I don’t find it shocking that my first born turns four today. I am blessed to get to be home with my girls and I definitely think this helps the time pass at a more acceptable pace. Honestly what shakes me up is thinking that one year from now she will turn five and we will be in the throws of preparing for Kindergarten. This feels like the launch into when time really kicks into high gear. My days of knowing and planning her every move will be gone. Before I break into an ugly cry, let me finish by saying I plan to embrace the year from four to five…..in moderation because mama still needs mental health breaks…..and I encourage you to do the same if you’re in a similar time frame with your babes.
I find that Lyla has now fully embraced what a birthday entails and is basically interested in three things: gifts, a jump house, and cake….in that specific order. Gone are the days of me sneaking in some practical gifts ala clothes and shoes. The child wants toys of every size, shape, and genre. If you’re looking to spoil that special four year old in your life, here are the gifts I recommend.
- Playhouse. My sweet family chipped in and bought a playhouse for Lyla last year for her birthday. It took her a minute to embrace her imaginative play energy, but she’s now full force and plays in this thing every time we’re outside.
- Tracing Letters Book. Learning how to recognize letters has been surpassed by the urge to now constantly spell out and practice writing them. Of course this is awesome and I want to encourage it for as long as she’s interested. Love this book as it has a dry-erase feature.
- Reversible Easel. This is the big gift we’re getting her this year. She loves to paint, draw, color, glue, cut, mosaic tile (j/k), really any artsy thing I’ll allow. Being creative is such an important past-time to nurture their little brains, so I’m hoping she will get many hours of fun out of this.
- Easel Accessory Set. What good is an easel without the much-needed accessories? We also ordered her the paper rolls, finger paints, and I love this cute smock!
- Dollhouse. She has moved past the Little People phase and is ready for a more advanced play-set. Rose is happy to take the Barn and Castle for herself and I’m so glad we don’t have to get rid of them as they’re super cute! We’re not quite ready to jump into the land of Barbie, so I feel like this adorable collection is the perfect transition option.
- Badminton Set. I realize this one is a bit random, but Lyla happened to see a set in my mom’s garage and was immediately interested. We took it out back and practiced batting the birdie around a bit (try saying that five times fast). It’s just tricky enough to keep her engaged without being too hard and frustrating.
- Splash Pad/Pool. My child loves being outside. We bought her this last summer and she has been counting down the seasons until it could re-emerge in our back yard.
Other suggestions: this young-child friendly swing set, these books, and this backyard staple.
What are your favorite four year old gift ideas??
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