Help - my 3yo has everything!

[wouldthatbeworse]

So he’s going to sound incredibly spoilt but my 3yo has so many toys from his sister and cousins and I can’t think of what to get him.

he mainly plays with magnatiles, an old picnic set and his already large collection of soft toys. Has a balance bike and scooter - neither of which he is interested in. Have a shared play kitchen, easel, duplo and sylvanians which get some use. Doesn’t seem interested in cars or trains, no attention for crafts. Main likes are numberblocks and hurling himself off the sofa.

any help much appreciated. thanks!!

Would he like a trampoline?

What about a day out year pass? Local farm or play centre? And maybe (if you can get away with it) re-wrap some of his favourites to open on christmas morning?

Suppose easy one is add to magnetic tiles?! Does he like stories? These YOTO and Toni boxes seem like the goto toy that can last year's if the child is inclined to listen to them!

If you take some of the stuff that he doesn’t play with away, you could wrap it up and give it for Christmas! Three months is a long time in toddler development, you might find he likes them if they’ve not been on his radar for a while. If not at least he’ll enjoy the unwrapping!!

We’re in a similar position with DS(4). We have a large family and he’s the only grandchild so even if everyone gets him 1 present, we’re inundated!

MIL got him tickets to In the Night Garden live show which he absolutely loved. I’d like to do more ‘experiences’ like this for him.

If he likes picnic sets/food related toys, I got the Fisher Price food truck while it was reduced on Amazon and he’s played with it every day for the last 3 months.

Have you tried him on Duplo? You can get some great sets for a reasonable price if you look for the sales. DS gets loads of play out of his, especially the ones with characters included.

At that age, DC loved Thomas and trains so would get extra bits to add to their train track and new character trains. Toniebox was also a hit - you could ask relatives to give tonies for Christmas. Also, what about some of the fancier magna tile sets - the car wheels, animals etc.

Colour in playhouse? Use and then recycle.

Light show for the bath?

If he likes numberblocks, what about this?

www.argos.co.uk/product/9521456

Sticklebricks? They are reduced at Tesco if you have a clubcard.

I also just brought my 3yr old a wooden laptop from Lidl, it opens up and has a blackboard screen, magnets, a mouse pad and some chalks. It was only £10!

Mine also loves his older sisters LED drawing pad, despite not being massive on crafts, that always gets his attention.

Thank you. Some great suggestions. He would LOVE a trampoline but out pathetic garden isn’t big enough. A toy laptop would prob go down well

Sounds similar to DS. This Christmas he’s getting a Nintendo Switch (with Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol games) and a marble run.

Get him some cheap stocking filler toys.

Wrap them up.

And put the money saved into Savings for him.

I agree with wrapping lots of things up (eg lunchbox or wellies that you would buy anyway with his favourite charachter) maybe dressing up gear in bigger sizes. Books

soft toys eg. Build a bear

mine love their sand pit and mud kitchen

If he has everything, why do you need to buy him anything else? It's such a waste of your time and money and the planet's resources?

Didicar?

Some special books? Some clothes he needs?
I wouldn't buy toys for the sake of it.

toy ice cream set (I’m getting the Melissa and Doug ice cream cart for my 4 and 2 year olds) or the play doh ice cream truck

Remember that what 'yoy' consider a gift and what a 3 year old considers a gift are vastly different things. I look back at DDs younger years and the money that I wasted on the things I thought she should have when she would have been more than happy with a giant box, felt tips, stickers and a big roll of bubble wrap. A gift I got for secret santa DD LOVED, pack of loo rolls, felt tips and an instruction sheet to 'build your own snowman'.
I buy theatre or event tickets now so we have things to look forward to throughout the year and give simpler gifts boxed up nicely.

Membership for a local place that's fun to visit. We get so much use out of DD's memberships given to her by relatives.

I might sound like a total Scrooge, but I’d take a couple of toys he hasn’t played with/nor interested in now and wrap them up. At this age, he’ll have forgotten about them so it’ll be a surprise and he might like them more in a few months.

Im not sure about wrapping up old toys my little one would definitely notice. We visited somewhere we hadn't visited in months recently and she remembered straight away where the box of toy cars were.

My 3 year old wouldn’t fall for that, she remembers everything she has!! Might work for 2 year olds.

My 3yo has a small folding trampoline @wouldthatbeworse www.argos.co.uk/product/9459212

She also loves her ice cream stall amzn.eu/d/dnpgsjS

and it says 4+ but this was a recent surprise hit www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/games-puzzles-and-books/board-games/preschool-board-games/baby-shark-fishing-game/p/170000?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces_across_google&gclid=CjwKCAjw7eSZBhB8EiwA60kCW5_w09uli2AFmSts3RM4S1rdoR7StLO-RwJGcm6k71IkXGPneQAr-xoCGO4QAvD_BwE

My DS loves numberblocks and got these for Christmas when he was 3 - it was one of his favourite toys that year and he honestly played with it every day for ages.

www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Resources-LSP0949-UK-Numberblocks-Classroom/dp/B08N55DKJ6/ref=asc_df_B08N55DKJ6/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=463113919827&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6909592128251053013&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006567&hvtargid=pla-1028166467942&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

So he wakes up in Christmas morning with nothing to open? Seriously? You would do that?

A yoto player or tonies box?
Den or tent
Bean bag
Does he like animals, farm animals or horses or dinosaurs? Mellisa & doug do some fab take along sets and you can buy matching play rugs. They have hours of play value, take up little space and aren't silly prices.

Thank you all again. There’s some great suggestions here that I will go through properly. I think he’d like the crazy shark game and any of the numberblocks merch.

the trampette might be a winner.

to answer some of the questions. The 3 year old will probably notice items hidden and given back to him. Would prob say “we already have that”. The 6 year old would def notice esp as most of the stuff was hers to begin with.

im v happy to buy some useful presents like pants and toothbrush as filler but - Like we all do - I want him to have something he loves on Christmas morning so thanks for the great tips. Thankfully my 6 year old is really easy to buy for, I’ll be back for help with DH

My DS loved the leap frog ice cream truck at that age
amzn.eu/c6wTRf3

Or how about a pop up play tent? Or one of those cardboard castles you get get from Hobbycraft? www.hobbycraft.co.uk/colour-in-cardboard-castle-playhouse-91cm/6185951000.html