Gifts for Boys – Baby, Toddler & Big Kid
Searching for gift ideas for boys? Looking for non-toxic and sustainable options? Are educational elements a must? We’ve got you! From wooden role play sets that encourage hours of imaginative play to a stand up outdoor swing that makes kids feel like they’re surfing the clouds, our guide has something for everyone!
At The Tot, we’ve collectively raised a lot of little boys! All wildly wonderful, curious, sensitive and energetic, we’ve loved finding toys and gifts that spark their creativity, keep them engaged, encourage them to problem solve and walk away feeling confident and proud.
With that being said, some of our sons have gravitated to musical play while others prefer to craft. Some want nothing more than to be outside, while others much prefer a long game of make-believe. That’s why we’re including all types of toys in this guide!
Ready to find the perfect gift for that special little boy in your life? Let’s get started!
In this guide, we’ll go over:
- Chemicals to avoid in kids toys
- Birthday and holiday gift ideas for little boys
- Our product picks for birthday and holiday gifts for little boys
Scroll down to learn more!
Chemicals to avoid in kids toys
At The Tot, we never use or recommend anything that hasn’t passed The Tot Test. This means we’ve looked deep into third-party testing, examined ingredients lists and asked in depth questions about a product’s composition to ensure it’s free of the chemicals we avoid.
When it comes to kids toys, we like to steer clear of the below chemicals because they are all known to cause both short and longterm health problems.
- Bisphenols BPA + BPS
- Formaldehyde
- PVC
- Lead & other heavy metals
- VOCs
- Pesticides
Click here to read the full list of chemicals we avoid and why.
Birthday and holiday gift ideas for little boys
Whether you’re shopping for a birthday, Hanukkah or Christmas gift for a little boy, you can consider things like:
- Indoor/Outdoor Double Sink Mud Kitchen
- Small world play scenes
- Wooden tool set
- Non-toxic play dough
- Arts & Crafts supplies
- Magnetic building set
- Wooden surgeon’s play kit
- Bike
- Balance board
- Outdoor swing
- Scooter
- Play kitchen & food toys
- Wooden train set
- Toy trucks
- Wooden mechanic set
- Large building blocks
- Imaginary play stand
- Acoustic guitar
- DIY Pinball game
- Book
- Wooden puzzle
- Gardening kit
- Dollhouse
- Doll
- Sidewalk chalk
- Play & learn set
- Stocking stuffer gift sets
- Organic cotton PJ sets
- Personalized jean jacket
Keep reading to see the product picks we’ve pulled for each of these gift ideas and shop below.
The Tot product picks for birthday and holiday gifts for little boys
All Tot Tested and approved, here are our tried and trusted winners for little boys!
The Monarch Studio Outdoor/Indoor Double Sink Mud Kitchen
Handmade in the USA from hand-sanded solid pine wood and finished with a non-toxic weatherproof sealer, the indoor/outdoor mud kitchen from The Monarch Studio can be used for imaginative play, sensory play, science experiments, and more!
Suitable for use from 12 months, it’s something your kids and their friends will love using for years, not months.
The Monarch Studio Outdoor/Indoor Double Sink Mud Kitchen
$520
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Let Them Play Story Scene Outdoors Bundle + Play Board + Tree People
The interchangeable story scenes from Let Them Play allow children to hone their hand-eye coordination while creating their own wild adventure!
Wonderful for helping expand vocabularies and encouraging story-telling, these sets are hand painted using food-grade dyes.
Let Them Play Story Scene – Outdoors Bundle
$115
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Let Them Play – Story Scene Play Board Bundle
$49.50
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Let Them Play Tree People – Rainbow
$29.50
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Small Foot Premium Nordic Toolbox + Small Foot Nordic Compact Workbench
When it comes to raising a Little-Fix-It, you’ll want to arm them with these playful wooden tool sets from Small Foot!
Made from FSC-certified, sustainably farmed wood and finished with solvent-free, water-based paint, they’re the type of toy even your grand children will love.
Small Foot Premium Nordic Toolbox
$54.99
Small Foot Compact Nordic Workbench
$65.99
Dough Parlour Non-Toxic Scented Play Dough
If you’re looking for a gift that will facilitate sensory and creative play, play dough, especially when scented and colored with non-toxic dyes, is a fan favorite!
We love Dough Parlour because they make their dough in small batches in Canada! Oh! And because they have adorable personalized double sided name mats! See below!
Dough Parlour Collector Set
$80
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Dough Parlour Double Sided Personalized Name Mat – Sail Boat
$40
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Kid Made Modern Arts & Crafts Library
The Kid Made Modern Arts & Crafts Library has everything a kid needs to make a wondrous creation! From pipe cleaner crowns to googly eyed monsters, it’s a craft cupboard must-have!
Kid Made Modern Arts & Crafts Library
$39.99
Clixo Super Rainbow Building Set
Clixo’s magnetic building sets are awesome because kids get to hone their fine motor skills while making anything from a dog to a hat to an airplane!
Made from recyclable and durable synthetic paper and designed with strong embedded magnets for maximums safety, they’re fun to play with solo or with friends.
Clixo Super Rainbow – 57 Pieces
$89.99
Available in more colors and sizes
Make Me Iconic Surgeon/Pharmacist Kit
When it comes to role play kits, Make Me Iconic are one of our favorite makers!
We particularly love their Surgeon/Pharmacist kit because it’s made of high quality wood and non-toxic paints and gives kids a closer look into the world of Medicine.
Make Me Iconic Surgeon/Pharmacist Kit
$64.99
Little Tokyobike Balance Bike or Pedal Bike
Active play is incredibly important for a child’s physical and cognitive development, which is why you can’t go wrong with a bike!
Available as a balance bike or pedal bike and designed in loads of different colors, Little Tokyobike is wear modern meets retro in the best way possible.
Tokyobike Paddle Balance Bike
$190
Available in more colors
Little Tokyobike Pedal Bike
$315
Available in more colors
Wobbel Balance Board
Say ‘hello’ to your child’s new best friend, the Wobbel. The Wobble board can be a bridge, a fort, a slide, a step stool, a ramp, a foundation for a rainbow tower, and countless other imaginative things!
Available in raw wood or with a backing, this versatile toy can be used on hard and soft floors and builds strength, balance as well as creativity.
Wobbel – The Original
$149
Wobbel – The Original w/ Grey Felt
$189
Swurfer Stand Up Surfing Swing
The Swurfer Stand Up Surfing Swing is exactly what it sounds like! Kids can build up momentum (and a sweat) while surfing the clouds!
Swurfer Stand Up Surfing Swing
$129.99
Scoot & Ride Highway Kick 3
Another active play favorite of ours is the Scoot & Ride Highway Kick 3! Designed for 3 – 6 year olds, it has an adjustable handlebar that even folds flat, making it great for storage and travel.
Scoot & Ride Highway Kick 3
$99
Available in more colors
Scoot & Ride Helmet
$49.99
Available in more colors
Raduga Grez Play Food + Poppie Toys Shopper
Playing shops? The Poppie Toys Shopper and Raduga Grez Food Set are a must! Great for helping hone hand-eye coordination and expand vocabularies, these toys are also a good for teaching life skills and healthy eating habits.
Raduga Grez Wooden Food Set – Vol 2
$65
Poppie Toys Rattan Shopping Cart
$149
Milton & Goose Essential Play Kitchen + Hape Chef’s Cooking Set
Made in the USA from Baltic birch and solid North American maple, the Milton and Goose Essential Play Kitchen is 1. insanely cute 2. very fun and 3. educational!
From expanding vocabularies to teaching math skills, it’s also a fun way to practice manners!
Milton & Goose Essential Play Kitchen
$649
Available in more colors
Milton & Goose Dairy Play Food Set
$48
Hape Chef’s Cooking Set
$24.99
Guidecraft Foundation Train Set C
When it comes to wooden train sets, the Foundation Train Set C from Guidecraft gives kids the opportunity to problem solve, thinking critically and build their confidence!
Made from smooth sanded beech wood and rubberwood, this 155 piece set is definitely an heirloom gift!
Guidecraft Foundation Train Set C
$349.95
Luke’s Toy Factory Educational Truck – 4 Pack
Made in the USA from 30% sawdust and 70% safe, certified, clean plastic, these transportation trucks from Luke’s Toy Factory are fun inside, in the water and even in the sandbox!
Luke’s Toy Factory Educational Truck – 4 Pack
$69.95
PlanToys Motor Mechanic
With the PlanToys Motor Mechanic, kids can pretend they’re changing their car’s oil, checkin it’s temperature or even jumping the battery!
Complete with tools, nuts and other gadgets, it’s particularly great for strengthening fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
PlanToys Motor Mechanic
$300
Guidecraft Wooden Notch Blocks
Guidecraft’s Notch Blocks take block play to the next level! Literally!
Wonderful for encouraging open ended play, they allow kids to build whatever they can dream both inside and out.
Guidecraft Wooden Notch Blocks
$449.95
Wonder & Wise 3-in-1 Playstand
The Wonder & Wise 3-in-1 Playstand can be a Drive Thru Burger Shop, Drive-Up ATM and Corner Lemonade Stand, making it just what kids need for hours of imaginative play!
Wonder & Wise 3-in-1 Playstand
$179
Loog Guitars Mini Acoustic Guitar
Made of sustainably sourced basswood and maple plywood, the 3 string Loog Mini Guitar is the perfect starter option! It comes with kid (and adult-friendly) flash cards that will have your home be rocking out in no time.
Loog Guitars Mini Guitar
$79
Available in more colors
PlanToys Pinball
With the PlanToys Pinball game, kids get to create their own fun while honing their fine motor skills, which will help them develop correct pencil grip and gain the coordination to button buttons, turn screws and more!
PlanToys Pinball
$100
The Crayons’ Christmas Book
In The Crayons’ Christmas by bestselling duo Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers, readers get to see how crayons and their families celebrate the holidays. This book includes real, folded letters from the Crayons that you can pull from their envelopes and read, games, punch-out ornaments, poster and pop-up tree.
Tiny Bee The Crayons Christmas
$30
Q Toys Wooden Solar System Puzzle
The Q Toys wooden Solar System puzzle is a fun way to teach kids about the solar system. It can also be used as a background for their own imaginative play!
Q Toys Wooden Solar System Puzzle
$69.99
Gardenuity My First Garden Set
Exclusive to The Tot, the new My First Garden by Gardenuity introduces the joys of growing to little ones. My First Garden comes with the tools needed to plant, grow, and harvest fresh vegetables and herbs, and it’s customizable based on where you’re growing. The kit includes fully rooted starter plants that are shipped from Gardenuity’s farm partner right to you. This set can provide fun for the whole family.
Gardenuity My First Garden Set
$98
Hape All Seasons House
This wooden home playhouse offers endless fun for little ones. The home features six rooms, moveable stairs, a reversible winter/summer -themed, and a solar-paneled roof for them to explore. The set includes master bedroom furniture, bathroom pieces, media room furniture and kitchen appliances.
Hape All Seasons House
$199.99
Olli Ella Dream Dinkum Doll – Cricket
Looking for an eco-friendly doll? Cricket is for you! The body is made from 100% cotton, while the shoes are made from biodegradable plastic.
Olli Ella Dream Dinkum Doll
$79
Twee Sidewalk Chalk
Non-toxic and super cool, Twee’s unique sidewalk chalk sets are just the thing kids need to create a driveway masterpiece or map out a challenging hop scotch path!
Twee Mason’s Planets Sidewalk Chalk
$39
Twee Dragon Egg & Scales Sidewalk Chalk
$22
The Tot Play & Learn Set
Created by an Early Learning Educator, The Tot Play & Learn Sets are designed with a child’s development in mind. Featuring a booklet packed full of teacher-recommended activities and six toys designed to help kids reach important milestones, there are nine age-based sets to choose from.
The Tot Play & Learn Set 4 – 5 Years
$150
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THE TOT PLAY & LEARN SET 5 – 6 YEARS
$100
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THE TOT STOCKING STUFFER GIFT SETS
If you’re looking for stocking stuffers, you’re going to want to know about our stocking stuffer gift sets! Designed with age, interests and price points in mind, there are loads to choose from!
THE TOT STOCKING STUFFER GIFT SET 3 – 5 YEARS
$50
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THE TOT STOCKING STUFFER GIFT SET 3 – 5 YEARS
$100
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THE TOT STOCKING STUFFER GIFT SET 3 – 5 YEARS
$200
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HART + LAND Organic Pima Cotton PJ Sets
Exclusively available at The Tot and made from organic pima cotton that’s free of chemicals like pesticides, formaldehydes and flame retardants, HART + LAND’s family matching PJ sets feature adorable original prints and are BUTTERY SOFT.
HART + LAND Toddler/Big Kid Organic Pima Cotton PJ Set – Painted Stripes
$50
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Available in sizes for the whole family
HART + LAND Toddler/Big Kid Organic Pima Cotton PJ Set – Hanukkah
$50
EXCLUSIVE
Available in sizes for the whole family
HART + LAND Toddler/Big Kid Organic Pima Cotton PJ Set – Vintage Christmas
$50
EXCLUSIVE
Available in sizes for the whole family
LEVI’S PERSONALIZED DENIM JACKET
A look that will never go out of style is now customizable. Exclusively available at The Tot, Levi’s is making personalized denim jackets that will literally have your tot’s name on it.
LEVI’S PERSONALIZED DENIM JACKET
$99
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Continue exploring
- Shopping for a girl? Check out our Tot Guide to Birthday & Holiday Gifts for Little Girls
- What We’re Reading: Here’s Why I’m Always Honest With My Kids