Stocking Fillers for 3 and 7 Year Olds

What I bought and why

This Christmas I have four children to buy for

7 year old twins

A 3 year old

And a new baby

Much like taking us all on holiday

Planning Christmas has to be done with military precision

Since the beginning of October

I have been writing list after list after list

As I write a blog

I have also been sharing my lists

And ideas for gifts on there

Just a few days ago I shared my shopping list for

Stocking Stuffers for 7 year olds

The post has been well read and well received

I have now bought the children’s stocking fillers

In the end they all came from Babipur

So I thought I would share what I chose

And the reasons why I made each choice

The first thing to know

Is that as a large family

We have over the years accumulated a huge amount of toys

Some well used and well loved

Some once loved but long forgotten

Some never really used

This year we are reducing the number of toys in our home

We are donating lots of our unused toys to charity shops close by

We have already given some to local schools and preschools

This year we have started to focus on more educational toys

Traditional wooden toys

This year we are having a slow Christmas

With gifts for the children that encourage and facilitate open ended play

We have been working with Babipur testing a large Grimms pastel rainbow

And the way my children

In particular my 7 year old son

Has quashed any doubt that I might not be doing the right thing

Seeing what my boy can do with a rainbow

Has inspired me to really whole heartedly

Give this toy reduction a go

To truly embrace the ethos of fewer better toys

And inspire open ended collaborative play

Within my tiny tribe

And so here is what my seven year olds will find

In their stockings this Christmas

W, Boy, age 7

Holztiger Knight , Holztiger Riding Knight and Holztiger Horse

Ever since we went to see jousting in the summer William has wanted some knights to play with. These are the nicest ones I have found. He wants to stage battle scenes between noble knights. He wants to defend castles and save damsels in distress. He wants to act out the myths and legends that we read. These are gallant knights, brave soldiers, skilled fighters. These are the tellers of tall tales from long ago. I cannot wait to see their adventures unfold.

 

Grimms Cave Doll

Here is a bear in a cave. Here is an explorer sleeping on a mountain on a dark, bitterly cold night. Here is a child playing hide and seek. Here are endless opportunities for storytelling and play.

 

Bajo Balancing Acrobats

William does acro and gymnastics. He is always bouncing, twisting, tumbling and balancing. These little figures provide some fine motor skill acrobatics to support his gross motor skills. Stacking and balancing, building towers or acrobats. A beautiful wooden toy for balancing and constructing, or open ended characters for small world play.

Natural Nins 

These beautiful wooden people can be anyone, anything. Give them a name or not. Give them a character or not. Give them a role or not. Give them feelings or not. So many possibilities. What will he see? What will he play? How will my boy choose to use these stunning sensory natural Nins.

E, Girl, Age 7

Holztiger Prince and Holztiger Princess 

When Esther was in NICU I used to sing her the song, ‘There was a princess long ago…’ This I imagine to be the prince and princess from that song though they can be used as any prince and princess, new or old, with a tale as old as time or a tale yet to be written. These are for Esther to play alone or to use with William and his knights.

Grimms River Pebbles

Esther loves small world play. She loves to create lands and settings and homes for creatures. I love watching her imagination come to life in front of my eyes. It is magical. I love to hear the stories that she tells and get to know the characters that she creates. These pebbles will help her to add elements to her storytelling, to her habitats. They can be placed in the lands she creates. They are also fun for balancing and stacking.

Grimms Tent Peg Doll

Here is a lone adventurer, camping out beneath canvas, ready to study the starry night sky. Here is a young girl having a sleepover with friends. Here is a creature standing their post, enemies of this creature … beware! A figure, a shelter, a story to be told, an adventure to be shared. Anything is possible. Anything at all!

Plan Balancing Bird Tree

A simple balancing game that can also be added to a garden or a forest. So many creative ways to play. I love toys that stand alone and can also be added together with other beautiful toys to create something kind of wonderful.

Natural Nins 

As with William I am so excited to see what these little figures become in Esther’s play. 

I have tried to buy my three year old daughter

Toys that will help her to play with the twins

But that will also allow her to play alone

I am also imagining that once the festivities are finished

These toys will be housed in the playroom

And therefore will all be shared

In my 3 year old’s Christmas stocking

There will be

Natural Nins 

Grimms House Doll

Wobbly Rocks

These I have chosen for because they look fun to stack and sort and balance. They can be put on things and in things, used together and individually. Bea loves collecting stones and these may be seen as special magical stones. We can use them to create small world scenes, we can use them for casting spells and making potions. I am looking forward to arranging and playing with these wobbly rocks and seeing what Bea chooses to do with them too.

Bajo Gruffalo and Mouse

Bea adores The Gruffalo. I think he scares her a little but she knows the story off by heart and recites it in the car and around the house. It will be lovely to act out the story with her with these figures. I think I am going to also get her the smaller Gruffalo figure to be The Gruffalo’s Child. I am also going to get the other animals from the story so that together we can create a story sack and / or storytelling box. It will be lovely to create something together that she can use and share with her siblings especially baby Edie.

Holztiger Damsel

A damsel, a princess, a lady in waiting, a lady. This beautiful wooden character can be used alone or as part of a bigger story with Esther and William’s figures. I have visions of the three of them coming up with great stories together, acting out plays and creating new worlds.

Plan Toys Boat and Submarine 

I have always liked to include a bath toy in a stocking. Bea loves her bath but it is often hurried as Esther and William are so much older and tend to shower. I want Bea to enjoy the magical lengthy water play baths that the twins had at her age. Soon Edie will be old enough to join in the fun and these beautiful wooden bath toys will be perfect for them to share and to have their very own aqua adventures. There are more characters to collect over the years too. These toys are great for bath time but also for water tables and paddling pool play.

My plan with these toys is to remove all the packaging

So that the colourful wooden toys

Look made by elves

Delivered straight from Father Christmas’ workshop

In the North Pole

I cannot wait to see their faces on Christmas morning

I cannot wait to see the ways in which they will play

It really is

The most wonderful time of the year x

 

Huge thanks to Jennie for giving us her top tips on Gifts for 3 and 7 year olds. You can find more from Jennie over on her blog and also on twitter and Instagram.