By Emilia Orviss

(Updated for 2023)

The Holiday Season is just around the corner and the shops have already started to bring in the Christmas produce and decorations to buy.

With not long to go until the main event, you may be getting yourself geared up to start purchasing presents for your loved ones.

Here at the Good Play Guide, we have an array of wonderful gift ideas, perfect for the smaller members of your family.

Offering developmental benefits and endless amounts of fun, our tried and tested toys are sure to be a hit with both children and parents.

So, sit back, pour yourself a glass of mulled wine and let us do the hard work for you.

Toniebox – £79.99

The Toniebox encourages children to be interactive with stories. The box comes with one character, but there are a huge number of others available, such as The Grinch, Elsa (Frozen), and Winnie The Pooh which can be purchased separately to add to your child’s collection.

There are also Tonies that just play soothing music – perfect to help little ones to drift off to sleep. The figures help to bring stories to life and give children a sense of independence as they choose which Tonie they want to listen to and place the figure on the box.

You can even record your own stories onto certain characters, meaning children can listen to stories from relatives who live far away or listen to goodnight messages.

Paw Patrol Chase Tonie – £14.99

Place the Paw Patrol Chase Tonie on your Toniebox and be transported to Adventure Bay where you can meet Marshall, Rubble, Chase, Rocky, Zuma and Skye.

The recognisable character and music are a great way to engage your child in storytelling and will be a big hit with Paw Patrol fans. Tonies are easy for children to use, tactile, and the perfect size for little hands.

As the Toniebox is screen free, it provides an ideal alternative to reading a book before bedtime or for quiet time during the day, and listening to stories like the ones on the Paw Patrol Chase Tonie helps to grow early literacy by promoting listening and attention skills.

Penguin Math Balance – £19.99

The Penguin Math Balance is an educational math toy that offers a fun and interactive way for children to learn about weight, size, addition and subtraction.

The set comes with scales in the shape of a penguin and 30 colorful sea creature friends to weigh (which can be stored in a box under the penguin when not being used).

This toy is a great tool to help develop problem solving skills and learning by trial and error, and with playbooks included, parents can help guide children through their learning journey with helpful educational activities.

Children are sure to return to this toy time and time again.

Locbloc™ Counting Blocks – £20.89

This playset comes with lots of colorful building blocks in different sizes to stimulate a child’s imagination.

They can use the wheel blocks to build a racecar, school bus, or their own unique vehicle!

There are also blocks with facial expressions, so little ones can build figurines for pretend play scenarios—they make great tools for learning social-emotional skills too.

Children can also use the play cards and stickers to practise number recognition, color perception, counting, and more!

My Ice Cream Shop – £27.99

The My Ice Cream Shop playset is great for imaginative role-playing and practising basic math skills.

With 9 colorful flavours of ice cream and 3 yummy toppings, little ones can assemble cones to match the play cards and practise their counting and pattern matching skills.

Pretend play is a great way to develop emotional and social skills – open the play guide to find interactive play ideas for developing skills like empathy and active listening or spin the game wheel for a fun activity!

All the items above will make the perfect gift for the smaller members of the family. With a focus on fun and educational benefits in abundance, we have just what you need to make Christmas 2023, the best one yet.