Smaller presents that your kids love and play with longer than the Christmas holidays

[Coldcafeeveryday]

My kids are 7 (DD) and 4 (DS) years old. I'd like to buy some smaller/cheaper presents for them that they will continue to play with for longer than the Christmas holidays. They love animals, make believe/dress up, crafts and preferably something that would encourage them to play together.

Can anyone recommend something tried and tested for say less than £20?

I have the same age gap with older Dd and younger DS, also big on animals and roleplay but a couple of years older now. Their best together games are setting up schools or vets for their stuffed toys. It is helpful when my son gets the option to be either a human or an animal in the game, as he spent most of age 5 as a dog. Perhaps a vet set?

Please can one of you recommend a school role play set? I would be really grateful

Things that my 5yo & 8yo consistently reach for...

Lego/Duplo
Magnatiles (they love these)
Sneaky squirrel game
Playdoh
Sylvanian families (buy secondhand from Vinted)
Craft supplies/paper/colouring pens
Kinetic sand sets

Apparently Shopkins are being re-launched.
My daughter played with those for hours when she was little.
(She's 18 now and when she found this out she said "can you get me some please" 😂)

Board/card games that my 5yo enjoys without too much hand-holding:

• Double
• Uno
• Go Fish
• Most of the Orchard Toys range but particularly Shopping List and Tummy Ache
• Some of the vintage Ravensburger range (eBay) like Snails Pace Race

We've also had fun with the Melissa and Doug role play sets, particularly the ice cream set and the plasters and bandages set. Kitpas bath crayons were also a big hit, along with fun bath stuff from Lush.

My 10yo still enjoys:

• lego
• Face Paint
• Schleich horses
• card/board games
• baking
• science/engineering kits

Thanks for all these replies. I like the idea of the real doctors/vet set. We have one but its a toddler one so maybe we need an older version. My DD won't really play with toys, she always wants to BE the character so it's a bit tricky for presents. They are not overly fussed by lego (i wish they were!) A few posters said about price but I quite like to buy second hand anyway to keep costs down so any ideas that I can scour vinted for are great!

Bucket of dinosaurs, my daughter loved a plastic horse that neighed when its leg moved, dress up outfits, and hotwheels cars. All cheap all lasted and all literally played with for years

Juggling balls

My dc are a similar age gap (although much older now). They were given a post office set. It was played with by both for years. They made a den under a table and loved it.

My children are grown up now. But their most played with toy was a Tonga truck with a search light on I picked up cheap at a charity shop near. Others came and went but that one we had for years and I’m sure every child who came into our house played with it. Until the light stopped working.

Marble run

I got one of those for the missus. Only got used for 15 minutes, but that’s three goes so great value.

Have a look at Shaplaboo

Mine have a wooden ice cream cart from Lidl or Aldi that my 5 year old got for her 1st birthday and they will play that for hours. Also magnetic tiles!

Set up a dressing up corner for them with a clothes rail and then second hand clothes or your and DH's cast offs, even, cut short if necessary, that they can build costumes out of. If it's more than one £20 gift you're looking for, a floor length mirror too. Cheap wigs. Hats. Handbags. Etc.

When I was about 8, for christmas, my DGM made me a pair of stage curtains and strung them up across the end of my room. I loved them and used them for years. She DIYed them. The material had obviously been used for something else before, but they were richly coloured, opened with some DIY pully system in a swoop, and were so much fun.

YY to an ice cream truck. Ours is played with by all visiting children. We have the LeapFrog “scoop and learn” which is £45-60 new but I paid £15 on Vinted, and they come up on marketplace a fair bit round here.

I also saw a great idea on one of the Christmas threads of a clipboard and lanyard, which I know my DD will love.

Pretend shops . I set up an old bookshelf that had rails with real veg . Small clothes rails . Empty perfume bottles . Got paper bags from cash and carry , saved gift bags . The real fun was the realistic till with coins . Although maybe kids now wouldn't normally see cash transactions.

Hand puppets, for some reason these were hilarious and they put on little plays of nonsense together for years after

Plus plus, my kids love them even my 12year old will get stuck in and have a play when they come out. They are nice and small too so can easily be taken to restaurants and on holiday!
plus-plus.com/

At those sorts of ages the things my boys played with most inside were Lego and Playmobil. They also loved marbles runs, car tracks, and grimms wooden rainbows.

Mine always loved those excavation kits. Where you use a little hammer to break through hard clay to find gems or dinosaurs (various are available). You can get them in different sizes so they vary in price but none overly expensive I seem to remember.
And balloon art kit. (Sort of thing they have in the works) where you can make balloon characters. They used to spend ages with those.
doctors set like plenty of previous posters was always returned to as well.

Ha ha, brilliant! 🤣

Board games, I have a 7 and almost 4yo they play the tooth fairy game, pop up pirate, buckaroo, keerplunk, Disney headbandz, snakes and ladders all year round, orchard games are always a hit too.
a whiteboard easel for playing schools, shops etc
magnatiles are always a hit.
melissa and Doug doctors set and 'bandages and booboos' was a hit for my two last Christmas and they still play together with it now.

Walkie talkies

Marble Run was a huge success here with boys and girls for years.