This week I'm doing gift guides. Everyone does them but I love reading them and putting them together so I'm throwing my two cents out there. We're starting out today with Littles: children, nieces, nephews and godchildren. I am generally the mean aunt/friend/godmother who gives books but I also love things that kids can do, read and make. Little and big things and one shameless plug.
1. Little Train, $4.25 - I love this little train in a stocking with some simple paints and brushes.
2. Like I said, mostly I give books. Some of my favourites when I was small and now to give are the Katie Morag books (about a sassy Scottish girl in the Highlands) and the always wonderful In the Night Kitchen (it's amazing how many kids I know have never read it and everyone should be able to shout "I'm in the milk and the milk's in me!" randomly).
3. To go with your book I LOVE a Custom Bookplate, $16.50 and my nieces, both ten and both voracious readers, might need some of these gorgeous ones. Fabulous for all ages.
4. Another thing for the slightly bigger Littles is this lovely Monticello Children's Garden Kit, $18. The book covers how to grow your seeds and care for them as well as a bit about the gardens at Monticello and includes Love-in-the-Mist, Nasturtiums, Johnny-jump-ups, Calendulas, Scarlet Runner Beans, Bachelor's Buttons, Sweet Basil, and Globe Artichokes seeds.
5. I love this vintage children's Tool Kit, $20, with actual tools for slightly older children. Lowe's also has one the same price with a saw (which might be a good or bad thing).
6. These Wooden Deer Family Figures, $24, are so beautiful and wintery. I think they would be beautiful on a mantelpiece but are sturdy and wooden and good for little hands to play.
7. When I was a little girl I loved to have grown up things. This Hard Bound Sketch Book, $3.09 would have been just the thing, as good for children's drawings as it is for adults. For the very little on my list I'll add these Crayon Rocks, from $4.75 and for the bigger kids some coloured pencils.
8. And a shameless plug for Ellen Rabbit, $40. It's my blog so I can. She's lovely and soft and squishy and her arms are bendy and she wears a smart red coat and was named after my baby sister.