Top Gifts Under $20 for 4 Year Old Girls

If you have a 4-year-old daughter or a 4-year-old girl on your Christmas list, you might be wondering about great (and affordable) gift ideas for this Christmas season. The following are great gift recommendations for less than $20. Not one of the recommendations involves lights, noise, or talking electronic toys. I've reached my limit of noisy toys. I even cancelled our cable because it was too much of a distraction for me, so I definitely look for toys that encourage creativity and imagination. The following recommendations include toys that will engage your children and allow them to develop their creativity.

Disney Store-Boxed Figurine Sets

Currently, The Disney Store has several packaged sets of figurines available. For $12.50 (or 2 sets for $20!) you can get about eight figurines for one particular theme or movie. We have already purchased the Finding Nemo figurine set which includes Nemo, Nemo's father Marlin, Dori, Bruce (the shark), Pearl, Squirt (the sea turtle Marlin met on the East Australian Current), Tad, Bubbles, and Gill. Nemo fans are sure to love this figurine set. We love Finding Nemo and have been watching it for a few years, so once we opened the figurine set my daughter busily began narrating the movie script she had long since memorized.

The Disney Store also sells two different figurine sets for the movie Cars. They also sell a Disney Princess figurine set which features eight Disney princesses including Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle, Mulan, Jasmine, Snow White, and Pocahontas.

A figurine set can provide hours of entertainment for 4-year-old girls and allows them to be actively-engaged and develop their creativity. Parents will certainly love figurines because they provide a nice change of pace from the usual, noisy electronic toys. Unfortunately, The Disney Store does not currently offer a Monsters, Inc. figurine set, and we are disappointed because it is our family's favorite movie.

Manhattan Toy Company Plush Theatre

The Manhattan Toy Company sells a miniature puppet theater that any 4-year-old girl is sure to love. The stage is an upright, soft cloth theatre that is about 14 inches long. I have seen the theatre sold at Barnes and Noble and Borders, and it is also sold at many local specialty toy stores. Target sells a theatre made by The Manhattan Toy Company that is similarly-sized but just has a different color scheme than the one available on The Manhattan Toy Company's website. The style sold at Target is priced the same at just under $20. The finger puppets that are intended to be used with the theatre cost $20 for four finger puppets. There are a variety of themes including Little Red Riding Hood and Old McDonald. The boxed set titled "A Day Back in Time" features four caveman-type finger puppets that bare a striking resemblance to the Flintstones!

The best secret I've discovered is that Target sells a few sets of finger puppets at an incredible price! For $7.99, you get three finger puppets which are somewhat cheaper than the themed sets sold at other retailers. Target also sells larger individual hand puppets for $7.99 and $9.99 each. The Chopper Chums-Shark is sold on The Manhattan Toy website for $15. Target sells a hand puppet shark that looks nearly identical to this one for $9.99! These products are all still made by The Manhattan Toy Company but are much cheaper than the line of puppets sold at other retailers. This less expensive line of hand and finger puppets is sold under the label Pappa Geppettos. Just look at the back of the packaging and you will see it is manufactured by The Manhattan Toy Company. The only advantage to the prepackaged themed sets that include four finger puppets (retailing for $19.99) is that they come with additional materials. The Little Red Riding Hood set we purchased came with a short version of the story in four languages in addition to English. You could easily buy either the boxed sets of finger puppets (which come in a wider variety) or the ones available at Target. You can also use homemade finger puppets that you and your child make or even sock puppets!

Melissa and Doug

The next toy recommendation will probably evoke a bit of nostalgia. Melissa and Doug sells a line of wooden, classic toys that don't require batteries! One of our favorites is the Magnetic Dress-Up Princess, which consists of a wooden doll and separate magnetic dresses, shoes, and accessories that you can mix and match. Another favorite is the Pizza Party, which is a wooden pizza that comes with individual toppings that velcro in place. Melissa and Doug also sells musical instruments that are a big hit with 4-year-olds and allow for maximum artistic expression. The Melissa and Doug toys will quickly become heirloom pieces and can be saved for the next generation.

If you are looking for age-appropriate toys for 4-year-old girls check out some of the above suggestions. With the abundance of talking, electronic toys on the market, your child surely has enough of them already (or will be getting them from Santa). So, pick something timeless that will last through several children, can be enjoyed over and over again, and doesn't require batteries!