play tent for a 18month-old ?

Hi,

I hope someone can give me advice.

My niece is about 18 months old, and it occurred to me that a fun Christmas present for her might be one of those little play tents, that has a tunnel or whatever to scramble through, and a place she can sit inside of it.

Now, I'm not experienced with toddlers. Is this a good idea for a present for an active, physically preciocious (she walked early, etc), child of that age? Or should I wait a year or more longer?

Does anyone know where one of these things can be bought? I'm hoping not to spend heaps, because we don't do really expensive presents in my family (and my sister can't reciprocate with an expensive present, so don't want to make her feel pressured about it).

Any advice appreciated!

My mil bought Nina one of those last week, and it's fantastic. Nina puts her dolly's in there, and her tea set and it'll amuse her for hours! MIL bought an Elmo one, and it only cost $20. It's a little tent with a tunnel. I think she said she got it from Toys r Us?

YES YES YES!!

Alexzander loved his when he got it at about 20 months & still plays with it on occasion now. I got one that was a Huggies promotional one, but I'm sure you can find them in most toy stores. Try ebay, you might get a new or near new one for much cheaper.

We got a tent and tunnel set from toy world and I dont think it was very expensive. We dont use the tent parts at all because they are too flimsy for our toddler and too annoying to put up, but we use the tunnel all the time because it is quite robust and just flips open. I know you can get tents that are easier to put up then ours (they just kind of flip and twist open and dont have lots of little bits to put together). If they are pretty flexible without breaking and dont come apart easily then it makes a really good present. My nieces have a good tent and they use it all the time.

Ahh, that's good to know :)

I guess I'll have to make an expedition to ToysRUs or similar (a scary world I haven't yet ventured into...), and check our their tents.

Thanks!

Ours is the one where you just flip it open. Really easy to put up, collapse and move around.

Yep Darcy loves hers (now even more that she can run and hide in it and knows I can't get in there to get her out lol).
The tunnel gets rolled aorund, worn, hidden in, the teddys have 'school' in there, it's hilarious.

Dealsdirect has a couple of fisher price ones that look good & they are only $20 (tent+tunnel). Makes me wish I'd shopped around before I bought mine...

My 19 month old loves tents. He plays in one at my MIL's. My SIL has bought him one for christmas as he loves it so much. I am sure it will be a hit!

DS is almost 15 months and we got one a few months ago and DS loves it. He takes books, toys etc in there and loves hiding in there until you find him when he chuckles with laughter.

Izzy got one for her 1st birthday and loves it! She particularly loves crawling through the tunnel!! Have fun choosing one!