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Clare Mackintosh - US

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What do you buy a five year old for their birthday?

October 26, 2011 By Clare Mackintosh

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My son will be five in a couple of weeks. Like thousands of parents up and down the country I’m racking my brains to think of suitable presents for him. Yes – presents, plural. Because it’s not just our gift we have to buy, is it? Oh no, we’ve had calls from the grandparents, from aunts, from Godparents and friends asking for suggestions. So, no sooner have I thought of the perfect present, than I’ve ‘given the idea away’ to someone and I’m back to square one.

I was contacted recently by the Le Toy Van who wanted me to look at their range of (funnily enough) wooden toys. It made me chuckle because when I was pregnant – the first time around – I swore to myself I would only ever have tasteful wooden toys in my house. None of that plastic crap for me, I vowed. Five years later and my house looks like the aftermath of a plastic toy factory explosion, multi-coloured synthetics oozing from every crevice. But nevertheless I still default to wooden toys when given the chance, and I particularly loved the selection of Le Toy Van Toys, which look like the sort of toys I had as a child.

On my wish list for the boy’s fifth birthday is this wooden castle, which is suitably dramatic to hold his attention whilst being aesthetically pleasing enough for me to have in my sitting room (I know, it’s his birthday. But it’s my house). At the other end of the price scale, but still on a similar theme, is this castle playmat which is designed to fit the castle, but could easily be used with other models or play equipment. I love it all the more because it’s washable – it’s the little things which matter nowadays…

Five is a tricky age, I think. The hardest birthday so far, in fact. Too old for baby gifts and toddler toys and desperate to be grown-up, but not yet old enough (in my view) for computer games, DSs and other teenage treats.

What do you buy for a five-year-old? I’d love to hear your suggestions.

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