Buying something splashy for a kid's birthday is fun but can be daunting. Perhaps you're group gifting with friends or family - or maybe you're a first-time grandparent and you just can't help yourself! - but here's some inspo for fabulous Big Ticket presents from our Big Gifts collection.
1. FOR 'HEIRLOOM' STATUS: A Dolls House
A dolls house, like a kitchen, is a toy that can be added to year-by-year and might well end up staying in pride of place in their room well into adolescence! We have beautiful diddy dwellings from Little Dutch, Liewood, Tender Leaf Toys, Moulin Roty, Djeco and Classic World. They range in price from just Β£22 to Β£165 and most are made entirely from sustainable wood. You can add to them with play furniture too.
2. FOR STORYTELLING MAGIC: A Toniebox
Created by two German dads who were worried about kids losing the love of storytelling, Tonies are all about screen-free spoken word and audio fun. Collect the cute hand-painted Tonies figures - sturdy play pieces that magnetically attach to the Toniebox - that trigger a different story or spoken adventure every time. By swapping figures, kids can quickly jump in between audiobooks, music or interactive audio games.
3. FOR SIBLINGS & PLAYDATES: A MARKET STALL
If you love a farmer's market, you're going to adore the Market Stall from Jabadabado. It's a pretend play dream world, with delicious-looking vegetables and fruit, fresh baked bread, dairy and grocery items and even pots of herbs. They'll spend hours and hours browsing the shelves or serving their toys and friends from the counter. There's a till with coins and even fabric shopping bags for their customers to carry the goods away. We wish all food shopping was this nice!
4. FOR THE 'WOW' FACTOR: A Toy Kitchen
We do a big range of play kitchens, so you'll definitely find something to fit the decor of their bedroom or playroom or living room - depending on where it'll be 'installed'. A kitchen gives them a whole world to make believe in and is the kind of big ticket gift that you can build on year by year with other kitchen accessories - coffee machines, toasters etc. Pair it with some play food for even more brownie points. (Then ask them to make you some play brownies!)
5. FOR THRILLS: A Ride-On or Balance Bike
Wheels always make for a prestige pressie and we have something for every age range. For twos-and-unders, a ride-on can give them lots of confidence and the fun of taking their toys for a spin round the living room or garden.
By the time they're getting to pre-school age, they're probably ready for a balance bike. These clever pedal-free two wheelers help kids develop the core strength and sense of balance they'll need for bike-riding without you having to fiddle around fitting and removing stabilisers or spending back-breaking hours holding them up in the park!
We hope this gave you some inspo. And, remember you can shop for gifts by price as well as by age and type of gift. Still not sure what to get them? Pop us a message: our Live Chat Team is always here to help, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (but not bank holidays) and will happily help you suss out the Best Gift Ever. Just hit that purple button bottom right.
Our picks
