I cannot for the life of me think of a good "big" gift for my youngest girl. The 4 year old is easy...but I can't think of a main gift that will not be a giant waste in another 2 weeks. Any suggestions???? I usually get the kids one "big" gift and then a bunch of little ones.
When my daughter turned one, her baby group gave her a Dora couch similar to one listed below from Walmart. I thought it was kind of a lame gift--boy was I wrong! My kids use that thing every day (now she's 31/2) for watching tv, a bed for their dollies, a boat, you name it. It was a great gift.
For my daughter's second birthday we got her a "roller coaster;" you know, the manual dexterity toys doctors always have in their waiting rooms. Boy was that a hit! We knew she'd like it because she always gravitated toward them in doctor's offices and at Sears when we got her picture taken. She was totally excited and still plays with it (she's almost 4...which is good because it is a bit expensive). I also recommend musical instruments like a tambourine, shakers, etc. (simple percussion instruments) as kids love to make music. We actually got her a tiny kids' piano for Christmas that year, but your daughter might be a bit young for that.
This is the roller coaster we got. It's like the ones in doctor's offices but smaller: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/177-###-###-####-###...
This is what we got our daughter last year for her "big" Christmas gift (she was 10 months at the time). She still uses it and loves it! Of course YOU will have to actually "build" it, but the kids have such fun playing inside - and if you make little tunnels and stuff it can be a great way to develop gross motor skills :)
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=cranium%20meg...
or search "Cranium Mega Fort"
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2265260
Look on ebay too.
We just sold ours on craigslist. Our daughter used it for two full yearss. She would still have used it but it needed to go!
ask your self what your daughter likes to do? my daughter loves to ride her bike (its one they have to scoot with) and its made by fisher price or lil tikes lol. also my daughter got into baby dolls at that age also coloring. i dont know about you but i like to buy my daughter toys that are just a little old for her. like when she was 9 months we bought her 12 month toys so she could enjoy them longer and they challenged her a little. i hope this helps good luck!
Here is a suggestion:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1062...
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8464938
http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_constra...
My kids LOVE these. When they are at this age and older, they love "kids sized" kid furniture. It will NOT go to waste, it WILL grow with them, AND it's useful.
We have even taken it with us to our local hotel for weekends, and the kids sleep on it. It's so portable, they could even take it to Grandma's house too.
My daughter is now 6 years old and my son is now 26-27 months old...they BOTH still use it and love it and use it a lot. It's well made. We got ours from Walmart.
We got this for our son when he was only about 12 months old, and my daughter when she was about 5 years old. They have not gotten "tired" of it.
It's a nice thing for under the tree. They have "boy" versions too.
If you get BOTH of them this... then they won't "fight" over it. This is why, we got both of our kids their own. Because they used to fight over the 1 that we had.
Good luck,
Susan
I really recommend either a playhouse for the back yard, or a play kitchen for the house. My kids absolutely love those items - they were totally worth the money.
