When the third birthday hits, chances are pretty good that your house is already rammed with all kinds of toys and toddler stuff. And no matter how educational and fun it is, it is usually not really durable. So time to really delve into the great gifts that will last a three-year-old a long time. To get you started, Jannika asked greenlist followers on Instagram for tips on original gifts. Below is the result: a hefty list of inspiration for birthday toddlers. So here they come: the cutest sustainable birthday gifts for a three-year-old!
Sustainable birthday gifts for the third year
It doesn't hurt at all to manage birthday presents a bit. How many, but also what and from where. A tip one follower gave is: go for one collective big gift. Agree with some friends or family members that you will give something together, for example a hefty (walking) bike or large playground. I think it really is a super tip: child happy, givers happy, you happy and the planet is grateful too! Whether you go for a collective gift or are looking for a smaller present, the list below will help you find a beautiful and sustainable gift.
Give blocks and building materials to a three-year-old
Three sustainable gifts for a three-year-old: Coblo, Modu Blocks & Just blocks.
- The sustainable magnetic blocks from Coblo have fantastic colours and make the most beautiful structures with ease. For the very little ones, clicking together is already nice, but this is truly an evolving toy that your child will enjoy for years. Especially with the expansion possibilities of a marble or race track.
- In the same category, yet slightly different are the Modu Blocks. Use these responsibly produced large foam blocks to build the cutest structures and vehicles using pins and wheels. Or lay all the blocks on the floor as an obstacle course and crawl or walk over them. And nice too: the design is nice, fresh and washable.
- The ecologically produced wooden blocks from Just Blocks are super-simple, but therefore an inexhaustible source of inspiration. The blocks are natural in colour and come in different shapes. So your toddler will make the most fantastic buildings and constructions himself.
Give a board game suitable for toddlers
A three-year-old understands more and more and enjoys playing together. A board game is then an ideal gift!
- Fun games for little ones can be found at Haba. This brand offers the first games for children where they playfully learn to organise, train their memory and refine their motor skills. The games mainly focus on animals, shapes, colours and daily activities. There are special family games, which are understandable for toddlers, but also interesting enough for older children and adults. The travel games are handy for travelling or holidays.
- Djeco also has many different games for little ones. Making frogs balance, saving polar bears and a feeding crocodile wooden chips; games look great fun and will definitely appeal to toddlers.
Give a three-year-old a gift to play outside
- A three-year-old starts discovering more and more. Ants on the pavement, ladybirds in a hedge. This large magnifying glass can easily hold toddlers as they explore the garden, planter and park.
- Toddlers with a garden or spacious balcony are sure to make you happy with a sand or water table or mud kitchen.
- Three-year-olds become very happy to have their own little house or tent. A nice fabric tent is a nice gift for the garden, but it can also be used in an area (bedroom). With this giant wooden pegs you don't need a tent at all; just a sheet and some of these pegs is enough to give toddlers their own shelter.
- Always fun to give and get: eco pavement chalk.
A three-year-old's world is getting bigger, which is why outdoor play gifts are also a fun idea from this age onwards.
Durable gift idea for three-year-olds: role-play toys
Three-year-olds love to pretend and imitate. Toys that encourage role-play are therefore always popular.
- With this barbershopt cut toddlers cut everyone back into a nice shape and with these animal care set the cuddly dog/cat/hamster can always come along for the ride.
- Your own boat, shop or rocket, just in your bedroom. How fun is that? KarTent has cardboard toys so big that toddlers can easily fit inside them. The buildings and vehicles can be painted or glued by children according to their own taste. And when it is completely ‘played out’, it can simply be thrown in the waste paper.
- With dress-up clothes, you complete the role-play. There is a lot on sale, but it is not too durable. Fortunately, you can find lots of second-hand fancy dress outfits on Marktplaats and in thrift shops. Go for a complete carnival outfit or shop for something yourself with fun second-hand hats, scarves, jackets and dresses. Check out more dress-up tips in this article.
Gift for a three-year-old: lifelike wooden kitchenette from Bijjo and rocket from KarTent.
Give a beautiful sustainable toddler book as a gift
Three-year-olds often really enjoy reading a book together. Being read to or looking at pictures together. In a bookshop, you don't have to make much effort to find something nice for children aged three and up. But if you want to teach your toddler about sustainability and topics such as deforestation and plastics, you can find the following books in an accessible way:
- Koos looks for a home: Koala Koos has to look for a new home due to deforestation.
- The rubbish man: what does the rubbish man do and what can still be made from some types of waste?
- Plastics soup: about ‘the Climates’, several booklets are available, for example this one about a sea turned into a plastic soup.
Find more children's books for small and big kids in this list: children's books with a green edge.
Give beautiful open ended toys to a three-year-old
With ‘open ended’ toys, or open ended toys, a toddler can go in any direction. There are no rules, anything goes. This greatly stimulates the imagination. Grimm's and Grapat have a huge collection of beautiful wooden open ended toys in the most beautiful colours.
Give a toddler an experience as a gift
A fun day out is a great gift for a three-year-old. Give a ticket to a fun children's show, an amusement park or a concert, or go to a nature playground (tip: a membership for OERRR, the youth programme of Natuurmonumenten), the petting zoo or the swimming pool. Also nice: a coupon or tokens from the local ice cream parlour.
Three outings that are also fun to give as gifts to a three-year-old: Circus Mustache, Fairytale Wonderland and picking pears at the Olmenhorst.
Give a gift to move and play
A three-year-old is gaining more and more physical control. So the difficulty level for movement can go up a bit again!
- This Jindl balance beam consists of separate natural wooden beams and connectors. So you build your own route together, from easy to difficult. Great for learning to balance, but of course you can also enjoy playing with it.
- From the sofa to the kitchen without touching the ground! That's a nice challenge for a toddler. You make it easy with this set river stones. The six stones differ in size and height, allowing you to create an exciting course. Good for to train balance and equilibrium.
- Also with the ‘Stapelstein ’stones' you can make a nice path. These stones are all the same, so you can also stack them into a tower or stool. Or collect things in the upside-down bricks. Here, too, the imagination can be let loose endlessly.
Durable birthday gifts for a three-year-old: balance beam from Jindl, play bowl from Grenn and river stones to practise balance with.
More sustainable birthday gifts for a three-year-old
- If you look carefully, you really can find the most beautiful things at the thrift shop or online. Look out for Duplo, a second-hand bike (great brands are Kinderfeets, Bandits & Angels and Wishbonebike), a sand or water table, a climbing frame, wooden toys, dress-up clothes, Kapla, a tent or house for the garden.
- A nice wooden puzzle or this cardboard floor puzzle which you can put together differently all the time.
- Get creative with finger paints from Neogrün or this natural clay. By the way, you can also make clay yourself very easily. Check out our recipe!
- A membership for the toy loan or local playground, a Museum year card or subscription to the Toddler magazine Pippo.
- With this fabric birthday crown you won't need to get a party hat in the house for the next few years; just change the number and you're done!
More green party tips from thegreenlist.nl
- The party is not complete without beautiful decorations. And that can definitely be green too! In the article: Sustainable birthday: here's how to make it a green party, find tips for a zero waste party. How about wrapping cloths and confetti made of leaves?
- More tips for sustainable birthday gifts for toddlers? Then also check out: The cutest sustainable birthday gifts for a two-year-old.
- Or are you looking for sustainable birthday gifts for a toddler? Also see: The cutest sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday.
- Handing out at nursery or school? Seven ideas for a sustainable children's treat!
Photo credits: cottonbro (Pexels) (including main image), Allan Mass (Pexels), Tatiana Syrikova (Pexels), thegreenlist.nl.
