Presents for 2yr old in a small house

[Llamapolice]

Looking for presents for our toddler that she'll get a lot of use out of but take up minimal space! We live in London in a very small terrace. Dd's own room basically a box room so all toys are in our living room. We already have a toy kitchen (next to the TV ) and definitely cannot accommodate anything else of that sort of size. We have a small yard but not really a garden as such but we do go to the local park a lot.

Membership to London Zoo. We went a lot when my daughter was this age. If you want something for her to open, get a small soft toy, glove puppet (or finger puppet if you want very small!) or book about an animAl to go with it,

If you have a small yard, small outdoor toys.
An outdoor chalk board screwed to the fence/ wall and chalk. Bubble machine and mixture. Small sand table.

Haba do lovely magnetic puzzle mazes. They use a kind of magnetic pen to move bead around inside. It’s small ish, clean and no bits everywhere

Duplo
Playschool
A little scooter that she can take to the park but folds up?

Playdoh that should say!

We have almost the same situation! Small house, 2 year old and nowhere to put the mountain of large plastic things.

If she likes the park you could try a Scuttlebug. It’s like a trike thing with no pedals they just walk themselves along and steer. DS loves his and they fold down so don’t take up as much space. They are in B and M and Asda had some for about £20.

I quite like the pop up tunnels and tents (Ikea were doing them not sure if they still are). They fold down when not in use and are hours of fun.

We’ve tried to look for multifunctional toys this year.

We’re getting a Leapfrog story cube. It plays songs, reads stories and you can make your own recording of a favourite story. It also has a night light projector with a little animation. It is £35ish on Amazon if I remember.

I’ve also seen a little wooden box with a lid that has a chalkboard on one side and a magnetic whiteboard on the other. They had animal magnets with it but I saw a Peppa Pig one if your DD is a fan. The animal one was about £10.

Amazon had some projector torches in loads of different themes from animals, space to Frozen and they’re all about £6-£11.

I’m looking forward to seeing other replies for more ideas!

I was going to recommend a zoo membership too! We've had loads of use out of ours (grandparents buy ours for DC Christmas present).

Or depending on what side of London your on a Kew Garden membership is great for that age too... loads of roaming space, a children’s garden and an indoor soft play of sorts.

A plastic tea set takes up no room. Same with a small doctors/vet set. They usually come in their own little carry case.

Box of Duplo and a big baseplate. Maybe a set with animals in.

Inflatables. Inflatable anything.

Bath toys which you can keep stuck to the sides of the bathroom wall:
Toomies foam cone factory
Bath pipes
Foam shapes like the Edushape traffic set
Water wheel www.mulberrybush.co.uk/bath-water-wheel-gowi

Fiesta Crafts magnetic faces activity box
Playfoam Go travel pack
Aquadoodle mat (can be rolled up or pushed under the sofa) www.argos.co.uk/product/3314676?clickSR=slp:term:aquadoodle:8:9:2

Pop up play tent

Magnetic building tiles. My dd is still playing with hers 2 years on.

A train set that can be played with then packed away? A dolls buggy that folds up?

This is probably too big but my 2yo loves her wobble board. You may be able to slot it round a corner or something

We bought our grandaughter the melissa and doug take along farm, m&d farm play rug and some schleich animals for Christmas when she was that age. She is 4 1/2 and it has had many happy hours of play and many more to come. It lives at ours takes so needed to take up no space, rug rolls up and the barn is take along so isnt big. Lovely quality too. She has the Mellisa and doug take along garage and car play rug at home, again it is small but i cant praise it enough. Garage is wooden and matchbox cars are perfect size for it. Also another gift still played with 2yrs later. For main gift i cant praise micro scooters enough, great for those watching space, loved by little ones and great all year around. Have to add daughter and son in law live in the worlds smallest 2 bedroom house so space saving toys are a must.
MrsLeclerc we bought her the leapfrog Leapstory cube last year on behalf of my mum, BIG HIT! Though i am tempted by the yoto player for her 5th birthday.

Sorry if part of my post is a bit gobbldy gook. Hectic day at work!

Yoto player it’s tiny and my 2 year old loves it.

At that age my dds got hours of fun from my busy books (still used at 11 and 8!) They are a book with 10/12 small figures and playmat. All fits inside and loads of characters available.

They each had a happyland house too which got lots of use, the mushroom one was a big hit but quite compact!

Another favourite was a little suitcase filled with silly glasses, junk jewellery like bangles/necklaces, headbands. Hours of fun and great photo opportunities. My favourite is my daughter with thick black glasses, a tonne of necklaces, haiwaiian skirt and fairy wings at around 2 😂

Doctors kit and tea set are a must.

And my youngest loved a little treasure chest we filled with fake golden coins, those decorative shiny stones and fake diamonds from poundlands bridal section.

I know what you mean about small toys, with my youngest we lived in one room with my mum, then a tiny studio flat!

Sorry for the lack of reply, busy day with DD! Some really great ideas, absolutely love idea of London Zoo membership, we're not too far away. Will be doing lots of research!

Magnetic squares get played for hours and hours in our house

Kids love opening presents. So I always found the trick at Christmas is to mix in a few decent / quality toys with other presents they need and consumables.

So things like new pants and vests with their favourite character on, or new character crockery always went down well. Mine also got given pjs, slippers, dressing gowns, clothes that they'd like.

Then add in the consumables - things you'll get through anyway, like bubble Bath in a character bottle, Bath pens, new play dog, arts abs crafts etc...

We also added in luxury foods that the children were not normally allowed. Coco pops is still a firm favourite (we only buy it at Christmas) and already my daughter has put in her request for which bubble gum she wants this year. She's almost 17! I did try not bothering a few years back, but got moaned at as it's tradition!

Hey presto, a super exciting Christmas but with very little clutter for your house. It's a win win!

A doll and pram. A t set, a train set, Duplo, Megablocks, Playdough toys, a farm set. Playmobile 123.

Scooter
Pop-up tent or collapsible teepee
Paint sticks

We got our 2 year old a balance bike for his birthday and he’s got so much use out of it, it’s been amazing. And makes our trips to the park much more fun as he now whizzes around rather than dawdles!

Binoculars or magnifying glass