GRAND gift giving! Amazon finds we ❤️ for our Littles!
- Our Grand Lives
- 3 hours ago
- 10 min read
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
HAPPY DECEMBER, EVERYONE!
Just like that, our focus switches from autumn and Turkey Day
to reindeer and gingerbread men and Christmas Everything!
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
Our tummies are full and our hearts are, too!
Laurie’s Littles before heading off to Thanksgiving
with their other GRANDS!
Laurie celebrated all weekend long in snowy Minnesota…
with two snowstorms taking place over the past week!
Meanwhile, Laura had a wonderful week with family!
On Friday, she and her daughters enjoyed an evening out with
espresso martinis and tapas followed by Wicked: For Good and popcorn!
All before the snow hit southern Wisconsin later Friday night!!
The drinks, the movie and the time together was priceless!
Saturday brought a doozy of a storm!
There’s nothing like that first snowfall each year!
It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
Thankfully, we each made it home safely after our holiday celebrations
although it did take a bit longer than usual!
Now we’re gearing up for our final “ber” month of the year - DecemBER!
One thing we’re working on is finalizing our Christmas lists, and checking them twice!
And, of course, at the top of those lists right now,
are our gift ideas for loved ones… especially the Littles in our lives!
You know that we’re thinking about our grandkids and what might bring them joy!
Today, we’re excited to share this year's gift giving post,
filled with Amazon finds we love!
But first, our GRAND guidelines for choosing gifts for our Littles!
When it comes to buying gifts for our Littles
It could be so easy to overdo(!) and overspend(!!)
We both try really hard NOT to go overboard,
but, goodness, it can be hard!
There seems to be more cash flow available than when our own kids were little
and we admit, we love spoiling our grandbabies…
After all, that’s a GRAND’s prerogative, right?
Seriously though, we find that the following guidelines
help us immensely as we navigate gift giving as a GRAND!
GRAND Guideline #1 - Communicate openly and honestly with your Middles (your Littles’ parents)! Always defer to their wishes! Discuss the number of gifts you are thinking of giving and check to see if your Middles have any suggestions/preferences for you to consider! The last thing we want to do is to add to the stress our Middles might be feeling during this busy time of year!
GRAND Guideline #2 - We each try to use the following strategy when choosing gifts for our Littles, whether it be at Christmas or for a birthday! Just keep in mind that you are not the only one giving your Little a gift, so plan accordingly!
This strategy seems to cover all our bases (and all the things we love to share with our Littles) and the list has given us direction as we shop! The good news is that it is also a strategy that can be applied at almost any price point… yippee!
Another Option for You to Consider!
A different version of this strategy involves giving three gifts to each Little,
representing the 3 gifts that Baby Jesus received from the Wise Men!
Grand Guideline #3 - Our final suggestion… Consider giving a gift of time! As our Littles grow older, we will definitely be exploring this option! No clutter and a shared activity or adventure would be a win-win! For more tips on this topic, check out our original post from 2023, highlighting these guidelines and our suggestions here!
Above all, we do our best to remember…
Since becoming GRANDS,
both of us have found a lot of gift giving inspiration from Amazon
AND
from each other, too!
We’ve got some faves to share, including our ideas for…
In no particular order,
you’ll find some of our favorite Amazon recommendations below, so...
time to scroll away!
❤️ Toddler Standing Tower (used for everything!)
This has been such a great investment - one that gets used multiple times each day! In fact, Laura and her husband have bought two now - one for each Little and our daughter and SIL love them as much as our Littles do!
Both towers are housed at the kitchen island and our Little L and Little P are able to eat their daily snack, do art projects, help with food prep and more while standing there!
❤️ Little Tikes First Slide (large motor play)
If you are looking for a safe, compact and fun way to help your Littles build confidence and burn off energy, this slide is a winner! It’s easy to set up - inside or out! We’ve both made this purchase for our Littles and we highly recommend it for ages 18 months to around 4 years old!
Laurie first made this purchase when her Little D was a young toddler and Laura quickly followed suit! All of our Littles still play with this and it’s come in so handy during those long frigid winter days when Littles are stuck indoors! Our Littles love sliding down OR sending their stuffed animals down, too! We highly recommend it for ages 18 months to around 4 years old!
❤️ Ice Cream Shop (creative & imaginative play)
Laurie's Little D (a 4-year-old now) discovered this at a friend’s house and loved it so, last year, Santa brought her her own!
Little D loves it! You order from the "menu" and your Little can easily scoop and add toppings before serving!
❤️ Sorting Animals & Bowls (quiet time play)
Laura has brought this set with her EVERY TIME she visits her Littles during the past two years and it’s played with every single morning she’s there! It’s great for fostering fine motor development, sorting and imaginative play (plus the colorful bowls can be played with in a variety of settings!)
Younger Littles like Little P simply love putting the animals in the different cups! Meanwhile, over time, Little L has grown to love sorting the animals OR making patterns OR counting them! And, of course, no morning is complete without “waking up” the animals in their homes (the cups), sending them off to school (sorting them into groups of “friends”) and then coming home again!. We can’t tell you how much fun these “friends” have been!
❤️ Play Sink (creative & imaginative play)
Water recycles through the sink so it really runs! Play outside or on the floor with a tarp or towel to avoid spills. Wash dishes, babies, doll clothes, play house/kitchen.
Laurie gave this sink to Little D more than two years ago as her second birthday gift and she and her little sister just played with it last week!
That’s how much Littles enjoy it!
❤️ Mini Trampoline (large motor play)
Speaking of burning off energy, this gift fits the bill! Again, it’s a purchase we’ve both made and you’ll still find our Littles jumping away every single day!
Do you see our favorite slide in the background, too!
❤️ Toddler Piggy Bank (quiet time play)
This toy builds fine motor skills and introduces cause and effect! Laura’s Little P loves dropping the coins into this bank and to make things extra fun, we turn things into a game of hide -n seek with the coins, too! Little P is always ready to go on the hunt!
❤️ Kid’s Camera (creative & imaginative play)
Laurie’s Little D loves to take photos - just like her mom and Grammy do! This camera comes in several styles and colors and has a variety of functions, too!
Little D received this camera on her third Christmas and it was a BIG hit!
What a big girl!
❤️ Baby Swing (large motor play)
This is the perfect gift for a Little’s first Christmas! We’ve included a link to one of the many styles available on Amazon (the one Laura purchased is not available right now). This gift has provided lots of hours of swinging fun over the years!
❤️ Matching Memory Game (quiet time play)
This toy was an unexpected hit when Laura purchased it this fall! Little L LOVES this activity SO MUCH and plays with it regularly during her afternoon quiet time! We’re amazed by how quickly she found and remembered matches!
❤️ Kid’s Kick Scooter (large motor play)
Laurie’s daughter shared this idea… this scooter is perfect for kids 2-8 years old with adjustable handlebars, LED-lit wheels, and a lean-to-steer design. It's a popular product!
❤️ FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES (creative & imaginative play)
Both Laurie and Laura LOVE having art materials available for our Littles - craft supplies, markers, crayons and more! Here’s 3 of our favorites!
Tempera Paint Sticks - Littles can twist and paint and they are a great addition to any art center!
Scented Markers - This pack includes 12 smelly markers and Littles LOVE them!
Dot Paints - We love these no mess and leak free paints and our toddlers do, too!
Wrap one of these up with a pad of drawing paper and you’ll make your Little very happy!
These are fun options, too, and come in a wide selection of options
❤️ FOR OLDER LITTLES!
Since our Littles are still young and we only shop for girls these days, we went to Laurie’s nieces for a few of their suggestions - each of these is perfect for their sons and we think many 8-10 year old boys and girls would love them, too!
All Kinds of Rubik’s Cubes - 2 x 2, 3 x 3, light up, color changing or phantom cubes (these start out all back but then the heat of your fingers change the colors)! There are so many different versions of the puzzle!
Nee-Doh - Have you heard of them? These squishy stress balls are a favorite!
Strategy Games - Games that involve strategy intrigue older Littles… Rush Hour Shift is a favorite! (We’ve linked up one version of the Rush Hour games that are available.)
Other favorites for 6-10 year old Littles include Legos, action figures, stuffed animals and/or dolls, STEM activities, puzzles and games! Craft kits and art supplies are always great options and sports jerseys (home team ones are the best) and sporting equipment are also popular choices!
There really are no set rules when it comes to choosing books for young Littles
but some things we look for are
rhyming books, pop up or flap books, books with repetitive phrases,
boards books and books with beautiful illustrations!
You can’t go wrong with the gift of a book!
Here are titles from 11 authors we love!
If interested, simply Google any of these authors below
to learn more about picture books they’ve published:
Don’t forget about beginning chapter books for older Littles! - Favorite chapter book and graphic novel series always make great gifts for our older Littles, too!
Our suggestions for boys (straight from Laurie’s 8-year-old great nephew) include the following: Magic Treehouse, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Man, Wing of Fire and Dragon Masters!
For girls this age, we’d recommend the following series: Junie B Jones, Ivy & Bean, Never Girls and a classic - The Boxcar Children! And… sports encyclopedias, I Spy and any Guinness book of world records are all great options, too!
We hope our ideas help you in your GRAND search for that perfect gift!
And, if you are looking for a creative way to wrap those gifts,
be sure to check out our post from last year,
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We are always looking for ideas to add to our own gift lists,
so if you and your family have a recommendation for us,
please, please, please
share in the comments section at the end of this post!
THANK YOU!
Remember…
You can always find us by visiting our social media sites!
where we regularly share new and fun content!
We also post on Pinterest occasionally, too!.
We invite you to follow us on these sites!
We'll be back later this week!
Look for our updated Stocking Stuffers post and more Christmas Cheer, too!
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While choosing the perfect gifts for our grandchildren is always fun, the greatest gift we can give them is our time, our attention, and our presence! Toys will be outgrown and trends will fade, but the memories we make together — reading stories, baking cookies, playing games, or simply listening — will stay with them long after the wrapping paper is gone.
As we celebrate the season, may our presents bring joy, but may our presence be what our Littles remember most.
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