Top Holiday Gifts for Baby to Age 12

Baby
~Soft, cuddly animals or dolls, preferably made with a natural material.
~Stackable blocks or rings.
~Short tunnel for crawling practice.
~Soft baby rattle, preferably in an organic material (they are going to be chewing on it).
~Wooden cars or animals with wheels (great concept to learn at this stage).
~Nesting blocks, eggs, dolls, or bowls.
~Balls.
~Knit, crocheted, sewed, felted, or quilted item made especially for the baby in your life.

Toddler
~Wooden Blocks.
~Sandbox.
~Dolls.
~Tricycle.
~ABC Blocks.
~Step Stool.
~Wooden puzzles.
~Hand and finger puppets.
~Dress-up clothing and accessories.
~Variety of shapes of larger wooden building blocks.
~Wooden cars and animals with wheels.
~Books with short sentences. These should be about how things really are in everyday life. It is better to introduce fantasy after age 3, according to Montessori.
~Play toys that simulate real life: Kitchen sets, strollers, tool sets, etc...
~Knit, crocheted, sewed, felted, or quilted item made especially for your little one.


Age 3-6
~Child sized broom and dustpan and mop.
~Child sized kitchenware.
~Child sized gardening tools.
~Books that are a little more intesive. These books can be more imaginative now.
~Simple painting and building kits.
~Molding clay.
~Stencils and other drawing supplies.
~Connectable building sets.
~Art easel and other supplies.
~Wooden lacing dolls and animals.
~Practical life frames, such as lace tying, buttoning, zipping, etc...
~Age level games like checkers.
~Wooden train or car/street set.
~Marbles, jacks, jump rope.
~Again, knit, crocheted, sewed, felted, or quilted item made especially for your preschooler. This can be inspirational to their own interest in crafting.
~Materials for beginning knitting or sewing.
~Musical instruments.
~Dollhouse or treehouse.
~Bicycle.
~Fairly large letters for manipulation.



Age 6-9
~Knitting, sewing, quilting, looming kits and/or materials.
~Art activities.
~Basic pottery-making set.
~Musical instruments.
~Building construction sets.
~More coplex puzzles, like science or map selections
~Wooden puzzles that deal with fractions.
~Age appropriate science sets.
~Gardening/botany kits or supplies.
~Globe.
~More complex building sets.
~Sports equipment.
~More complex games, like chess.
~Archery set.


Age 9-12
~Stilts, unicycle, or a pogo stick.
~Trampoline.
~Sports equipment, like a snow board or stuff for volleyball or soccer.
~Chapter books, literature, poetry books.
~Sewing Machine.
~More compex crafts, like candle making.
~Craft supplies. For instance, yarn and accessories for the young knitter or lots of fabric for the experimental quilter.
~Wood working supplies (tools, materials, , accessories, books) for an aspiring woodworker.
~Musical instruments and a variety of music...or lessons.
~Architecture sets.
~Challenging, developmental games.
~Science and Nature sets.
~Journal or notbook for writing.

Babies Galore: Tadpoles and Shoots!

Today was a nice balance from that of yesterday. Much cooler at home and in the car, much more smooth-flowing, and everyone kept busy and Bobcat was less needy. Ah, sweet relief!


Today was sort of exciting because there were many little baby surprises (no, I am not pregnant). This morning, after taking a trip to the post office, we stopped at the store for spring water (yeah, I know I should have obtained it from upstream, but this was easier), and then headed to Lee's Feed for some tadpoles. We bought 6 cute little critters and brought them home. They are swimming in a large heavy-duty bin of spring water (chlorine is in tap water, which kills tadpoles). We are going to create a pond for them, soon, once we dig it out and prepare it. We will have to wait 5-7 days after filling it with hose water, so the sun can filter out the chlorine. They are so simple to care for. Simply feed them lettuce, ensure 3/4 shade, and keep the water clean. Also, they can't be too close to pines (which we have a lot of) because the pine needles are toxic. Jaguar and Bobcat are both completely intrigued by them, as am I!

Also, we went out to check Jaguar's garden that he planted on Sunday, and many-a-baby have been sprouted! We were both really happy to see such progress. He has at least 4 each of 2 types of tomato, 8 each of 2 different beets, 4 each of 2 lettuces, at least 6 onions, 1 of his 4 bean plants, tons of 2 different corns, and a bunch of his sunflowers are sprouting, as well. Very rewarding! Oh and a little broccoli is peaking through, also. After checking and watering the garden, Jaguar decided to play in the dirt with a watering can to simulate the gardening he had just done.

This morning, he was able to help Mommy clean house, do yoga for about 10 minutes, and play at the park with some other children (like I said before, he is a social little dude when he wants to be). This afternoon, we went to the store to get lettuce for the tadpoles, we read Summer by Gerda Muller, we made homemade Screamers (again, a pb/banana smoothie), we talked, Jaguar built floor puzzles, Bobcat slept a while, Jaguar explored outside... I recieved Soul Mate Dolls by Noreen-Crone Findlay in the mail, which is wonderful because we were already supposed to be working on a doll this week. I think we can fill in some time this weekend for meticulous doll-making (Handwork is important for any child).

This evening, Jaguar took a bath and played on top of his newly-built loft bed with Bobcat, while Daddy finished the bed off with lemon oil. Then Jaguar spent a solid 15 mintues on the back deck singing and playing his drum set that we found at the thrift store a while back. Then he began boasting about his rock and roll song and urging me to dance while he played it again. He went outside a few times to check on his tadpoles, and continued telling Daddy about them. We ate bow tie pasta with garlic marinara, and homemade garlic bread, with steamed asparagus on the side. It was actually a hit with Jaguar and Bobcat. Jaguar is so picky sometimes, but not usually with any kind of greens. And it is still hard feeding Bobcat our food sometimes, too. We had rocky road for dessert. Daddy gave into a movie again with Jaguar this evening. Disney's Robin Hood is on the menu for tv viewing tonight. I guess it's okay...I like the movie and the music, too. This is about it, other than working on my other blogs a bit tonight. Then I will hit the hay - Daddy's already passed out. So is the baby. I am allowing Jaguar to finish his movie - bad Momma...