Well, the silly season is upon us again ALREADY and while half of your brain is preoccupied wondering where the hell the past 12 months went, the other half is probably wondering what the heck you’re going to get for “Santa” to give the kids this year.
If you’re the proud parent of one or more tykes under 12, then chances are they’ve spent the better part of 2018 hard at work compiling their Christmas wish lists for this December 25th, but just in case you need any extra inspo, here’s a bunch of A+ recommendations from Mumtastic’s squad of Aussie mum contributors. Enjoy!
Toys!
Because no matter how much we’d love to stuff the kids’ Santa sacks full of practical gifts like books and cute clothes, we don’t want a Christmas riot on our hands now, do we? Here’s some toys our mum chums are loving right now.
Hatchimals
Mumtastic blogger Krystal Brooke’s girls are totally obsessed with the latest Hatchimals Colleggtibles Tropical Party playset! Combining over 80 cute collectable characters that light up when placed on the playset, not to mention funky beats to dance to, this gem of a toy captures the kids’ imaginations and is guaranteed to occupy them for hours of playtime. A perfect joint gift for siblings as well!
Available now from all major toy retailers: Target, Big W, Kmart, Toy World, Mr Toys & Toy Mate. Find them here.
Paw Patrol
The Real Mumma, Adele Barbaro’s three-year-old Harvey is currently Paw Patrol crazed, as many of his peers are right now! Together they tried out the Paw Patrol Sea Patroller, Sub Patroller and each Paw Patrol character with their own unique vehicle and were entertained for hours by the interactive sets as they transform and carry out rescue missions. Opening these goodies will make for the perfect Christmas morning moment for your little ones.
The ultimate Christmas gifts for any child that is as obsessed with Paw Patrol can be found at Kmart, Target, Big W and Mr Toys/Toyworld. Check them out here.
Practical But Fun!
Ok so you’re a pragmatist at heart, we get it. Here’s a way to disguise those actually useful gifts with some glitz and glam.
Smiggle Stationery
Smiggle’s fun-tastic range of stationery products are an incredible way to get the kids excited for the new school year! With a rainbow blast of colourful and cute designs of novelty pens, pencils, pencil cases, notepads and loads more, this gift idea is the perfect combo of practicality and fun!
Smiggle stationary products are available both in-store and online and you can check out the impressive range here.
Something Personalised!
Because EVERYONE loves their name on things!
Cotton On Personalised Sunny Buddy Wheelie Suitcase
Nothing makes a littley feel more special than something personalised just for them. Enter this adorable personalised kids backpacks and suitcases from Cotton On! Available in traditional boy/girl designs or more gender neutral options, the bags are available to order online in a few easy steps. Just pick your fave design, enter your tot’s name, choose whether or not you want gift-wrapping and away you go! There’s even an option to pay with After Pay so it’s diabolically easy!
Something Active!
An added bonus, it’ll get them out of your way for a while during the dreaded boxing day clean up!
Junior Pop-Up Goal From K-Mart
None of us want our young’ns to be part of the ever-burgeoning Australian childhood obesity stats, so it’s important to give gifts that get them off their screens and outdoors getting ACTIVE. Something like this pop-up soccer goal is a perfect sporty Chrissy gift option for both boys and gals – cost-effective, fun and easily pack-away-able, it’ll get your littley bending it like Beckham in no-time!
Find it in-store or online at Kmart.
Their First Musical Instrument!
The royalties for this purchase will pay off in years to come, just ask Dave Grohl’s mum.
Loog Mini Red Guitar
Childhood is a time of experimentation, finding strengths and weaknesses and learning new things. Especially if your mini me has expressed an interest in music, this Chrissy might be the first time to buy them their first musical instrument to have a crack at and learn the basics! If you value your eardrums, we’d probably ward against a drum kit or recorder, but something like this Loog mini guitar could be just the ticket. Suitable for ages 3 and up, coming fully assembled and ready to play, this ideal first guitar comes complete with flashcards of chord diagrams, plus full access to the Loog app (iOS and Android) with video tutorials and songs to learn and play.
