Want, Need, Wear, Read for young children

Christmas or birthday presents for young children

My youngest was always a terrible sleeper so I ended up spending half every night looking on Pinterest or blog websites, it was the only way to keep myself awake whilst feeding the baby! That's when I first read about the idea of 4 presents to give children:

Want

Need

Wear

Read

We've been using the idea so they ask Father Christmas for something they want, let's face it, it's always a toy.  Then they also get 3 more additional presents that they need, an item of clothing and a book.  Although for Christmas they also get a few more additional bits for their Christmas sacks (generally some little bits like cars, animals, joke/ magic set, fancy dress, compass, sweets/ chocolate, board game or travel game).

So want is usually easy, unless they chose something that's difficult to find. My eldest after watching a kids TV programme on Netflix wanted a toy from the series but there was nothing over here so we ended up paying for shipping from USA!

Wear - there's always something my eldest is growing out of and my youngest gets some girlie clothes, although she loves her hand-me-downs from the boys. It usually is a bit trickier for my middle son but I either get him a new t-shirt that granted he has enough from his big brother or socks/ trousers that as they get older they can't be passed down as they've been worn out.

Read - we always like having books in the house that the kids can help themselves to, so I get one that they might be interested in that year so either factual like a kids atlas, a story or a learning to read book in a subject that might encourage them to read.  For example this year is a factual book about dinosaurs, a Julia Donaldson story and a unicorn book.

But the need for little kids was more difficult at first as generally they don't have anything they need as such as it's usually bought straight away.  That was until I thought out of the box a bit so there are some fun things that kids might like that also qualifies as a need, in my opinion anyway!

Here's a list of somethings I bought in the past, or they're getting this year:

•  Educational toy, if they're really young and you're stuck for an idea for something they need then I think of something I want them to have, which is usually an educational toy. Children learn by play so not everything is just plastic tat.
• A baking set, apron, bowl, mixing spoon etc
• A craft box, we gave this to my eldest for his 1st birthday I think with some craft things and 6 years later it's still in constant use by all 3 kids.  (A little tip, I saw this craft box listed under craft and also a fishing box, and the latter was cheaper despite being the same thing)

 

• Lunch box, I gave my youngest a lunchbox at 2 years old before she started Preschool when she would need it and loves the design
• Gardening tools
• Umbrella

• Sleeping bag
• Rucksack
• A real toolkit, my eldest at 4 was quite mature for his age and really interested in tools so we bought him his own toolkit but only filled it with a tape measure, a couple of screwdrivers, AA/ AAA batteries and the pen came from a cracker! He knows this belongs to him but it's kept in the garage with Daddy's and it comes out when his toys need a battery change under adult supervision only.

• Torch/ head torch (I don't know what the fascination is but kids love them, but it's a cheap option)
• Hairbrush/ comb
• Swimming towel 

 Hopefully there might be a useful idea for you or lead you to think of something else that is practical but also fun for the kids.