The Ultimate Gift Guide… For Kids
1. Hug This Book & One For Sorrow – Improve emotional wellbeing in children through reading with these two carefully thought out books for toddlers. One For Sorrow (£12.95) is a beautiful, profound book that helps children understand the importance of mental health in their lives, and breaks through stigma so they feel confident to ask for help if they feel they need it. Through the compelling story of a lost magpie called Sorrow who sets off to find his joy, children will come to understand that their mental health is vitally important, and help exists to preserve their 
happiness. Hug This Book (£10.95) encourages a love of reading through fantastic illustrations, personifying the book into a ‘best friend’ for the reader. For older children, invest in the Folio Book of Children’s Poetry (£44.95) – an eclectic and thought-provoking collection chosen to amuse, entertain and challenge young readers – from classic Wordsworth to the inimitable Dahl. Illustrated by award-winning artist Lesley Barnes and featuring a delightful glow-in-the-dark binding and slipcase.
2. Activity Mat – The “Say Hello” Patchwork Activity Mat features colourful prints, patterns and characters and an ideal gift for any pre-walker from newborn. Babies will love discovering the mirror, teether and peek-a-boo flap, and exploring the textures of the mat. The soft, quilted mat is perfect for indoor and outdoor play and has been created by experts at BabySensory.co.uk. The mat features a colourful print, including the seven characters from the Baby Sensory ‘Say Hello to the Sun’ song, and a variety of textures and activities to explore. It encourages baby to enjoy tummy time play, and stimulates crawling. RRP £29.99 from Argos, Boots and more high street stores.
3. One World Football– Invest in a football-lovers ideal gift, and a future for a child less fortunate. The ultra-durable soccer ball plays on and on – anywhere and everywhere. So durable it’s been labelled ‘unpoppable’! The One World Futbol never needs a pump and never goes flat, even when punctured, eliminating the need for pumps and needles and the waste of worn-out or broken balls. And every time you buy a One World Futbol you are supporting a play project for an organisation working with youth in a disadvantaged community. Play projects are designed to get resources to youth living in areas where play is scarce or non-existent. Each play project is focused on a distinct need: play equipment, infrastructure, and post-emergency relief assistance. £35 from Amazon.
4. Curiosity Box – Give every child the opportunity to become the next Marie Curie, Albert Einstein or Ada Lovelace. Aimed at kids aged 7-11 years, but suitable for slightly younger with parental supervision, the Curiosity Box is a monthly parcel packed with experiments and games, all devised by scientists and education experts. Choose box size and term, or a one-off package, and you can tailor the contents to suit the child, helping them discover science through everyday life, with an extra helping of slime and explosions for good measure! Prices vary, see www.curiosity-box.com for more details.
5. Sylvanian Families – For more than 30 years, Sylvanian Families have brought hours of fun for kids across the world. A nostalgic toy range that attracts different age groups. Based on three concepts, Nature, Family and Love, children can explore the power of imagination and learn to care and share with one another. A variety of houses, shops, furniture and accessories are available and each figure has a sweet, unique expression. Pictured is the Ride Along Tram, see the Sylvanian Families website for the full range.
6. Pindaloo – Welcome to the new toy obsession that will hook the whole family. The Pindaloo is a good old fashioned hand/eye co-ordination challenge whereby the palyer has to catch balls in a tube – harder than it sounds and compltely addictive, for kids of all ages. Buy from mypindaloo for £9.99.
7. Crocodile Balancing – Carefully collect the colourful cylinders and balance them on the crocodile, or shake the die and correctly place that colour. This Crocodile Balancing Game teaches balance and colour recognition for kids aged three and up. Available from Aamzon, Mothercare, and the Hippychick website for £9.49.
8. Personalised Family Portrait – Buy for a bedroom or playroom wall, or let them design it themselves, these cute and quality personalised family portraits are pictures you will keep forever. Input all the details yourself and you’re sent a unique images of your family for your child to treasure forever. See the full range at the Posterhaste website and discover the most endearing range of personalised prints you’ve ever seen. We can’t recommend highly enough for a truly personal gift that will be loved for years.
9. Aquabeads – Keep them quiet for hours with a box of Aquabeads, a perfect present for creative kids of all ages. Preschoolers can practice coordination while older ones can create their own masterpieces for display or to be worn as jewellery. Ignore gender stereotypes and gift both sexes, this is a toy as much for boys as girls. Many varieties exist so shop the full range in all good toy stores and see which suits your child best.
10. What’s The Time, Mr Wolf – The most fun way to teach time telling, Orchard Toys have done it again with this fun interactive board game that teaches kids how to tel the time on both analogue and digital clocks. Hear them scream the famous lines from the fairtale, and squeal when it’s ‘dinnertime’, learning really is fun with What’s The Time Mr Wolf. £10 from Orchard Toys, toy shops, and department stores, up and down the country.
