<p>I am shopping for my friends son who will be turning 3. I was thinking of getting that. Little tikes things usually tend to be pretty sturdy but I wanted to see if anyone has used or seen it in person. He loves it when I pick him up and hold him up to throw basketballs at his dads hoop so I’m sure he’d love a little one for himself.</p>
<p>She also has a little girl turning 1 around the same time so I’m on the look out for gifts for her also. I’ll probably get her some clothes as she’s a growing young lady!</p>
<p>I thought about getting something similar to this for the two of them to share:</p>
<p>but my boyfriend said a picnic table isn’t an appropriate gift for a 1 and 3 year old and that they would rather have something they can actually play with… and that the 1 year old is too small… I guess he’s right on that but she’ll be getting bigger every day!! He said he thinks we should get the little boy a plastic golf club set. I have seen them at target and I think that would be a cute idea too. Anyone have any experience with those picnic tables and small children?</p>
<p>I was thinking I’ll probably spend about $40-$50 on each of them.</p>
<p>My son had the basketball hoop when he was 2, and they both shared a small picnic table similar to the one pictured- without umbrella. They were both great, and useful. I see your boyfriend’s point though, and I think if the little girl were turning 3, and the baby was the boy, the table would be more appreciated. (bad sexist thinking, but it’s true that our daughter liked and used the table more than our son.) My son didn’t sit much at that age. ;)</p>
<pre><code>One-year-olds love to push things as they are learning to walk. How about a little cart or carriage she can put other toys in and push around the room? The basketball hoop would be good for the little boy- and the girl will play with it too, when she gets bigger. The golf clubs are also a great idea.
</code></pre>
<p>My impression:
That’s too much to spend on the children of even your best friends because it’s going to set a standard that you might not be afford to keep up with as your many friends and family mutliply, and may be out of proportion with what the other friends of the child’s parents are able to afford. Yes, you can do this for these children, but will that standard hurt feelings in the future when there are more children and the same budget to spend on them?
I don’t think your boyfriend is being stingy, but trying to keep things in scale.</p>
<p>I think a shopping cart is probably nice for that age. I had one that I was little and I loved it. If I get one of those I will get one with the plastic food because mine had the cardboard box food (I’m amazed they still make the cardboard box food!) and it all got ripped apart or smushed as I ran over it. ;)</p>
<p>But oh, that little buggie that you sent is adorable!! I may have to get that instead of the shopping cart! I can just imagine her son playing with the baby!! lol!! </p>
<p>I don’t think that’s setting a standard on what I (or anyone else) is expected to spend on her kids… I guess I could spend less in that I wouldn’t want to offend anybody but I know she’d be doing the same thing for my kids. Heck, the christmas present her and her hubby got me this year was over 100 dollars by itself… and the one from her kids was probably 30 bucks or so… Obviously they don’t spend that much on everyone for the holidays but we’ve been best friends over half our lives and we’re like sisters. We vacation together each year and everything. </p>
<p>I’ll forget about the table… He’s right she is too small for it. That isn’t the one I wanted to get them anyway… the one I saw was only about 30 dollars or so. Maybe I could just do the shopping cart or the baby buggie for the little girl and the basketball net for the little boy. And maybe the golf clubs from him.</p>
<p>My nephew had pretty much that basketball hoop when he was that 2-ish (he’s always been pretty big for his age…runs in the family). He loved it.</p>
<p>ellemenope, They have that toy! Haha! I had something similar when I was younger… there have been variations of that one around forever it seems!! Last year for his birthday I made him an art kit. We got him an easel at Ikea for only 10 dollars and I filled a box with a smock, sidewalk chalk (easier for him to hold and use on the chalkboard side of the easel) and those crayola tadoodles in marker and paint. She was so “excited” by that gift she said her son “could not wait” to bring his easel and paint over to Aunt Fendergirls house and make a masterpiece. He has not brought them over however last time he was here he did draw Aunt Fendergirl a mural in crayon on her bedroom wall! That’s my little aspiring artist, lol! (I can laugh about it now… but at the time I was pretty upset. Him and I cleaned it off together with baking soda and two damp rags… haha!)</p>
<p>Her son is really big into Thomas the Train right now. She just picked him up a TON of Thomas stuff on craigs list for only about 30 dollars. He now has like 10 different trains and a ton of track. I was amazed how much she got. That stuff is expensive! We took him to toys r us last year for his birthday when he turned 2 to get his birthday balloon and she told him he could pick out a toy and he picked this tiny little Harold the Helocoptor (Or harold the hetotoptor as he said at the time) and the darn little thing was like 10 bucks just by itself!</p>
<p>If i do something like the basketball hoop for the 3 yr old and a pushable thing for the 1 year old from my boyfriend and I, that doesn’t seem like it’s too over the top… does it? i mean, it’s from two people. I might pick up that golf set that he was referring to… I think it was only like 5 dollars or something like that.</p>
<p>Please don’t get them that popper - or anything else that makes noise. I hated those things!</p>
<p>Up till age 5 or so both my boys loved all the play house toys. But I like the basketball toy too. My kids would have liked the picnic table too.</p>
<p>fendergirl, when my oldest son was little (don’t recall his exact age) I bought a picnic table for him. He viewed it as a toy, so I think it is a great gift! He crawled under the table, practiced getting on and off the bench in a play fashion. It was novel for him. Our kids used that picnic table for years. It got a lot of use. We kept it indoors!</p>
<p>If you want to see more play fun than a picnic table, listen to your boyfriend, but my older son did view his picnic table as a toy when he first got it. Once the novelty wore off, it was his little table for crafts, eating snacks, etc. It got more use than many other things that I bought for my kids.</p>
<p>The basketball hoop is great. the little Tykes slide was always a favorite. We used a small table and chairs for years. The corn popper roller thingie was a favorite (noise never bothered me much!)</p>
<p>I like both the table or basketball hoop as each could use that- but I also would check to see how much room they have, the bigger little tykes things take up a lot of room.
( we only recently passed on the mini van & play house)
;)</p>
<p>fendergirl, I’ll echo n.e.mom…our d & s used the picnic table as described…over/under, etc. We also kept inside and it was used for years–little friends would come over and we’d use for snacks, projects, tents, etc. Frankly, with my S, it was safer for him to be there than at normal table & chair, which he always fell out of.<br>
Also liked hoop, just not used as long as table. </p>
<p>One thing about the golf set–it was a weapon for my S. A number of plants (and sometimes his sister!) took a beating with the golf clubs…</p>
<p>And, have to admit, even though my D & S are in college, we still have the Little Tykes wagon! In recent years, have schelpped firewood dropped in driveway to storage, coolers at beach, etc. That thing is indestructible…</p>
<p>And…S still has some Thomas train stuff in storage. The Thomas phase was a good five+ years at our house …</p>
<p>I think the little picnic table is a great idea. We had one and it was very useful. It doesn’t matter what a one-year-old thinks about the value of a birthday gift. (There will be plenty of things to enjoy on the actual day.) The picnic table or the Little Tykes wagon will be used for several years by both of the kids.</p>
<p>My S and his friend used that little tykes basketball hoop for a lot of years. When they were young we had it on our deck. As S grew it got put in a corner of the backyard where it sat. When my S was 8 we built a pool. My S and his friend refound that old basketball set and put it at the edge of the pool. Many a happy day was spent with that set.
We still have the little tykes picnic table and the little tykes house and easel in our yard. We might even still have the little slide. The little slide was also a toy that got reused as the kids got older as a “pool” slide.
The picnic table might be nice with a pack of playdough. You can make your own. Or with some fingerpaint.</p>
Last year for his birthday I made him an art kit. We got him an easel at Ikea for only 10 dollars and I filled a box with a smock, sidewalk chalk (easier for him to hold and use on the chalkboard side of the easel) and those crayola tadoodles in marker and paint. She was so “excited” by that gift she said her son “could not wait” to bring his easel and paint over to Aunt Fendergirls house and make a masterpiece. 
He has not brought them over however last time he was here he did draw Aunt Fendergirl a mural in crayon on her bedroom wall! That’s my little aspiring artist, lol! (I can laugh about it now… but at the time I was pretty upset. Him and I cleaned it off together with baking soda and two damp rags… haha!)</p>