Buying presents for children is so much fun: I get to buy lots of the things that I desperately wanted as a child in a display of vicarious pleasure, and children are always so disproportionately happy with their gifts.
Because all my friends have children, and many of them at that, my rule is that I tend to only buy Christmas presents for my five godchildren, as otherwise where do you draw the line? I would be buying well over forty presents each December. So five seems about manageable, although I have to be honest and say that it’s only once they get to around four years old or so that I start to take an active interest: I’m just not great with babies or very small children, not having had any of my own.
But now that my godchildren are a little older, I’m getting into this whole present buying business with more relish. And I do think the whole point of godparent presents is to be wholly indulgent, with a whiff of luxurious unsuitability hanging around.
I’ve written several gift guides over the years based on what I’ve bought for my godchildren, including Buttonbag sewing sets, Playmobil, Marble Runs, ballerina skirts, dolls that look like little girls (not cosmetic surgery victims), and Kigu onesies. They’ve all been great successes, so this year I’ve amalgamated all those guides into one whopping guide.
And for children who have no presents at all, do consider buying them one – or several – on Refuge’s Christmas Gift List, or sending gifts to this year’s Give and Make Up Shoebox appeal for children and teenagers up to 15.
As I travel so much, I thought it might be nice to buy a globe for several of my godchildren. I sometimes get calls or emails when I am literally on the other side of the world, so now they will be able to see where in the world I am at any given moment. I found this Hamley’s one online, which is a great price – they can be fearfully expensive, and have ordered a few.
I love the traditional games of my youth, and I’ve had great success buying both Hungry Hippos and Operation. After all, who doesn’t LOVE Operation?
Apart from when it ran out of batteries, it was hands down one of my favourite childhood games so, when I was noodling about in the toyshop section, I immediately knew what a bunch of friends’ children were getting from me this Christmas.
I have previously bought godson no.1 this beautiful Jaques backgammon board. He’s a junior UK Chess champion, and apparently loves backgammon, which he plays on his mother’s old board, so I upgraded him to a Jaques version – they are the oldest manufacturer of games in the world, and have been responsible for inventing some of the most popular traditional English games, including Croquet, Table Tennis and the Staunton Chess set.
(I do rather lust over Jaques’ outdoor Tumble tower – if only I had a garden in London). I also love marble runs, and so I bought a 60-piece one for Edward, which includes chutes, roundabouts, marbles, paddle wheel, step pass and tubes.
Several of my godchildren are avid readers, and so I ordered personalised Ex Libris sticky labels with hand drawn illustrations for their books from the lovely independent HoneyTree. (25 for £10.) I was amazed at how quickly my delivery came – they do an express delivery too, and there is still plenty of time before Christmas if you order now.
For one godchild who is very creative, I have ordered these fantastic A6 draw your own picture personalised post cards for thank you letters, which come in a pretty coloured polka dot folder (32 for £15. Also from Honeypot Press.)
I bloody love Paddington Bear – I still have mine lurking in my mother’s attic, and you can still buy the beautiful traditonal Paddingtons here. (Although the 21st century version is a bit more cuddly.)
A Bear Called Paddington , Love from Paddington, Paddington Races Ahead. These are the only three I could find in hardcover – I do think it’s nicer and easier for little hands to hold hardbacks. (Which was also Beatrix Potter’s reasoning behind her little books.)
If you do want the paperbacks, then there is the miniature Paddington Little Library and Paddington Classic Adventures Box Set.
I also think you can’t go wrong with anything by AA Milne. I adore the poems in Now We are Six and When We Were Very Young in hardback, with the original Ernest Shepherd illustrations, and I think I would be remiss without a plug for my excellent cookbook Friends, Food, Family, which has some great recipes for cooking with children – easy and simple to follow.
For little girls who love ballet and dressing up, I love these pretty net petti-skirts, which I would have walked over hot coals for at pretty much any point during my childhood. This is the one I bought a few years ago for my seven year old goddaughter.
I am obsessed by Japanese Kigu animal suits for both adults & children at the moment. Introduced to me by my old assistant Dominique, I love that they aren’t fitted-to-the-body onesies, but made extra baggy on purpose for playing in. This tiger suit was perfect for godson no 2, Edward, when he was five. Find the originals at www.kigu.co.uk, and on Amazon here.
I first read about Lottie Dolls* in The Guardian, and was immediately drawn to the fact that they are dolls with more normal proportions – Lottie doesn’t wear makeup, jewellery or high heels and she can stand on her own two feet (always a useful life skill for all girls, big and small). (I’m not exactly a fan of the sweater girl, legs up to armpits, unachievable doll ideal for little girls.) Lovely Lottie Dolls have flat chests, proportionate limbs and don’t look like they’ll be heading down the Playboy Mansion as a career choice. Sure they still look like Bambis with their big eyes, but if one is going down the doll route I think they are a much, much better option.
When I bought this Lottie Doll –Spring Celebration Ballet – there were very few available. Since then the range has expanded terrifically, and I particularly love Fossil Hunter Lottie, Muddy Puddles Lottie, Kawai Karate Lottie and Pirate Queen Lottie.
And, of course, I couldn’t resist the matching dog accessory kit: Biscuit the Beagle £7.99
I have also been known to go a a bit crazy with the Playmobil, and have previously bought a Knights set, and a Princesses one for my little cousins.
And do let us all know in the comments if you have any brilliant ideas for the children, oddchildren or godchildren in your life….
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