Toddler gift recommendations? (18-24 months)

[JThunder]

The title says it all. What would you get for a little tyke who's in the 1.5 to 2.0 year old range?

[ioioio]

Books.

If you haven't been in a children's book section for a while, you'll be amazed. There are books with sounds and music, feely touchy books, books that come with matching stuffed animals or bath toys. Kids books are so cool.

[TokyoBayer]

Our son is 18 months, and I'd agree with books. I like the Dr. Suess Bright and Early series, although any board book is usually better for this age range.

[lisacurl]

Everyone Poops

It's the best book ever, according to my niece.

[OldnCrinkly]

Books are great anytime. But if you're looking for a toy I don't think you can go far wrong with a Tickle me Elmo.

Edit- Its spring, any kind of ride on scooter type of thing will go over well also, I bet.

[grude]

I'm the parent of a child in that age range!

Water WOW brand coloring books are fucking amazing, it is a kind of special material that turns transparent when wet and comes with a plastic marker with a water wick. My son will spend hours playing with it, dry it out and do it again. Wonderful with no mess and no worry about him consuming the writing implement.

[Lynn Bodoni]

It depends on whether or not you want to remain friends with the parents.

My husband still hasn't forgiven the guy who gave our toddler daughter fingerpaints and PlayDo.

[Cinnamon Imp]

I'd go with something from the Fisher Price Little People range - the farm is a nice gender neutral toy. Fun, colourful, noisy, and fairly unbreakable!

[Girl From Mars]

Parent of a child in that age range:
Books as mentioned - things like Don't let the pigeon drive the bus, Stickman, There are no cats in this book, Bubble Trouble, the Charlie and Lola series and the Hairy Maclary books.
Toy train set - lovely cheap wooden one at Ikea which fits most standard gauge train sets
Cooking gear - again Ikea has nice felt food and cute stainless steel pans. Sounds girly but all the boys at this age love mucking around in the kitchen too.
Paint and crayons - perhaps with a smock?
A Bilibo - great for stimulating imaginations
A harmonica or a Plan Toy wooden drum (depending on how the parents feel about music, but the Plan Toy one we tested before buying and it's quiet and melodic)
Fisher Price doctor kit
Easy jigsaw puzzles (the ones where you put the shape in a space, rather than put the pieces together).

[Hello Again]

Kids that young don't care about presents and at that age most parents are trying to scale back from the overwhelming load of toys they are given. On gifting occasions I get something for mom/dad to make their life easier (house cleaning, food delivery) or something they can do as a family when its convenient for them (membership at the children's museum or zoo), or put away a savings bond for future hookers and blow college expenses.

Yeah it's not "fun" but, again, kids that age have no notion of special occasions. They'll enjoy the box the gift came in as much -- if not more -- than the gift.

Pround auntie of 21 month old. My SIL literally fell all over herself thanking me for not buying any "things" this year.

ETA: another thing you want to be wary of is branded, licensed characters. Some parents are find with industrious/educational characters like Dora, not fine with Disney Princess, some parents are fine with anything, some parents want no licensed items in the house if they can help it.

[grude]

Originally Posted by Hello Again

ETA: another thing you want to be wary of is branded, licensed characters. Some parents are find with industrious/educational characters like Dora, not fine with Disney Princess, some parents are fine with anything, some parents want no licensed items in the house if they can help it.

Shit like that makes me feel like I am from another planet or something.

[constanze]

Originally Posted by Hello Again

Kids that young don't care about presents and at that age most parents are trying to scale back from the overwhelming load of toys they are given. On gifting occasions I get something for mom/dad to make their life easier (house cleaning, food delivery) or something they can do as a family when its convenient for them (membership at the children's museum or zoo), or put away a savings bond for future hookers and blow college expenses.

Yeah it's not "fun" but, again, kids that age have no notion of special occasions. They'll enjoy the box the gift came in as much -- if not more -- than the gift.

This. Good ideas, and asking the parents or other relatives beforehand avoids an avalanche of gifts.

ETA: another thing you want to be wary of is branded, licensed characters. Some parents are find with industrious/educational characters like Dora, not fine with Disney Princess, some parents are fine with anything, some parents want no licensed items in the house if they can help it.

I read a (non-serious) book about how to get revenge on people you don't like/ how to be nasty to your boss, and one tip was: give the children a gift of:
a drum/ trumpet - the child is happy, the parents are driven crazy
a naked barbie without anything - costs 5$, but the parents will have to spend 100$ in accessories

(Another tip was: if you know the person is a scrooge, a 20$ certificate for a golf club or Las Vegas casino only redeemable there. They will agonize over not being able to use the gift, or will have to spend hundreds of dollars for outfits/ travel.
Today, however, that's old hat with every travel company giving you a "gift" of a trip ... at reduced rate, but you never win a real fully paid trip. You always have to pay something).

[Dendarii Dame]

A subscription to Babybug magazine. Age appropriate, and it comes nine times a year, so it's like giving nine books.

[Sattua]

I don't know if I'd go as far as Hello Again, but then I like stuff... however I would recommend something compact like a book or DVD or, as also mentioned, Babybug magazine. Gift certificates for fun outings are great too.

If you really want to buy a toy, and I wouldn't blame you if you do, play kitchen stuff or anything Little People is great.

[Maus Magill]

The kid probably has a shitload of toys already. My wife an I always appreciated Savings bonds.

[johnpost]

anything with bright colors and isn't too heavy. anything around your house that you want to get rid of and isn't dangerous will be fine. kids that age like everything and have short attention spans so their disappointment is short lived.

if you want something the parents will like for the kid then i got nothing.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Actually, a good toy for a toddler is a toddler sized empty box. I'm not kidding.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni

Actually, a good toy for a toddler is a toddler sized empty box. I'm not kidding.

This is true, but most parents probably have the boxes already . I'd go with books, although the tickets to an outing idea is pretty great, too.

[alice_in_wonderland]

I think books are a great choice. My little boy is a huge fan of the Pookie books, if you want a recommendation. He's 20 months.

[TriPolar]

Get the kid a gift certificate for dinner for two at a nice restaurant and offer to stay with him while his parents use it.

[Caffeine.addict]

Board books are the way to go, although my son really didn't get into books until he was 24 months old. He now has books that he adores and practically sleeps with.

[Jbone]

Depends. When are you presenting the gift? Alone, or at a party? My kids seriously had more play time with strings/wrapping paper than they've had with some of their toys.

If you want to get a gift that's hard on a parent . Any toys that are noisy, but do not have shutoffs. Most of the bigger toys with have on/off and volume switches, but some smaller toys simply play their tune and shut off. My parents bought us a tiny play boombox that has three different short tunes it plays. The noise level on that thing is extremely loud, and there's no shutoff - you have to let it finish and hope the button doesn't get pressed again.

For a more serious gift, all three of my kids loved playing with Fisher Price's Little People. My three-year-old still plays with them.

Clothes, even a size up from what they're wearing now, are good. Savings Bonds are also really practical.

Books are good if they do not already have a ton of them. I have enough county and letter books to supply an entire preschool. IMO, books with sound boards and stuff are overrated. The kids just ended up playing with the sound buttons, or just looking at the pages. It was only when we sat down with them and hit the buttons on queue that they were used together. Nice, big, flashcards are good too. Not the small, deck-of-cards sized ones.

Bubbles are great...especially machines that can spit them out for you..just set it and forget it, the kids will come tell you when they're gone.

I would really recommend any kind of learning DVD. I know some people are against putting kids in front of a TV, but my Aunt introduced us to Signing Time and my two and 3 year-olds love to watch it and picked up all kinds of sign language that they use right now.
More movies are Preschool Prep - The movies are very annoying to watch with them, but the kids are mesmerized. My youngest daughter learned all her numbers, letters, and some sight words before she was two.
Leap Frog has some stuff as well. My kids are currently going through the Letter Factory DVD. Even though they know them already, they still love to watch and sign the songs.

My Experience? Three kids between the ages of one and five. My wife insists on big birthday parties for every birthday, and also we have three family Christmas parties to go to each year.
EDIT: Sorry about the formatting, I did it quickly while at work.