Gift Guide
Outdoor Gifts for Toddlers
To be completely honest, when my husband bought this bike for our 1 year old son, I was sure he went way overboard. I have taken back my words 1000 times over since then. This is one of our family's all-time favorite toys.
This 3-in-1 bike converts from a tricycle to a balance bike. The height and angle of the seat are both adjustable making it a one stop shop for kids ages 1-5. Teaching my son how to ride a balance bike made the transition to a "big boy bike" seamless. Instead of learning how to balance on the two-wheeler, he simply had to practice pedaling. No training wheels involved!
Plus, its sturdy, you can change the colors of the handlebar grips and seat cover to personalize it, and its made out of environmentally-friendly materials! Really I can't say enough wonderful things about this bike. It's totally worth the investment. You will love it AND you won't need to buy another bike until your kiddo is ready for a "two-wheeler."
My kiddos love to be outside, so we get a lot of use out of our outside toys, and like to have lots of options. This scooter is always a favorite of my kids and their friends.
The three-wheel base makes this scooter easy for toddlers as young as 18-24 months to use, but also gets picked by the older kids, often over the two-wheel scooter, since they can zoom around without having to worry about balancing. The break is easy to learn to use and the height of the handle bar is adjustable.
Although it does not fold up as easily as some of the two-wheel scooters, you can take the handle bar out if transporting it in the car. We like to take our scooter into the city to make walking long distances easier (and more fun!) for the kids. It doesn't take up much space, so I typically just put it in the car intact, but have taken it apart when bringing it along for a trip to the beach.
I sought out this push-and-ride toy after noticing that it was one of the most-loved items on the playground at my son's daycare.
I love this toy for both indoor and outdoor play. It is great for both babies learning to walk and toddlers who like to run.
I also love that the handle bars on the back make it easy for siblings or friends to work together and encourage sharing so there is no fighting over who gets to use it (we may or may not have that problem in our house).
It is super durable, pushes very smoothly, and comes in multiple colors and animals.
This is another toy my husband insisted on that I was sure would be more annoying that it was fun.
Wrong again (at least I admit it!).
This roller coaster is super fun for younger toddlers, but oh so loved by the older kiddos as well. In fact, the school-aged kids on our block often negotiate with the toddlers to be sure to get their turn.
The roller coaster definitely requires some adult supervision for the younger toddlers (1 year olds), but it is rather easy to teach them how to push the bike back on the track, and once your kiddo masters walking/climbing/balancing on the bike (around 18-24 months for many kids), they can entertain themselves (woop woop!).
You can keep the track put together or take it apart rather easily and stack the pieces on top of each other.
My love of the foldable wagon is no secret. In fact, I wrote a whole article about the many ways we use our foldable wagon.
We actually have a separate non-foldable wagon (you know, just a normal ol' wagon) that the kids use to play/pull around the neighborhood, because I like to keep the foldable in the trunk of the car since we never know when we will need it (makes it easy to be spontaneous on weekend afternoons!).
Let me cut to the chase. My kids love this wagon. My husband and I can't imagine carting our children around without this wagon. Really, if you go anywhere that requires walking outside with children, you won't regret keeping this life-saver in your trunk either.
Maybe it is just my kids, but our miniature lawn tools transform into many imaginary items and are frequently part of our outdoor playtime. My kids love to pretend they are fixing things, going on trips, or doing yard work, and these tools are always along for the ride.
They are also a must have for the beach. The first time we went to the beach with little hand-held tools my son got serious sand-castle/sand-hole-digging-tool envy.
Plus, I may or may not use these tools when actually doing real yard work. A small rake can actually be very handy when trying to reach under bushes, or spread mulch.
The school-aged kids on our street often play games with Nerf guns, and my son LOVES to join them. This smaller sized Nerf gun is the perfect size, as it is easy to hold, not too heavy, and easy to learn to reload.
My favorite thing about this toy... Encouraging my toddler to run around with the school-aged kids on the block has really helped him feel comfortable playing without either me or my husband right alongside of him. This never happens... so I am in love with this Nerf gun for that reason!