When you have 3 kids, you become "seasoned" in lots of areas - how to feed a baby without slowing down, the best way to calm a coughing child, and how to give a gift to a child among many others. When I have time, I like to browse other mommy blogs and I'm always amazed at the gift suggestions or wish lists that they post for children. I'm always thinking Ha! That will never be used. or That will break in five minutes. or ohhh their momma is going to HATE you for that!
So just in case a small child is on your Christmas list this year, I have a few (Rutledge) kid-tested, mommy-approved suggestions. These are all items that we personally love, play with, and abuse on a daily basis. Some are inexpensive and others are more costly. One thing that my mommy friends and I can agree on is that we would rather have NO gift at all than a gift that will break quickly or not get played with.
Let me start by saying that if the child is less than a year old, no matter how much you want to believe that the child will love and adore whatever gift it is that you're buying, you're wrong. The child will not care one bit about opening gifts. If the toy feels good on their gums or lights up, you might have a winner, otherwise you will be better off buying things that the child needs like gift cards for clothes or shoes, diapers, bigger car seats, things for their room, etc. I know that's no fun, but I'm just trying to be honest.
On to the things I can attest for:
This was given to Will on his first birthday and BOTH boys still play with it on a daily basis. It still looks brand new. We have misplaced most of the animals that came with this set, but they put any and all of their plastic farm animals in this barn. Seriously - best toy ever.
I guess this is the "big kid" version of the Little People sets. We already have several of these sets, but Will has asked for both the Batcave AND the Castle this Christmas. These are virtually indestructible and come with lots of available accessories to keep the kiddos engaged.
There are lots of varieties of this type of chair out there, but this is the only one I can speak for. The boys use these on a DAILY basis in their playroom. Obviously to sit and watch movies in, but other uses currently include fort building, and tumble mats (think turn upside down and jump off of). They've survived the test of Rutledge time. And that says a LOT. This is a great gift for those under 12 months old because they won't be disappointed that it's not a toy, and they WILL use it. I would imagine a 4 year old would be upset to find this under the tree, although it's still completely a great gift - just not a toy. Our boys were given these by their dad and me on their first birthdays.
These are great. Our boys love them. They don't make noise or need batteries (2 parent points) and they keep the kids engaged for a LONG time switching the tires and other various parts around. They're made of wood, so they're sturdy too. I would suggest waiting until at least 2 1/2 for this toy (smaller parts and all). But totally awesome. They also make the girl varieties in pink and purple.
Other things that have made great gifts in our house include books, movies, train table, Mobigo game system, Melissa & Doug floor puzzles, flashlights of any fashion, and rain boots (ALWAYS a hit here for some reason).
These are just our tried and tested suggestions. I would gift any of these to either a boy or a girl but at this point it's fair to say that I have more experience with the boys. I would also suggest asking the parent for ideas. Each child is different and the parent would know what they want/need.
I hope this helps!
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