Kids love Christmas. It’s one of the most magical times of the year. But, of course, by the time January rolls around, most of the presents have been all but forgotten.
The challenge for parents, therefore, is to find Christmas gifts that don’t have a use-by date. These are the best presents to give to your child because they are the sort of thing that they can just keep on using well into the future.
So, what’s out there? What should you be buying for your child?
LEGO Classic Sets
Top of the list should be LEGO classic sets. These aren’t just great for your kids right now, but their kids, twenty or thirty years in the future.
LEGO classic sets are a great choice because they don’t go out of date. They also rely much less on very special and select parts (which is the case for many of the modern sets out there). Once your child has some classic sets under their belts, they’re able to keep experimenting with them for years to come. It’s like a real-world version of Minecraft and other sandbox games.
Classic Building Blocks
Another Christmas gift you might want to get for your child is classic building blocks. These are on a similar level as LEGO, but without the complexity or the high price tag, making them an excellent option for younger children.
What’s cool about this present is that kids can continue experimenting with them for years. Building blocks can be arranged into a near-infinite number of configurations, making them highly attractive. Furthermore, they can be combined with other toys, which is a nice touch. Building blocks are useful for forts, battle games, and even strategy games.
Lincoln Logs
Lincoln logs were invented in the 1920s as a way for kids to enjoy their childhoods (beyond the usual block sets). In more recent years, they’ve become less popular, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore them at Christmas time. What’s great about these is that they are safe, eco-friendly, and splinter-free, meaning that your child can continue to use them long-term.
On top of that, they teach things like spatial awareness and manual control. Using Lincoln logs encourages children to better understand the link between their imaginations and their hands, allowing them to do so much more.
Fisher-Price Playsets
What about Fisher-Price playsets. These aren’t quite as versatile as LEGO or toy blocks, but they can inspire children’s imaginations. These compact toys allow kids to tell stories and roleplay, really getting into adventures in their minds.
What’s more, Fisher-Price toys are a good option if your child has siblings. These sets are set up to enable more collaborative play, whether it’s with an enhanced castle or a farm with cows and sheep on it.
These toys are another option that your kids can keep using for a long time, or at least someone in your family can. As long as you maintain them in good condition, you can use them.
Tonka Trucks
Tonka Trucks are a good option if your children have a nasty habit of destroying their toys every few months. Unlike their plastic equivalents, Tonkas are made from indestructible steel, allowing them to last much longer, even when exposed to the elements.
When you think about it, the average lifespan of a regular toy truck is usually around two months. After that, they begin to break down. But with steel versions, that’s not the case at all. These have the ability to keep going almost indefinitely, meaning your child can take them with them into adulthood. Or, alternatively, you can pass them down to younger siblings as they get older.
Dollhouse
If you have a girl, you might want to think about getting them a high-quality doll house. These are fantastic for roleplaying while they are young, and are akin to the physical version of The Sims.
Dollhouses are a gift for posterity since they can last for a long time. A lot of children who receive them as kids keep them and put them in their homes as adults as ornaments or memories.
Dollhouses are special because of their history and the detailed work that goes into them. Many come with furniture that enables hours of fun and drama, as well as interior design. Plus, they can be home to multiple characters, including regular toy people, aliens, or invented proprietary families.
Heirloom-Quality Doll
On similar lines, you could look into getting your child an heirloom-quality doll. The idea here is to provide them with a special doll of such quality that they never want to let their companion go.
Throughout history, we’ve seen this in many forms. For example, a lot of people grew up toward the end of the last century with Rupert Bear dolls and cuddly toys. A lot of these people kept them into adulthood, perhaps propping them up on a chair in their studies or using them to decorate a mantlepiece in their drawing rooms.
If the doll is washable and doesn’t require any special maintenance, that’s even better. Your child can use it while they’re young, and then as they grow up, you can set it aside and maintain it until they’re ready to take ownership of it again as they get older.
Model Train Set
You could also explore the possibility of getting the kid in your life a model train set. These are great because there’s so much creativity and fun that goes into making them. Unlike cheap toy sets, model railways actually look the part and can be developed using thousands of props sold by the major model rail brands. The steam engines and trains themselves also look real, and they can move at realistic speeds, thanks to the variable electricity supply.
Art Easel
Finally, if your child loves art, you might want to get them a professional easel. This gift idea is so simple and yet so profound, simply because of how useful easels are to anyone who loves to paint and draw.
Thanks for stopping by!
Magda
xoxo