Birthday gifts for toddlers under three that get used

A two-year-old gets a remote-control car, plays with the box for a week, and the car ends up in a cupboard. Buying for a child under three is harder than it looks, because what delights them at 14 months bores them at 20. These are the gifts that tend to hold up.

Buy for the stage the child is in

Babies under a year want things they can grab, chew and stare at. Soft rattles, crinkly cloth books and those black-and-white contrast cards that look dull to adults and fascinate a four-month-old. Around the first birthday, a push-along walker or an activity table gives them something to pull up on.

Between one and two, hands take over. A shape sorter, stacking rings and puzzles with three or four big wooden pieces get used every day. From two to three, they are ready for Duplo, a box of dressing-up clothes and chunky crayons or washable markers. Do check that they really are washable.

What counts as safe

The toilet-roll test still works. If a piece fits through a cardboard tube, it is too small for a child under three. Long strings, cords, sharp edges and anything that shatters are out as well.

Look at the age label and safety mark on the box instead of guessing. Soft toys should survive a washing machine, wooden toys should have a smooth finish with no splinters, and anything electronic needs a battery cover you have to unscrew. Everything goes in the mouth at this age, so the paint and plastic matter more than they would for a six-year-old.

Toys that keep working as they grow

Some gifts do not get outgrown in a month. A small keyboard or a drum starts as cause and effect for a one-year-old (hit it, it makes a sound) and turns into music-making by three. A ride-on toy is pushed along with the feet at first and later becomes a spaceship in a game of pretend.

Books are the best example. A board book with one picture per page works for a baby, then becomes the thing a toddler points at while learning words. Wooden blocks get knocked over, then built into towers, then turned into a garage for cars, all with the same set.

Experiences and practical gifts count too

A year's membership to the zoo, a pass for the children's museum or a block of swimming lessons gets used more than another toy on the shelf, and it gets the parents out of the house on a wet Sunday. Grandparents often like giving this kind of gift because they can come along.

Practical presents go down better than you would think. Clothes in the next size up, warm pyjamas, a plate and cup set with the child's name on it. Bath toys, especially cups for pouring and anything that floats, turn the evening bath into play without adding to the pile in the living room.

Cheap gifts toddlers love

A sensory bottle costs nothing: fill an empty water bottle with rice, buttons or glitter and glue the lid shut. Sew scraps of different fabrics together and you have a texture blanket for the price of the thread.

Household objects beat expensive toys more often than not. Measuring cups, a wooden spoon and a saucepan, the cardboard box the pram came in. Put safe things from around the house in a basket, in different shapes and materials, and a toddler will stay busy with it far longer than with most things that need batteries.

A small photo book with the family, the dog and the child's own room helps with words and is a comfort at bedtime. Most online print services make one for not much more than the price of a picture book.

Avoid three of the same toy

If you are planning the party, create a birthday wishlist with a spread of prices and a mix of the kinds of gifts above. Relatives who want to bring something can pick what the child will use, and you will not unwrap three shape sorters. The child probably won't remember the gift anyway, but the box might get a few more weeks of play.