What I Send the Grandkids for Christmas: 8 Gifts I Buy Before the Rush (2026 List)
I am seventy-one, I have two grandsons nine hundred miles apart, and my Christmas list is finished by the end of September. These are the eight that made it, and the one rule that decides it.
- Ages 0 to 5
- No screens
- Nothing to plug in
- Still played with in February
Updated September 2026
Written by Nancy Whittaker
Seventy-one. Grandmother of two. List done by September.
My name is Nancy. I am seventy-one, and every year my Christmas list for the grandchildren is finished by the end of September. My husband Frank says it is the only thing in this house that has ever been early.
I have two grandsons. Thomas is two and a half and comes to Sunday dinner with my daughter Anne. Leo is two and lives nine hundred miles away with my daughter Katie, so whatever I send him has to do its job without me there to show him how it works.
I keep the list on the kitchen calendar, in pen, under the first week of September. I started doing it that way after a December when I left it too late and ended up choosing from whatever was still on the shelf. I will not tell you what I sent that year. The children were too young to hold it against me, and my daughters were too polite to mention it.
I have one rule for what goes on the list, and I have kept it for a few years now. It has to be something his hands will still be working on in a month. Not something he looks at. Not something that does a trick while he watches. Something he picks up, gets stuck on, puts down, and comes back to the following week.
The reason is plain enough. I do not see Leo in January. I do see Thomas every Sunday, and I have watched a good many presents travel from the middle of the rug to the bottom of the toy basket between one Sunday and the next. The ones that pass the month are the ones I buy again.
I should say honestly that everything here comes from one company, Toddla. That was not the plan. Thomas already had their busy board, and it passed my rule so thoroughly that I went back to see what else the same people had made. What follows is what I have given the boys myself, or seen in the hands of a child I know, in the order I would buy it.
The ages are on each one, so you do not have to telephone anybody to ask.
Only what his hands will still be working on in a month. That is the whole rule, and it has saved me a good deal of money and a small amount of pride.
1. Montessori Busy Board
★★★★★ 4.8 out of 5, 1,156 reviews
"We bought this busy board for our grandson's 1st birthday. Having received many gifts on the actual day, we didn't know if he liked it or not, but according to his Mom & Dad, he absolutely loves it and it's one of his favourite toys."
JudithVerified
- Ages
- 6 months to 5 years
- Why It's on My List
- More than thirty real fastenings sewn onto felt pages that zip together and fold shut like a book. Buckles, zips, laces, latches, buttons. There is nothing to switch on. If you are buying one thing this year and you are not sure yet what the child can manage, start here. It covers the widest span of ages on the list.
- What I Noticed
- Thomas has had his for a while now, and it is still the first thing he asks for on a Sunday. He will work at one buckle until it gives in, then hold the page up for the whole table to admire. Leo has one at his house and one at mine, which is the only sensible arrangement when there are nine hundred miles in between.
- Still Going in a Month?
- Yes, and a good while after. Nobody finishes this in an afternoon. The buckles take weeks and the laces take longer. The pages unzip too, so when two children want it at once they can have a half each.
See the Busy Board
2. Montessori Christmas Tree
★★★★★ 4.7 out of 5, 151 reviews
"Excellent Christmas Surprise! I got the Christmas tree for my toddler and she absolutely loved it! She was not happy when we had to take it down in the new year! It will definitely be going back up next year!!"
EricaVerified
- Ages
- 18 months to 6 years
- Why It's on My List
- A soft felt tree a little taller than a yardstick, hung on a wall hook low enough for the child to reach. The ornaments are felt and stick on with velcro. The child dresses the tree, takes every last thing off, and dresses it again. Nothing on it is glass and nothing on it breaks, and it folds flat when the season is over.
- Why It Is This High Up
- Everything else on this list keeps. This one has a date on it. If it arrives the week before Christmas, most of its season is already gone, so this is the one I order first, in September, and put away in the hall cupboard until the first of December.
- Still Going in a Month?
- No. I would be fibbing if I said otherwise. It goes back in its box in January. It is the one exception to my rule, and I have made my peace with it, because it comes out again every December after that. A thing a child waits all year for earns its place a different way.
See the Christmas Tree
3. Montessori Geometric Eggs
★★★★★ 4.8 out of 5, 1,149 reviews
"We are very pleased with the geometric eggs - my granddaughter really enjoys opening and closing them, they are a good size for her hands."
Ela M.Verified
- Ages
- 12 months to 3 years
- Why It's on My List
- Six eggs in a carton. Each one opens to a colored shape inside, and the child has to fit the halves back together the right way. When an egg closes properly it clicks, so the toy tells him he got it right and nobody has to say a word.
- What I Noticed
- Every piece has its own place in the carton, so at the end of the day it all goes back in. That sounds like a small thing. It is not. A toy with somewhere to live is a toy that stays in the house, and a toy with pieces rolling under the sofa is not one the parents will thank you for.
- Still Going in a Month?
- It changes as he does. First it is something to open and shut. Then it is a matching puzzle. Later it is colors and shapes said out loud. I think of it as three presents in one carton.
See the Geometric Eggs
4. 7-in-1 Montessori Cube
★★★★★ 4.7 out of 5, 93 reviews
"Perfect for keeping babies entertained in public."
D***lVerified
- Ages
- 12 months to 3 years
- Why It's on My List
- Seven different things to do across six sides. A telephone dial, a slider, a mirror, a rope toggle, a little puzzle, a windmill and an animal that rolls out. It fits in one hand.
- What I Noticed
- A small child can wear out one side of it in five minutes and then turn it over and find another he has not tried. This is the one I would keep in a handbag for waiting rooms, if I still carried a handbag big enough, which Frank would tell you I do.
- Still Going in a Month?
- It travels, and I think that is why it lasts. It goes in the car, the stroller and the doctor's waiting room, so it keeps turning up somewhere new, and a toy in a new place is half a new toy.
See the Montessori Cube
5. Montessori Farm Animal Set
★★★★★ 4.8 out of 5, 55 reviews
"Love these - my 2 yo grandaughter finds endless ways to play with them. Great for teaching colors, animals, fine motor skills"
E***BVerified
- Ages
- 1 to 5 years
- Why It's on My List
- Twenty pieces, animals and accessories, all of them smooth and sized for small hands. At one it is sorting by color. At three it is counting. By four it is a whole farmyard with opinions of its own.
- What I Noticed
- Frank has been put in charge of the animal noises, which he does with more commitment than I would have expected from a retired tradesman. The same twenty pieces will do for a toddler this year and a four year old telling long stories later, and very little else I have bought lasts across that many birthdays.
- Still Going in a Month?
- Pretend play is where a small child will stay the longest. Once the animals have names they are not toys any more, they are a cast. This is the one I would send to the child who seems to have everything already.
See the Farm Animal Set
6. Sensory Fruits & Veggies Sorting Set
★★★★★ 4.7 out of 5, 128 reviews
"Perfect gift for my my granddaughters first birthday. The colors are bright and the size is perfect for toddlers! Kiddos will learn while they play. Good quality toy that will last. Oh, and it’s washable!!"
Q***PVerified
- Ages
- 6 months and up
- Why It's on My List
- Sixteen soft fruits and vegetables, each with a crinkle or a gentle rattle inside, and colored baskets to sort them into. Everything is soft, so a baby can chew on a strawberry and nobody in the room has to jump up.
- What I Noticed
- This is my answer for a house with two small children and only one birthday, or when a friend from church has a new grandbaby and asks me what to buy. The little one gets the feel of it, the bigger one gets the baskets, and there is enough to go round.
- Still Going in a Month?
- It all packs away into its own storage bag, which the parents will appreciate more than they will say. And the reason a child reaches for it changes as they grow, from how it feels in the hand to which basket it belongs in.
See the Sorting Set
7. Soft Building Blocks
★★★★★ 4.7 out of 5, 85 reviews
"I packed these blocks for a long car ride. The numbers and animals are fun to explore. They work well for simple stacking games. It turned out to be a really useful baby toy."
S***rVerified
- Ages
- 6 months and up
- Why It's on My List
- Soft blocks with numbers and animals on them, for the age when a child wants to build and also very much wants to throw. They get chewed, thrown and stacked in about that order, and they do no harm to anything they land on, including me.
- What I Noticed
- They are the one gift on this list that gets a grandparent down on the floor. I cannot stay down there as long as I used to, but a tower of six and a proper knocking down is still well within my range.
- Still Going in a Month?
- There is no right answer with blocks, and that is the point of them. Everything else here has a way it is meant to go. These do not, so he makes the rules, and a two year old never tires of making rules.
See the Soft Blocks
8. Rattle Toy Socks
★★★★★ 4.8 out of 5, 36 reviews
"I purchased these for my granddaughter and she loves them! My daughter said that it is the gift that keeps on giving. She is fascinated by the little characters and she found her feet! We are so proud that she can put her foot in her mouth (like the rest of the family). Of all the gifts that we have bestowed on her, this is her favorite!"
G***gVerified
- Ages
- 3 to 12 months
- Why It's on My List
- Four soft cotton rattles, two for the wrists and two for the ankles, each with a small animal on it that rattles when the baby moves. It is for the baby who is still too young for anything else here.
- What I Noticed
- Neither of my grandsons is that small any more, so this is the one I send for other people's babies. The baby kicks, hears the rattle, and kicks again to hear it once more. The parents see that happen, and they remember who sent them.
- Still Going in a Month?
- Yes. The stage it suits lasts for months rather than days, while a baby is still getting acquainted with their own hands and feet. A present given in December is still being kicked about in the spring.
See the Rattle Socks
Before You Order, From One Grandmother to Another
If I could only send one thing this year, it would be the Busy Board. It suits more ages than anything else here, it folds up to go anywhere, and no gift I have given has kept a child at it longer. If there is room for a second, the Geometric Eggs. And whatever else you choose, order the Christmas Tree first, because it is the only one on this list with a season to miss.
If your grandchild lives a long way off, send the gift that does not need you there to explain it. Every one of these makes sense to a small child without me there to explain it. That is why I can post them to Leo and trust them to get on with it.
If you see them every week, think about keeping one at your house instead of sending it home. A toy that only lives at Grandma's is a toy that is waiting for them when they come.
Most orders arrive in about a week. That feels like plenty in September, and it is. It does not feel like plenty in the middle of December. There is a 30-day trial if something turns out not to suit, and the return postage is yours, which seems fair to me.
And buy fewer than you think. One good gift that is still being played with in a month is worth three that were lovely on the day. That is my whole list. I hope it spares you the Decembers I used to have.
Nancy
