When you welcome your first child every celebration is a big one! They receive a gift for being born, for their first easter, for christmas in July, for their baptism, for christmas and their first birthday is definitely not short of any gifts.
You spend between age one and two decluttering all those accumulated toys trying to keep what was only truly utilised or in decent quality to last for future children. It takes you almost the whole year to finally rid all the things you didn’t actually use and suddenly it is time for birthday number two.
So what does a two year old need vs what would they like for their second birthday?
A two year old doesn’t need a lot. They wouldn’t even know it is their birthday. If suggesting gifts to family or friends who ask I suggest the below as needs:
- Clothing for the season ahead
- Shoes (they grow out of them so quick!)
- Money for their bank
- Pre-purchase a semester of an activity they do (e.g. swimming/dance lessons)
- An experience to a zoo, animal farm, strawberry picking
- A book with a handwritten note within
If you want to add to their pile of useful life-long toys that they can enjoy and entertain themselves with around the home then I suggest the below enjoyment ‘wants’:
- An indoor slide
- A scooter
- An outdoor playground
- A trampoline
- A Cake
We felt Elle would really enjoy utilising an indoor slide in her playroom for her second birthday as she loves the slides so much at the playground!
We don’t have a big outdoor space so we opted for the Galaxy Slide from Hide Seek Kids. It was the perfect alternative to add to her indoor playroom. It is both aesthetically pleasing to the eye for our home but also great quality so it can be used for the years to come. We have situated it right by her beautiful indoor cubby house! You can see more about her indoor cubby house here.
We also got Elle a scooter that was perfectly suited for her age. It does recommend 3+ but upon giving her the chance to practice in store we determined she is only going to get better at it throughout the year. It was $29.99 so this was a really low cost gift that is bringing her so much joy. She ‘has’ to bring it on our afternoon walks at the moment even if she spends half the time walking it like a pram instead of scootering just yet! You can check out the one we purchased here.
The last bit of joy that we wanted to light up her face with was a beautiful birthday cake with her current obsession of Emma Wiggle we went with a beautiful Emma themed cake from La Vita Bella Cakes . Elle’s first birthday cake was also created by the La Vita Bella team (check out her first birthday here) so I knew they would make an amazing tasteful cake especially as we request Gluten Free due to my own allergies. I don’t ever want to miss out celebrating and indulging in birthday cake with my children!
I think all in all, whether you choose to gift big, gift small, gift something or nothing at all. A second birthday although exciting for you is just another day for your two year old. Whatever you choose to do don’t feel pressured and if there birthday is mid-week and you don’t want to spend a week night putting together gifts or worrying about rushing out to buy something then just pretend their birthday is on the upcoming Sunday – after all they won’t really know the difference!
I would love to hear your suggestions below of what to gift a two year old too?
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