Birthday gift guide: choose something they will use

Ask three questions before shopping

What are they interested in this month? What do they already own? What will the household be comfortable storing, supervising or replenishing? These questions eliminate more unsuitable gifts than a long generic list.

Ask for a specific current clue: a footballer, vehicle, art material, game, character or kind of project. Children’s interests can change quickly, so recent information is more useful than last year’s favourite.

Choose a gift shape that fits the occasion

A project gives the recipient something to do over several sessions. Flexible materials support many short returns. A game creates a shared occasion. A collector item suits someone who has named the exact set or character.

Think about the moment after unwrapping. If the gift requires batteries, paper, sleeves, a device or adult assembly, include the essentials or state the requirement clearly to the parent.

Use a budget to improve the choice

Set a comfortable limit before comparing products. A focused smaller gift can feel more personal than a large set chosen mainly for size. Avoid urgency claims and check the seller, returns and exact edition.

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Use the specialist shortlist that fits the recipient

The ten ideas here cover one kind of gift each, from two upwards. For younger children, Le Toy Van's six-car wooden gift set suits a vehicle fan, and its sliceable wooden birthday cake turns the day itself into a pretend party they can replay.

For open-ended building, compare LEGO Classic bricks with MAGNA-TILES. Creative options run from drawing with the Crayola art case to Galt First Sewing. Learning Resources Botley 2.0 and ThinkFun Gravity Maze suit children who enjoy a visible challenge, and Dobble and Ticket to Ride: London turn the gift into a game for the party itself.

For a narrower interest, the specialist guides go further: the family-games guide compares more group formats, and the trading-card guide covers Pokémon starter and advanced sets. Make the final check against the current manufacturer marking and household needs.

Birthday ideas by what they love

If you know the one thing the birthday child talks about most, start there. Each of our interest guides lists checked toys by age, so you can match the theme and the age marking at once.

For builders, the LEGO sets for kids guide runs from DUPLO at 18 months to Technic at 7+, and children who play the game can build it with Minecraft toys from 6+.

Film and TV fans have guides of their own: superhero toys from a DUPLO Spidey set at 2+ to an Avengers: Doomsday Quinjet at 9+, and Pokémon toys from 6+ with an explanation of LEGO's SMART Play sets.

For a child who roars at everything, the dinosaur toys guide starts at 3+. For caring and dressing-up play, our guide to dolls for kids starts at 3Y+, and vehicle fans can go from a 1:16 digger to Hot Wheels tracks with car toys.

Which ideas suit which birthday

The age marking on the box, not the size of the present, decides which of these ideas belong at which birthday. Sorting them by the youngest age each one is marked for gives a quick way in.

If two of these are on the table for the same child, choose the one that gives them something new to do. A child who already owns a box of bricks will get more from a game or a craft than from a second building set, however much they enjoy the first.

A present that needs an adult, such as a robot that needs batteries or a sewing kit for a five-year-old, works best when the giver can be there to start it, or when the parent knows it is coming.

• Second birthday: the GT650 Iconic Cars Gift Set is marked 2+.
• Third birthday: add MAGNA-TILES and the sliceable birthday cake, both marked 3+.
• Fourth birthday: the LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box joins at 4+.
• Fifth birthday: the Crayola art case, Galt First Sewing and Botley 2.0 are each recorded as 5+.
• Sixth birthday: Dobble, marked 6+, can be played at the party itself.
• Eighth birthday and up: ThinkFun Gravity Maze and Ticket to Ride: London are marked 8+.