Sustainable gifts for kids — tips on brands and ideas

Sustainability in children’s gifts has several dimensions. The more of these a gift ticks, the better:

• Material: FSC-certified wood, recycled plastic, organic cotton, or natural paints instead of petroleum-based plastic and chemical paint.
• Lifespan: can the gift last for years? Wooden blocks and open-ended toys grow with the child from toddler to school age — and often literally last for generations.
• Can it be passed on: can it later be handed down or sold second-hand? Classics like DUPLO, LEGO and a good scooter or bike have a lively second-hand market.
• Production ethics: where is it made, how long is the supply chain, and under what working conditions? Made in Europe often means a smaller carbon footprint.
• Packaging: minimal, recyclable, or even reusable (a beautiful wooden box that becomes part of the game itself).

We consciously select brands and online shops that score highly on sustainability criteria. A short introduction to the most important ones:

Some categories are almost automatically more sustainable than others — whatever the brand:

• Board games and card games: years of fun in a small box, with no batteries, and easy to pass on. A good children’s game like UNO, Dobble or a cooperative HABA game will be played by the whole family for years.
• Wooden classics: blocks, puzzles and wooden vehicles literally last for generations. A wooden puzzle from Grimm’s or Little Dutch will outlive several children.
• Open-ended toys: toys with no fixed purpose or age indication. Stacking blocks, magnets or stones can be used differently by toddlers than by young children or schoolchildren — so they grow with the child.
• Books: almost endlessly reusable. Good picture books or children’s books are read, reread, passed on to younger brothers and sisters, or end up in a little free library (a Mini-bieb). And don’t forget the library — for endless reading pleasure without your bookcase overflowing.
• Good drawing supplies: quality colouring pencils, pastels and a sketchbook last for years and invite screen-free creative play. Consciously choose good-quality materials that last — more about this in our overview of lovely drawing supplies for children.

Second-hand children’s things change hands a lot in the Netherlands. A few places worth a look:

• Marktplaats: the biggest platform (the Dutch equivalent of eBay or Gumtree), with both delivery and local collection. Collecting locally is best — no postage, and you can look at the gift first.
• Facebook Marketplace and children’s-things groups: in every region there are active “children’s market” or “toys for sale” groups. Often friendly prices and quick replies.
• The vrijmarkt on King’s Day (Koningsdag): the yearly goldmine for second-hand toys, when anyone can sell their things on the street. Especially in big new-build neighbourhoods you’ll find plenty of lovely things for next to nothing — getting up early pays off.
• Kringloopwinkels (charity and thrift shops): they often have a children’s section with books, cuddly toys, board games and wooden toys.
• Give-away spots in the neighbourhood: little swap boxes or neighbourhood sharing boards where people give things away — especially (children’s) books.

What does well second-hand?

Not all toys are equally handy to buy or give second-hand. These categories almost always do well:

• DUPLO and LEGO (by weight or per set, often with instructions free to download online)
• Balance bikes, scooters and bikes — a child often grows out of these in 1–2 years. Well-known brands in good condition are popular second-hand, so it pays to keep your things tidy and store them indoors.
• Wooden toys (blocks, puzzles, train sets)
• Board games and children’s books
• Baby things that are only used briefly (bouncer, cot, playpen, nice sleeping bags)

Tips for selling

• Good photos: daylight, a neutral background, and mention what’s missing (parts, instructions).
• A realistic price: look at what similar items go for on Marktplaats. For popular LEGO/DUPLO sets you can often ask around 50% of the price new.
• Collection works more smoothly: postage quickly gets expensive for big toys. Local collection also saves hassle.
• Bundle smaller items: a “children’s books bundle” or “games bundle” sells more easily than separate items.

You don’t have to buy everything your child needs. Many baby things are only used for 1–2 years — a pram, car seat or learning tower then ends up in the shed or has to be sold. Renting is an attractive sustainable alternative: after use the product goes back to the rental company, is cleaned and goes on to the next family.

At Tiny Library you can rent premium children’s things through a monthly subscription — think of:

• Prams and pushchairs from Nuna, Joolz, Bugaboo and Easywalker
• Car seats from Maxi-Cosi and Cybex
• Cots, cribs and playpens
• Learning towers, Pikler climbing frames, children’s bikes and pull-along wagons
• Cargo bikes and baby carriers

Besides renting, Tiny Library offers three other sustainable options that not many online shops have:

• Rent first, buy later: handy for more expensive products you want to try out first — for example Stapelstein stacking stones or a Bugaboo pram. Try it for a few months, and if it really goes down well, you buy it.
• Buy refurbished: things that come back from rental or through the buy-back scheme are thoroughly checked and sold as refurbished — quality-checked and a lot cheaper than new.
• Buy-back scheme: bought something your child has grown out of? Tiny Library buys it back, gives it a second life, and you get part of your money back.

For older children (from about 6–7), a day out is often a really fun and much-appreciated gift.

What works well as a “day-out gift”:

• A day at a theme park (Efteling, Slagharen, Walibi) or a zoo
• Cinema tickets — tickets for Pathé (the big Dutch cinema chain) can often be bought separately or with a gift card
• A museum visit or a day at NEMO (the science museum in Amsterdam)
• An escape room with the family or a group of friends
• A cool workshop (for example creative, coding or dancing)
• Climbing centre, trampoline park, laser tag — active days out
• A concert or a show
• A “yes day” — a whole day on which the child decides (within reason) what happens

It doesn’t always have to cost much — a day out together can also be at home or close by:

• A film-night party with popcorn and a blanket
• A picnic in a lovely spot — take a rug, sandwiches and tasty treats
• Baking and decorating biscuits together — extra cosy if a friend joins in

Tip: a VVV Cadeaukaart (a Dutch gift card) can be used widely and is valid at Pathé, the Efteling, zoos and lots of days out. That way you give flexibility without making the choice for the child. For concrete gift ideas by age, see our gift ideas by age.

Give something the child needs or can really use. No extra things that need to find a place somewhere, but something that gets used every day — and that the child appreciates precisely because it was picked out especially for them.

A few ideas:

• A cool backpack for school or nursery — a brand like Jeune Premier lasts for years.
• A nice lunch box or water bottle — stainless steel lasts a lifetime and is BPA-free.
• A T-shirt or jumper with a print the child loves — a favourite superhero, animal or colour.
• A pair of wellies or cool shoes in a fun colour the child gets to choose.
• Pyjamas or a dressing gown that are just a bit more special than usual.
• A bike helmet or bike bag with a design they’re proud to wear.
• A gift card if you’re not sure — then the child or the parents choose something that really fits. A VVV Cadeaukaart is valid for 3 years and can be spent at 18,000 shops.

Tip: have a quick word with the parents first — what’s already on the wishlist for the new season?

Perhaps the most sustainable gift idea there is: give something that reaches further than the toy cupboard. A donation to a good cause costs the planet nothing extra, it’s meaningful, and it teaches children something lovely about giving and sharing from a young age. You can of course simply donate an amount on the child’s behalf — to a cause that suits them, whether that’s animals, nature or other children (think of KiKa, the Dutch children’s cancer charity, a local animal shelter or the Jeugdfonds Sport & Cultuur, which helps children join in with sport and culture). But there are also fun ways to combine a real surprise for the child with a good deed. Two favourites:

FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council — an international, independent certification organisation that certifies forests worldwide for responsible management. With FSC wood it is guaranteed that:

• No more trees are felled than grow back
• The forest’s biodiversity is preserved
• Local communities and workers get a fair deal
• Protected areas are left untouched

On packaging you recognise it by the small FSC tick with a little tree. For toys, FSC wood is currently the most reliable sign of sustainability — even though it isn’t a perfect system (like any label).

Not everything with “eco” or “sustainable” on the packaging actually is. A few common pitfalls:

• “Sustainable” without evidence: any manufacturer can put this word on the packaging without it meaning anything. Look instead for concrete, independent certifications — they do give a real guarantee. The most important are FSC (sustainable forest management), GOTS (organic cotton), Oeko-Tex (free from harmful substances), B Corp (socially and environmentally responsible business) and Cradle to Cradle (focused on reusability).
• Eco claim, plastic packaging: a wooden toy wrapped in 5 layers of plastic with blister packaging… the message doesn’t add up.
• “Natural materials” as a selling point: check what it actually means — is it natural wood, or just “wood-coloured” plastic?
• Cheap “sustainable” toys: real sustainability often costs a bit more. A €5 set of “bamboo” toys is usually not what it seems.

What suits which age? A short summary with links to our detailed gift ideas by age group:

• Age 0 and age 1: first books (Bambi, Nijntje — known in English as Miffy), comforters and cuddly toys, FSC wooden activity tables. Avoid electronic toys with batteries.
• Age 2 and age 3: wooden stacking blocks, simple puzzles, pretend play (a PlanToys kitchen set). Open-ended toys that grow with the child for years.
• Age 4 and ages 5–6: the Grimm’s rainbow, craft sets with natural materials, read-aloud books, first board games.
• Ages 7–8 and ages 9–10: LEGO sets (a long lifespan plus a second-hand market), books, board games, hobby things made of natural materials, experience gifts.
• Ages 11–12 and 13+: books, board games, experience gifts (a day out, a concert), a gift card for a sustainable online shop, second-hand vintage.