Unfortunately, the last time I saw the little gal she was barely crawling and I don’t know what kind of toys and stuff she has already.
I guess, the obvious thing is to ask my sister, but then I’d have to wade through all the ‘you don’t have to bring anything, just show up!’’ rigmarole.
So even though there isn’t much to go on I present the question to the teeming millions.
Well, if your niece is anything like my boys were, then it doesn’t matter as she will be more interested in the box and wrapping paper than anything that may have been inside.
My 2-year-old loves to be read to…any books with lots of good pictures (and relatively short on text, for the sake of the parents) are great. She especially loves those big Richard Scarry books with a bunch of 2-page stories in them.
She is also big into her stuffed animals, and taking them for rides in her little wagon or in a doll stroller.
I always recommend books - it is never too early to start reading to a child. When buying a gift for a child I always try to get a book and a toy. I love those balls - I want one!
This is a recent thread on gifts for toddlers. I’ll repeat my suggestion from there: Lock N Rock Linking Muscial Shakers [sic]. Kids this age love percussive instruments. These shakers are so much fun for them to split up and hand around and lead a shakefest, or link together and get four sounds at once by yourself. The souds themselves are the perfect balance between delightfully sharp but not too loud and annoying for the grownups around.
This may not be practical for you, but my last 2 gifts (last Christmas & last birthday) to my 2 and 4 year old nephews were tickets to kids’ musicals (Dora’s Pirate Adventure and Winnie the Pooh Live). They don’t get more “stuff” to clutter up their room, they feel “gifted” twice (once when they open the gift, and once when they go see the show) and they get an afternoon out with their aunt.
Babybug magazine from Carus Publishing.
It’s a board book mag that won’t make mom and dad crazy reading it to her.
The rest of the Carus/Cricket stuff is great as the child grows.
No ads, either.
Books, particularly Dr. Seuss books, and boxes. Large boxes with doors and windows cut out are a favorite. If you can, include some washable markers, for decorating.
Crayola has some really neat new crayons and paints that only show up on their special paper. Yes, you have to buy the special paper, but a decent set runs about $9. It’s nice to know that while your kid is running around like a maniac with crayons that the crayons won’t mar anything other than the special paper.
I have a 2 y/o and a just-turned-5 y/o (boys), along with a niece who’ll turn three in December. She’s hugely into Princesses, Tink is her fave. So, anything Tink will go over well. Can you find out what character (if any) she has an affinity for? That makes your starting ground much easier. Oh, last year when she turned two I got her a talking “Dora the Explorer”. Dora is educational and fun.
I’m trying to make a name for myself as “the lady who always gives books”, but there is something that I had as a kid that I think all kids would enjoy…a chalkboard. I think she’d love it, and the best part is, even after throwing in an eraser and a couple of boxes of chalk, it still only costs about twenty bucks.
My son turned 2 Sunday and he LOVES his soap crayons for the bath. So much so, that getting him out has become a problem! Hm, maybe I should be offering this advice after all. But I must say, he is completely captivated by these things and scribbles (and makes "e"s and "o"s on the tub walls til the water turns cold.