The gift guide
Toys, by age, that won’t be in the donation bin by Easter.
A working gift guide for the relative who texts “what does she like?” in November. Three or four picks per age. No single toy over $70; the budgets are for the whole set.
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The trick to gift-giving for someone else’s child: pick the toy the parent didn’t know to ask for. Well made, plain, the kind that ages with the child. Below are the picks we send to grandparents, by age and budget.
0–6 months · about $30 for the set
- A Manhattan Toy Skwish ($16) — small, easy to grasp, the only rattle a baby needs
- A wooden teether ring (about $10)
- A black-and-white contrast book
6–12 months · about $60 for the set
- A Grimm's small rainbow stacker ($45) — the toy that earns its keep for years
- Sarah's Silks 21-inch playsilk ($12)
- A wooden grasping cylinder
12–24 months · about $80–120 for the set
- Grapat Nins set ($70) — peg figures, the cornerstone of small-world play
- A Plan Toys coin-posting bank ($25)
- A first 3-piece chunky knob puzzle
24–36 months · about $60–150 for the set
- A Magna-Tiles starter set ($50) — the toy a three-year-old returns to all year
- A wooden tea set ($35)
- Stockmar beeswax block crayons ($20) — the only crayons we've found that don't break
- A pretending-themed loose-parts basket (homemade)
See how this looks in Toy Chest.
Add the toys you own, and each one gets a card, a note, and a place on this week’s rotation. Every new chest starts with 14 days of Family, then stays free for 15 toys. No card.
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