When little girls are brought into the world and their parents throw a party to celebrate, so often the gifts that are brought turn towards the stereotypical. Dolls or domestic toys that speak to activities like housework and child raising. And while there is nothing wrong with these pursuits at all, it is always surprising how baby boys are gifted things like cars and guns and Lego. The reality though that in this modern era there are plenty of other items, aside from the traditional, that can be given to a baby girl. If you have family or friends who are due to raise a little female, here are a few ideas that you might want to consider.

Reading is everything

When it comes to buying gifts for girls, or boys for that matter, there is very little that is better than a book. Studies have shown that it is never too early to start reading to babies and that children who were read to from a young age have an affinity for learning, a love for reading as they grow older and a strong bond with their parents or the people who read to them. We all know that books equate to knowledge and that knowledge is power, so why wouldn’t you want to be gifting a book. And the nice thing here is that it doesn’t really matter what the book it, it is more the act of reading that is important.

Go mobile

In our modern age when people talk about mobiles, the mind immediately turns to cellular phones. For babies though, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Mobile is the things that hang over cots to stimulate babies and keep their minds moving. The famous child psychologist Piaget was a strong advocate for mobiles, stressing how they were very useful in early childhood development. Girl babies will benefit from these devices as much as boy babies – and you can get them in gender neutral colours as well.

Do good for the world

Modern children are very aware of the damage that is being done to the world and the environment. They are very switched on to this and are far more active in campaigning for change than our generation ever was. So why not play to this and plant a tree or trees to mark the arrival of a new child. This is the kind of gift that will grow and develop alongside the baby, such that by the time she is ready to leave school there will be a large tree putting oxygen into the atmosphere to mark the occasion. It is not necessarily a gift that can be played with, but it might just spark a lifelong love of the environment and doing good for the world – and if that is what you achieve when you have done well.

Money honey

So often it is deemed inappropriate to give money to a baby girl. It is okay to deposit cash into an account for a boy, but girls miss out on this. It is nonsense. If you want to gift baby money – by opening an account or putting something into trust for them, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t. A cash bonanza at a young age turns into something very meaningful by the time the baby is leaving home, and a girl is just as appreciative of this as a boy is.