A two-year-old's world gets bigger and bigger. All fun, of course, but with a second birthday, how do you make sure the pile of toys doesn't just grow bigger and bigger too? We asked the followers of thegreenlist.nl to their sustainable, beautiful and original gift ideas. Here is a list full of inspiration for brand-new toddlers: the cutest sustainable birthday gifts for a two-year-old!
Sustainable birthday gifts for the second year
A two-year-old child starts playing more and more. So there were also lots of toy tips. Fortunately, more and more toys can be found that are produced green(er), last a long time, stimulate the imagination and also look nice in the living or children's room. And I like to pick out the - as far as I am concerned - golden tip yet the article sustainable gifts for annuals again: feel free to let the visit know in advance what you prefer to get and what not.
Give beautiful toys as gifts to a toddler
- Way to Play has rubber and cardboard road parts and intersections that you can put together to form a car track. And it can be done anywhere; inside on the bench, outside over stones and even in water (only the rubber version!). Produced by a friendly Dutch company with the ambition to work entirely with bio-based and recycled materials in the near future.
- Welcome a new family into your home, with a sustainable doll house! Although most of it will still elude toddlers, a foundation for the future is nicely laid here. You can probably find a slightly cheaper doll's house on Marktplaats or go for this doll house made of durable cardboard.
- Wooden toys are always a hit. And what a lot there is these days! Grimm's of course has the now classic rainbows, but also many small toys such as dolls, coins or a forest. Also Grapat has a huge range of wooden toys that stimulate the imagination such as houses, rings and trays. Also fun: with a wooden playpen toddlers can create their own world. Fill the bin with (kinetic) sand, play rice or found things from nature and some small toys such as the wooden animals from Holtziger and Ostheimer and play away. Incredibly convenient, you keep all the stuff in one place and easily stow it away to continue playing later.
Cardboard dollhouse & wooden playpen Grapat for a second birthday gift.
More beautiful wooden toys
- The Brio wooden train is a classic, versatile and expandable to your heart's content with wagons, bridges and tunnels.
- Fun to build, but even more fun to watch the marble roll through the track. With this Roller balls Kullerbü marble track you can play for hours. They are available in different variants, which, again, can all be connected.
Perfect sustainable birthday gifts for and two-year-old: role-playing toys
Doing or imitating yourself. Almost nothing is more fun for a toddler than also doing what daddy, mummy, the baker or doctor does.
- A cloth doll is ideal for two-year-olds. Nice and cuddly, soft enough to take to bed and they can go in the washing machine. Olli Ella makes sweet little dolls in all kinds of different colours, sizes and outfits.
- A classic you always score with: the Ikea kitchenette! If you are looking for this little kitchen, be sure to check out Marktplaats. With a few hundred search results, there is bound to be something in your area and price range.
Ette Tete Learning Tower and wobbel are also good gifts for toddlers!
For the little creative minds
Enjoy stirring paint, experimenting or creating a work of art. You can make most toddlers happy with chalk and paint.
- The wax crayons from Playon Crayon are ideal for little hands due to their spherical shape.
- With this finger paints from Neogrün, made from natural and eco-friendly raw materials, is great for messing around.
- This beeswax cubes from Ökonorm consist of natural ingredients and are therefore safe to use. They also colour easily, so little ones don't have to press hard on them. If you want to encourage modelling, choose natural clay.
- Also fun for toddlers: making music. With a wooden xylophone they can explore their musicality.
Gift ideas for two-year-olds: outdoor play, climbing, scrambling and messing around
Sitting still is really out of the question with a toddler. Here are a few tips to keep them busy throughout the day:
- With the Pikler triangle and the optional slide or running boards, you always have a climbing frame to hand. Put it in the children's room or in the garden in fine weather. Besides climbing and learning to explore, you can also turn it into a playhouse or tent with a sheet in no time.
- The Wobbel was tipped again. This balance board remains a great investment for all ages. Handy: on the website you will find a decision aid to determine which Wobbel is suitable for which age.
- A mud kitchen involves cooking with sand and water. How great for toddlers and what a great tip! You can buy ready-made kitchens, but if you are a bit handy (or know someone), you can also find lots of instructions online to build one of your own to your liking from, for example, pallets.
- A sandbox is good for hours of entertainment. Combine it with beautiful sustainable sand toys, such as these buckets, shovels and moulds made from Dutch household plastic waste from the brand Zsilt.
- With these multifunctional stacking bricks toddlers can develop their motor skills and indulge their imagination; use them as seats, to stack, as beds for soft toys, or turn them into a stepping-stone path to walk on.
Sustainable gift tip for two-year-old: give a balance bike or scooter
A toddler increasingly grabs a bike or scooter for a walk or to run errands. So a sturdy one is a good investment. And with the growing models you can go for a long time.
- Wooden balance bikes come with two wheels, but you also have handy 3-in-1 bikes, which you easily change from a tricycle to a two-wheeler when a child is ready. Nice solid brands are Kinderfeets, Bandits & Angels and Wishbonebike.
- If you are looking for a scooter, the Mini Micro Step is a practical 3-in-1 variant. From a scooter with seat and round handlebars, you easily change it to a regular scooter with T handlebars.
Gift an experience to a birthday toddler
- A ticket to a toddler film, concert or show, a visit to the miffy museum, a trial lesson in toddler gym or toddler dance, or a day out to a playground or play forest with a picnic. Giving and receiving experiences is so much fun and makes for great memories (and photos)!
Even more sustainable birthday gifts for toddlers
- Second-hand toys. There is more than enough and those who detective well are sure to find beautiful and original gifts. Worth looking out for: Duplo, wooden train, wooden puzzles, Ikea kitchenette, mud kitchen or water table, Wobble, doll's house, bike or scooter, swing or climbing frame.
- A membership for OERRR (Natuurmonumenten's youth programme), the toy loan or a Museumjaarkaart.
- Helping out in the kitchen or looking out the window safely is something a toddler can do with this Ette Tete Learning Tower.
- Give a fruit tree or bush for the garden or balcony. Discover together how everything grows and tastes.
- Picture books, feel, search and pointing books a toddler never has too many. If you want to put a green spin on it, check out this article with a list of sustainable children's books.
- This fabric birthday crown with single digits you can pull out every year.
Sustainable gift tip for a two-year-old: wooden climbing frame from Ette Tete that they will enjoy for years. Also cool is this fabric hat: you put a different number on it every year!
More toddler birthday inspiration
- A birthday calls for garlands and confetti! But preferably as sustainable as possible. Need tips? Then check out the article: Sustainable birthday: here's how to make it a green party.
- Birthday gifts for two-year-olds can also be wrapped zero waste. Check out the zero waste packing tips for this.
- Need more gift ideas? Perhaps the list of sustainable birthday gifts for annuals yet inspiration. Or how about the list of sustainable maternity gifts, here are also great gift ideas for growing up. So perfect birthday gifts for a two-year-old.
- Or if you prefer to buy gifts ‘growing up’, you will probably find inspiration in the article on Durable birthday gifts for a three-year-old or sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday.
Photo credits: Cottonbro (Pexels) (main image), kartent, I love Toys, Bijjjo, Kidsdeco, Wobbel, Ette Tette, Hieppp/Liezelijn.
