got into it so I think he has a way to go yet.
Also getting Imaginext castle, Batcave and Gothem a City jail, a balance bike, charades for kids, alphabet bingo, an easil, dressing up stuff, a cash register.

mine's getting a pedal bike for Xmas and a massive box of 2nd hand wooden railway for her birthday in Jan.

that said I really like the idea of something smaller for her bday and then a present later in the year. we might do that in future.

My son is having an octoport and some gups for his birthday which is just before Christmas and lots of little bits and pieces for Christmas like Books, a Pillow pet light thing and a toy mixer which works like a real one. Father Christmas is bringing him a Batman thing (Think it's a building with a batman in it) because he specifically asked for Santa to get that. Normally we would just fill a stocking with bits and bobs but this year, because he's more aware of Santa delivering stuff, we wanted him to get one thing he had asked for by his stocking.

FIL is buying him a bike!

is it octoPOD? DS calls it a Port. One of those anyway. We managed to get one second hand with some gups for £40. He's going to pee his pants!

DS is almost 3 1/2. I have got a playmobil pyramid for him as he loves to look st some books on pyramids/ egypt my aunt gave him and spends hours with one playmobil thing someone gsve us. Plus a puzzle, pyjamas, two DVDs and a few teeny tiny bits.

Parents have got him a marble run, PIL some extra for his brio train set ( which was mine originally). All great grandparents getting books ithink.

DS2 is just 4 and is getting a huge (and I mean huge!) Bruner Fire Engine as his main present plus a Fireman Dress up/helmet and some proper walkie talkies which I know will probably be his favourite present.

He has also got a Tomy Tomica mini Fire Station and a police station which I got in the summer from Amazon for about £10 for the both of them.

He saw Father Christmas last week for the first time and asked him for something very specific which we hadn't even heard off (its a Play Doh Kitchen) so Ive managed to find one somehow and he has got that as well.

We're getting our 3yo DS accessories for his brio trainset. Bigjigs are compatible and cheaper than brio so he's getting a 5 way train shed and elevated station.

A little ahead of you, DD was 4 in the summer. We had to upgrade her Micro scooter to a Maxi Scooter before she started Reception as she was too heavy for it and it was unstable when she was going flat out on it. So you might want to look at it as a possible present and use the vouchers for Lego base plates / box of bricks to supplement his collection later.

It might be [is in fact] nasty plastic crap but she got the Hungry Hippo game for her birthday and it has been a huge [and irritating] hit. Kerplunk is another one good with this age group and she got a Gruffalo Snakes and Ladders game which has a plastic floormat and she loves it.

Torches are great. Natural History do one with a slide in feature so you can shine/change a dino onto the wall.
A dressing up kit might be a hit? You can buy a box of stuff with a selection of Hats and bits and bobs. Dead handy for all the school dress up days too.

Drum kit ? or a kids tablet, or something like this
www.johnlewis.com/carrera-red-bull-buggy-remote-control-racing-car/p1625390

Santa doesn't bring "main" presents in our house though. Lots of small fun things and new pjs.

He has a scooter and a bike
Will get a Buzz Lightyear. No idea what else tbh. Going back to read rest of thread for ideas

Dsis 4 btw.

It's funny duellingfanjo but up until recently my ds insisted that the Octonauts Creature Reports were creature re-pods so Barnacles could clearly do with working on his enunciation

But yes, Octopod. You got an excellent deal btw.

DS was 4 in Oct and got loads of Lego. We're not getting him any more for Christmas but he might get some from friends/family.

He has:
Playmo police car trailer with boat
Dress up set (superman? Can't remember might be Spider-Man!)
Pop up pirate
Playdoh digger
Shopkins (highly sought since his birthday, not sure why!)

Ds is just 4. We are building him a small climbing wall in the garden for his main present!

Can I just say that Playmobil dinosaurs are The Business. That is all.

Dd age 3 is getting a wooden farm building from brushwood and I've bought a selection of Schleich farm animals . DH is going shopping to buy her a tractor and trailer for it too.

Other main gift is snow glow Elsa and a big jigsaw

cat that wooden pirate ship is lovely! Thanks for the link.

notso argh, you're right, the finished Lego sets are fairly flimsy and fall apart when ds tries to play with them. Maybe I am about two years too early for Lego...

Tread drum kit?! hahahaha. We bought him a harmonica last Christmas. Lesson learnt The dinosaur torch looks good though - thanks!

Still not sure what to get as his main present from us under the tree. Will get a small Duplo set and a bit of play-d'oh for his stocking, as that's what he asked for in his letter to Santa.

Off to introduce myself to the world of Playmobil (please lord don't let the range be anywhere near as big as Lego. My brain hurts).

My 3yo DS is getting a set of plastic letters with holes so he can 'sew' the alphabet.

P.S meanwhile that sounds amazing!

For what it's worth I think playmobil is v good at this age level. Lego stuff partic all the pink princess stuff is age 8 plus imo and the pieces are way smaller than they used to be

A bow and arrows like Merida.