Gift Ideas for Kids – by Age

Choosing a gift for someone else's child is mostly guesswork about age. This page exists to stop the guessing.

Start with the age

A baby — small enough to grip, and worth shaking.

One year — survives being thrown, rewards being repeated.

Two years — something to build with or climb on. This is the age a gift can last years rather than weeks.

Three years — something with a solution, a rule, or an ending.

Ready to give: Montessori play boxes

If you want a gift that needs no thinking about, a Montessori Play Box is a set of toys chosen for one age range, from newborn to three years and up. A good choice for a christening, a baby shower or a godchild.

What things cost here

Gifts on this page start at €40, and most are between €40 and €80: puzzles, block sets, balance boards and wooden games for the whole family.

Above that you are into furniture and play equipment — a climbing triangle, a learning tower, a soft play set, a teepee. Those are usually joint gifts from several people, or a first birthday from grandparents.

One piece of honest advice

If you do not know the child well, a set of wooden blocks is very hard to get wrong. It works from about eighteen months, it is still in use at six, and no household has ever had too many.

Gifts for the grown-ups

Looking for something for the parents instead? See gifts for dad and gifts for mom.