Ideas for kids gifts that look bigger or more expensive than they are

[Deminism]

We are on a tight budget this year. Stocking are sorted but we have birthdays and Christmas for kids turning 3, 6 and 8. I don’t want to buy rubbish that will break quickly. I am happy to buy on eBay though. Any ideas for toys and games that look bigger/more expensive than they are? Eg I just bought a v cool brio train shed on eBay for ds. It is huge and looks way impressive. He will love it. But not that expensive as was £25 second hand.

Yeah but b and m sometimes have bargain toys that you need 3 weeks and a science degree to make up. Not so bargainous in the end.

Definitely check out Sainsburys toy sale, due in the next week or two.

We got a big wooden train set for £25, the equivalent in Brio would be £100+.

Some of the wooden toys from Asda are really good value. We got DD a dolls House from there last Christmas and people always comment on how beautiful it is and are then shocked when we tell them where it's from.

For this Christmas my DM has bought her a vet set from Asda which comes in a massive box with a large doll, animals and loads of accessories, I think she said it was £30.

Also second the Enchantimals recommendation upthread. We got the house from Smyth's on sale for about £25 and a couple of extra figures from Amazon for about £6-7 each to go with it.

Second hand playmobil? My kids love it, it really lasts, and you can get quite good bundles on eBay for not a lot of money!

My two are having a huge Playmobil castle this year. I got it from a local selling site for £15 and it looks brand new- even came in the box and with the instructions booklet etc.

As well as eBay check out Facebook marketplace - we got DS an absolute dream of a remote controlled old school train set last year - MASSIVE box, incredible quality, £25 boom

A marble run looks big if you set it up...

Nerf guns can look pretty impressive.
Marble runs that you can build/add to
Big tubs of toy soldiers/dinosaurs/animals
Board games and puzzles
Ikea used to be good for tea sets and trainsets that looked very high quality. Not sure if they do them anymore.

Some great ideas on here. We always try to keep to a budget for Christmas. Its still magical for the children.

OP, rather than looking for big toys that aren't expensive whey don't you hold fire for a bit. There will be sales on before Christmas e.g. Black Friday and Cyber Monday. BF is great for picking up bargains if you are prepared to sit at your screen for a few hours.

Also, look at places that are not expensive for gifts whilst having quite good quality. I think IKEA are brilliant for children's toys. Also, as mention TIGER is brilliant and dirt cheap.

I know you want to give your DC a great Christmas but believe me, at that age they are not that fussed and don't understand how much money things are.

Aldi do some beautiful wooden toys in the run up to Christmas. Always bargains to be had! I also rate the quality. Last year we got dd2 a wooden kitchen for £35.00 excellent.

OP - I just had a look at the toys on the Ikea website and they are fab. Tea sets, trainsets lovely soft toys. All with excellent price tags. I wish my kids were still at that age!

Some of the 2 for 15 stuff on argos seems pretty good you would be surprised how many things from there end up bulking up the gift pile. My little mans hotwheels and action playsets are pretty much sorted from there.

Poundworld also has pretty good deals if u check in regularly. Earlier in the year I bought playskool star wars play sets for £2 each which was crazy, I ended up stocking up for birthdays. They did pj mask puzzles for lower prices too and things like board games, hungry hippos kind of style for example.

Kitchen Set or a dollhouse would be perfect. It's not that expensive and I'm pretty sure kids would love it.

Lovely ideas thanks

I don't know if they'd had their sale yet, but Smyths toys is really good. I got a giant spongebob pirate ship playset and a batman playset 2 for £30 last year - looked like they cost more than that each