The best sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday

The fourth birthday is a special one! In one fell swoop, a toddler turns into a real toddler going to school. And that brings with it all new, exciting moments. But also new opportunities for sustainable gifts, because you can bet that school requires some. Here is a list full of inspiration for brand-new toddlers: the best sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday!

This is how to find sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday

The fourth birthday is most likely the last birthday you can still get through fairly easily without any special wishes from the birthday boy or girl Job or Jet. Toddlers do of course have their tastes and preferences, but a four-year-old child is still too small to be too influenced by other children. Make smart use of this by also scouring second-hand, in the thrift store or online. With a bit of luck, you'll get the cutest gifts from here. An additional advantage, it costs relatively little, so you are sure to impress with that extra-large crane, that blackboard or that water table.

Give sustainable school supplies as a gift to a preschooler

Four years old, there's no way around it: the first day of school! And you can't make a better start than with a sustainable backpack full of green stuff. This backpack from Fjalraven comes in more than 50 colours and, besides being hip, it is also extremely durable. Fill it with a Mepal lunch box and drinking cup And ready is your toddler!

• Since not every child can open and close a cup by themselves yet, drinking bottles are ideal. Give a nice and durable one made of stainless steel, for example these bottles from Klean Kanteen.
• For gym or swimming lessons, choose these bag from Fresk. This bag is made from recycled PET bottles and comes in all kinds of cosy prints.
• Not every four-year-old goes to swimming lessons yet, but for those who do, or for those who like to swim anyway, it's really nice to get a new pair of swimming trunks or a new swimming costume. Knotsknetter and the Flemish Harvest Club have a nice selection with sustainably produced swimwear for children. Harvest Club also plants a tree for every purchase from them.  
• Find more inspiration for school in this article: sustainable and budget-friendly school supplies.
  
  

Sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday: school supplies or an educational gift such as wooden playd.

Give an educational gift to a four-year-old

To increase concentration and learn through play, good old Loco mini and Electro good gifts. These assignment games have been a favourite for years, as they are easy for a four-year-old to do. They can also check for themselves if they have done the assignment correctly, which encourages independence. Extra handy: assignments for Mini Loco can be bought for later ages, so you can use this game for years to come.

Sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday: give a beautiful book as a gift

You can read to a four-year-old in this way, but they also often enjoy reading and browsing on their own. So with a book, you're definitely in the right place! You can of course go for the classics such as Floddertje or Dikkie Dik, or choose something from our green children's book tips. But you can't really go wrong in a bookshop. Don't forget the second-hand bookshops, they also sell the best picture books and books for reading.

A few more tips:

• 365 Penguins - About a family that gets a penguin delivered every day. Who sends them? And why? A funny book about saving endangered animals and lots of other things.
• Sigh - Jonas has loved the sea ever since he was a child. This book applauds the beauty of the sea, but also tells you about the things that threaten it.
• The special critter book - A book full of facts about all the tiny, wriggling and itchy critters around us. There is also a matching sticker book. Animal seen in the wild, paste it! Author Yuval Zommer made many more books full of beautiful drawings of animals and nature, such as about the sea, birds or flowers.

Always good (and easy to find second-hand too): a read-aloud book.

Give toys to make or build something themselves

• The natural wooden blocks and boards from Kapla and Just Blocks greatly stimulate the imagination. For preschoolers, Lego also becomes attractive. There are small sets that a four-year-old can put together by herself with a little help. For building materials, you can also do well on Marktplaats, although with Lego you have to check carefully whether the set is offered complete.
• Good for motor skills and creativity, but above all great fun, are these sustainably produced iron beads or this beautiful wooden beads.
• Toddlers often enjoy helping with cooking or baking. Opinel has a nice kitchen set for budding cooks. With the finger guard, your child learns to cut and peel safely. So you can make the most delicious things together. Always keep an eye on them, because they are still real knives.
• With this large wooden water or marble track make the most beautiful constructions in the sandpit or in the garden. Let everything flow and roll, or build dams and see what happens.
• You can make anything with it, build with it, combine it easily with anything and invent the most wonderful stories with it; open ended toys. Also fun to make a seasonal table with it. You will find good tips for this in previous articles such as the best sustainable birthday gifts for a two-year-old or the best sustainable gifts for a three-year-old. But you can also find plenty on Marktplaats. Search on ‘open ended’ or ‘Montessori’, or the brands ‘Grimm's’ and ‘Grapat’ and you'll find the most beautiful second-hand wooden toys.
  
  

The best sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday: wooden stringing beads (Heyhej) or wooden blocks and boards (Just Blocks).

Gift a cosy place to a four-year-old

A toddler has and will have different needs than a toddler. How fun (or necessary) is it to give the bedroom a little makeover? Perhaps a new bed is needed or a little desk, with a chair, to play or draw at? Studio Boss offers children's furniture made of wood from responsible forestry combined with the natural product linoleum. The Amsterdam-based brand Frendly offers various subscriptions to rent children's furniture. Super sustainable! You can also buy the beautiful furniture. When you return them, in good condition, you still get a refund.  

And then, of course, there is the thrift shop and Marktplaats. Here you will find everything a toddler's heart desires in terms of children's furniture, from basic wood to fireman and princess beds. With a pretty lamp, for example from Studio Perspective, complete your new sleeping or playing area.

Sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday: give a wooden chair and table from Studio Baas or rent sustainable children's furniture from Frendly.

Give a subscription as a gift to a toddler

Until recently, your toddler still went in (almost) everywhere for free. That time is unfortunately over. From the age of four onwards, you often pay the child rate in museums or (animal) parks. And sometimes even the full price. Then it hurts financially if your child does not get further than the museum shop or the playground. Or that it is fed up with an exhibition after 20 minutes. Ask or give a season ticket for a certain park, swimming pool, a subscription to OERRR (the children's membership of Natuurmonumenten) or a museum year card. Good for a year of low-key fun trips.

Also always fun to give and get are a ticket to a children's film, theatre performance, concert or children's festival. Or go to a nice (nature) playground and finish with a picnic or pancake.

These sustainable birthday gifts for a fourth birthday are also fun to give:

• What does your boyfriend prefer to eat? And what is grandma's favourite music? Collect it in this book of friends, in which your family may also write in.
• Good to scour second-hand for: a bike, rollerblades, scooter or water table.
• Board games are always a good gift. The brand Haba has fun games for preschoolers such as Orchard or Gris and Grab.
• Mermaid, astronaut or T-rex, with these Paper dress-up clothes from Koko Cardboards you can become anything. Note: assembling it does require some work from an adult.
• For music fans, buy this solid ukulele or a waste-free produced children's headphones from POGS to listen to music, an audiobook or a podcast comfortably and safely (the headphones have decibel protection). Available wired and wireless.
  
  

More green party tips for babies and kids

• A children's party involves garlands, gifts and snacks. And it can all be green! How? Find out in the article how to organise a sustainable children's party.
• Original birthday gifts for a toddler? The article the best sustainable birthday gifts for a first birthday helps you on your way for the best sustainable gifts for little ones.
• In the article the best sustainable maternity gifts you will find the most beautiful green gifts for newborns and brand-new parents.

Photo credits: Mepal (main image), Byjjo, Pexels (Cottonbro), Heyhej, Just Blocks, Studio Baas, Frendly Amsterdam.