Presents for small ones

[Thankyouitwasdelicious]

I am a childless cat lady looking to buy presents for some small relatives. A 1 year old and a newish born. I'm clueless. I love the babies' relatives very much so I want to get something nice.

As an Old Fart, I think my choice of improving books and old fashioned wooden toys probably won't cut it so I was thinking clothes. If I do, what brands would you say are nice to receive?

All help and opinions gratefully received.

Books and wooden toys would be very welcome here (not so old fart with a 1 and 4 year old).

for the newish born i would go with loud and noisey and light up! something to keep their attention.

i must admit i've bought a wooden clock for a nearly 1 year old for christmas, the numbers come out.. i guessed it was educational

If you did want books and wooden toys, which my dd definitely always loved:

eddieandbee.co.uk/collections/crinkly-newspapers
these are great for babies for the noise and then into toddler hood for 'reading' www.babipur.co.uk/collections/toys-holztiger-wooden-figures looking at pictures, colours etc

www.babipur.co.uk/collections/toys-holztiger-wooden-figures
Holztiger are the loveliest little wooden animals - we started buying one every Christmas for DD and built her up a little collection, lovely for little hands to grasp and she played with them until she was 7/8

Sorry that link randomly added itself twice!

Anything Melissa and Doug is a sweet spot between wooden and wholesome and will actually be played with. Play food especially. Most of it is fine for any age.

I also like magformers - safe for baby and endless fun to play with. Young ones can pole, waggle etc, older ones build stuff. And they're easy to tidy because they're magnetic!

Books and wooden toys are always welcomed in our house. However, clothes are lovely too - we have a relative who always buys our girls beautiful dresses from JoJo Maman Bebe and they love receiving them - they often have special little bits on them like animals sewn on with ribbons that tuck into the pockets and that sort of thing.

Le toy van are also good wooden toys.

Green toys https://www.greentoys.co.uk/ are also ace - recycled plastic, absolutely bombproof, my DC have been playing with submarine and boat in the bath for at least four years and they look good as new.

Clothes - I'd have gone for mini boden, JoJo maman bebe, John Lewis. But at those ages they'll only get a few months' wear out of them.

A Grimm’s rainbow! (Or a cheaper version, depending on budget.)

Wooden toys are great - just check labels as a surprising number of toys are not suitable for under-3s. We had a lovely little bag of wooden cats from Jacques of London (not sure of spelling) and also a great wooden alphabet puzzle where the letters all link together. Wooden tea set and cake stand have been very popular here (think the latter was from Aldi).

My go-to for babies is a hooded towel as they don’t grow out of it in the way they do with clothes.
I second the PP suggestion if Jojo Maman Bebe, they’re usually good quality and classic designs/ products.
Big hits for my then-one-year-old were a Jojo hairbrush plus a Cath Kidston flowery plate and bottle with straw, she banged it all together like drums.

Really good books are the pop up peekaboo range, the rhymes are very readable and the pop ups are behind lift the flap.

If you're going for clothes I'd agree with Jojo maman Bebe! Honestly though I can't think of any parent I know that doesn't like books as a present. I particularly like it when someone buys one that was important to them as a child (a close friend has started buying my DS1 a Mr Men book each visit, because it's what his favourite uncle did for him, and I find that incredibly touching).

You definitely can't go wrong with books!

Thank you all so much, I really appreciate it. Lovely suggestions, I might buy a JoJoMamanBebe jumper for one of the cats. (kidding)

Great suggestions for gifts! For little ones who love imaginative play, Barnshenn has some fantastic options. Check out their Wooden Activity Set(barnshenn.co.uk/wooden-activity-set.html) – it’s a perfect way to engage kids while helping them develop motor skills and creativity!