Gifting the little ones.

Tiny handmade toys and ornaments for my little one.

I'm already slowly walking through this Christmas month. The starts are already twinkling in the windows down the street and the store windows are filled with colorful toys that entice the little, curious eyes that pass by every day. At the moment, I try to spend as little time as possible next to such windows. And I try to devote more time to designing and making something that will make my little one happy, and won't contribute a lot of waste to landfill. In addition, I try to arrange gifts with grandparents, aunts and uncles. Before Christmas, usually in November, I write a list of toys and children's books that I'm sure my little one will love and use every day. So, instead of throwing out lists and lists of toys that I consider to be excellent gifts for children, guided by my lifestyle and the way we manage gifts for our little one in this magical time of year, I have compiled a list of gifts that you can make yourself, but also those gifts that you can buy. Gifts I truly believe kids will cherish for some years, not days.

As seen in the picture above, a great handmade gift can be a tiny fabric mouse doll with some clothes, some bedding or even a sleeping bag with some handles to put on mouse's back. Then you have a outdoorsy mouse. You can even make a canvas tent for small adventures in nature.

Handmade ornaments for little humans that really adore Christmas time and some winter tales. You can make a lot of different ornaments and a bunch of ideas you can always find on Pinterest. Last year I made fabric rabbit ornament, some mushrooms, candy canes with bells on the bottom and tiny stockings with embroidered letters.

For kids that love to dress up and make tales and make you some performances, you can sew some beautiful embroidered wings like these ones, or make a star on a stick with some fabric crown, or make some insects for the kid who loves them. These butterflies are beautiful. Or maybe a floral pillow in some interesting shape for little girl who loves to have cozy time alongside some children book.

Little doll in handmade wooden bed.

Doll bed with bedding. This year ma father made wooden bed for my little one's doll. And then I made some bedding too. My little one loves this gift. He puts his doll in bed under the Christmas tree and watches is under those twinkling lights.

Tool box from my dad. Now full on coloring pens, wooden stamps and some other trinkets.

Old tool box filled with art supplies.

Handmade scavenger hunt kit. Like this one.

Exploration kit. Handmade satchel bag with flashlight, magnifying glass, binoculars, some little notebook and coloring pen, a map of your yard or some place you go for walks with some treasure spots.

Easy to make, lasts a lifetime.

Fabric coloring pen holder with some pens inside. That way you have a great storage solution for crayons when traveling with your little one.

Squirrel wooden home with some squirrel figurines, some chestnuts and wooden mushrooms. That's what I created months ago for my little one and it's a great way to invite play and spark some imagination. But you can create something different. Maybe some polar bears with handmade icebergs. Or a bird nest made from twigs and wool with birds inside.

Now on the gifts I would buy for my little one. Those are the gifts that I truly believe little ones will love and use often. At least that's the case with my little one. We have some of these, and some of them he'll get from our families on Christmas.

Janod wooden bus. Our little one loves to play around with the wooden figures. He also loves toys on wheels. So this year I decided to ask our families that one of the gifts would be this wooden bus that comes with several wooden figurines.

Magna tiles or legos are a great choice for a gift.

Wooden toolbox like this one from Little Dutch. My mom got this one last year for my little one's first birthday. And he plays with it every single day.

Some music instruments like Xylophone, we have this one from Little Dutch too.

Schleich animal figurines. Animal figurines are a great toy and gift choice for little ones. These are toys that invite them to open and active play every day, they can be used in different ways, and little ones can play with them for many years. My brother saved a bunch of such animals from his childhood and now my toddler plays with some of them.

For the kid who loves to cook or play with dough, wooden clay rollers, wooden knife, cookie cutters and some clay are wonderful gifts. Also, stainless steel kitchen bowls, spoons and other utensils for their little kitchen time creativity.

Sensory wooden block are a great gift for newoborn, we got these ones from Plan Toys and our now two years old still plays with them.

Sort and count cups are also a great choice, kids will use them for a lot of play ideas. We've got these ones from Plan Toys too. Later you can use them for learning colors with your child, sorting colors, learning numbers, learning addition and subtraction etc. Our little one is currently using them as bowls for feeding his animal figurines.

If you have little ones who loves to draw and write and be creative in that way, wooden stamps are a great gift that will last a long, long time. You can pack them in handmade paper Masu origami box or some tiny canvas bag.

Silks. A great way to invite ply and they can be used for a lot of different play ideas. From performances, to dress up, to making forts, to making flags and decorating even.

Children desk or chair. This year my parents gifted it to my little one. We've chosen a simple, wooden chair and table and he adores it. Every day he sits there, in his little corner, coloring something, drawing something or simply going through his toolbox.

Surprise box is a great and such an interesting way of gifting little ones. I remembered it because as little ones, my siblings and I went one year to a village firehouse, where Santa Claus visited children and gave us gifts. The gifts were distributed randomly and came from different countries and some kind people. I remember my brother getting beautiful animal figurines in one box along with some candy. In my sister's box were children's soaps, a small face towel, a hair band, and tiny mirror. There were always letters from people and children who put together those gifts. Boxes full of little useful things. So, you can always make something like that, fill it with tiny, purposeful gifts that your a child will love and use.

Little suggestions:

• Read more on finding magic and simplicity while decorating for Christmas.

• This is the time of year where we are tempted to decorate more and buy more for our home, but for years now I found that everything I need is always in my home. And with decorating simple I found true joy and peace. Read more about creating simple and minimal home.  

• More on navigating this gifting season. Read it here.

• Need some inspiration for creating gifts? Read more here.

• On creating simplicity with children toys.

• Also I've been writing some tiny tales over on Substack, on my page Notes from Meadow, so you can head there too.