Our previous two gift guides focussed on reading and some of the great books available for adults and children. Today's guide is about things to play with and includes some good old-fashioned, fun toys, some things to cuddle and love and some tech gadgets which will make you very popular with the tech-head in your life!
Baby
Fisher Price Rainforest Friends Space Saver Swing & Seat
Deep and cosy seat with songs, sounds, five speeds, including calming vibrations, and a swing-away toy bar to maintain your baby’s attention. It’s very compact and easily converts from a swing to a seat so it doesn’t take up tons of room. It’s suitable from birth until a child can sit unassisted. Available from all good retailers. RRP is $199 but many are selling it for less.
9 months – 2 years
GoToy Stacking Wood
You can never go wrong with stacking and sorting toys with children. These ones are designed so that children from around 9 months can easily grab the figures and stack them intuitively. No matter how they’re placed, they’ll make a funny character which is good for your child’s imagination and a lovely way to engage them in this developmental activity. Available from all good retailers. $32.90 for 6 pieces.
Toddler
Animal Castanets
It just isn’t Christmas without something ‘musical’ for the kids. It’s a particularly great present if you’re an aunt or grandma and don’t have to put up with the noise all the time! This GOKI animal castanets come are wooden and colourfully decorated to look like a fish, bee, mouse and frog. Despite the jokes about the noise factor, they really do help children develop their musical side. High quality German products – and only $4.95 at good retailers.
Flash Cards
Fun, educational and gorgeously designed for the toddler in your life. These flash cards feature A-Z alphabet cards and 1-10 number cards with each one displaying an ultra cute animal illustration to represent the letter or number shown. The cards are printed on both sides, laminated and made to last with rounded corners for added safety and packaged in a beautiful box with plus bow. Designed and made with love by Me & Em Graphic Design. You can see the range here. $30
Toddler & Kids
Kimochis
Christmas is exciting to kids – but they experience other emotions too. Kimochis – which means ‘feelings’ in Japanese - are toys with feelings inside and were developed to help make life easier for both your child and you. They help kids to identify and express emotions through play, whilst helping parents to better understand what their children are trying to communicate. The Kimochis range is seven, adorable, plush characters, each representing a different personality type and temperament that help children talk about their feelings. We think they’re all gorgeous – pictured here is Huggtopus, who smiles, hugs and can sometimes get carried away because of her generous personality. Buy online for $49.95 (feelings and accessories sold separately).
Peppa the Pig
She’s everywhere, and even though she’s a little bossy, 5-year-old Peppa is lovable! Peppa the Pig is an unique, award winning animated preschool TV series which is one of the most popular preschool shows around the world. In Australia, it airs four times a day on ABC-TV. There’s now a great range of Peppa and friends toys, games and other products available including a spaceship, a dough set, camping gear, guessing game, room decorations and more. But we can’t go past Fairy Peppa plus toy. Who can resist a cuddly new friend? Available from almost everywhere with the range starting at $9 through to $70. Fairy Peppa is $34.
Kids
Disney Infinity
You can’t go wrong with the latest from Disney – the Disney Infinity! A never-before-seen game platform that unlocks the freedom to create stories and play experiences starring beloved characters from The Walt Disney Company and Pixar Animation Studios, available on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii-u and 3DS. The Disney Infinity starter pack contains everything you need to get started in the gaming universe. The Disney Infinity Starter Pack is available from almost everywhere for around $69.
LEGO City
We reviewed two sets of the LEGO City range and gave it 4-stars. Targeted more at boys than girls, there is an extensive array of ‘city’ scenes that are reasonably priced. Our reviewer said they gave her two sons plenty of hours of fun and work with lots of pieces and a variety of things to do with them. Available at all good retailers from $39.95
5 years upwards
Your child may not be the next Roger Federer or Serena Williams, but tennis is a great way to get them moving from an early age – and also something they can play their entire life. There’s a great range of racquets available for children from 5 years of age from Tennis Warehouse. There’s a guide on how to choose a junior racquet. We like the ‘Novak’ series starting at $30.
From about age 8 upwards (including adults!)
Asus MeMO Pad HD7
We reviewed this recently and gave it 5-stars. It’s an entry-level mini-tablet with all the functions you need in a mini-tablet. There are probably faster mini-tablets out there but we gave this the big thumbs-up because of its cost, performance and fantastic features. We reckon it could suit almost any family member – from child through to grandparent – and is great value at $179.
FIFA 14
If you have a young football fan who is into gaming, they will love you all year with EA Sports FIFA 14 – especially with the World Cup coming up in June next year. They can play with friends across the room or around the world, and the step-up from previous versions is remarkable in terms of graphics, interplay between footballers and fans – so much so that you can feel as if you’re the proverbial “12th man”. It also has an Australian element with well-known Socceroos included as well as the local A-League. It really is a thrill-a-minute. Available from all stores that sell games. Price is variable in the range of $55-80.
Solemate Mini
From tech company Jabra comes the Solemate Mini, an ultra-portable version of their previous portable speaker, available in red, yellow, blue and black. It may be small, measuring less than 6cm in width, but this Bluetooth speaker is powerful, compact, light – and cute. It’s also sweat, dust and splash-proof, which means it can be used in almost any situation. Available from JB HiFi and Telstra stores for $99.
__small.png)
