[name_m]Hi[/name_m] guys, I’m not a Momberry but I thought I’d ask here as it’d garner more responses than elsewhere. Yes, I know it’s only [name_f]October[/name_f] but I don’t earn much so I am saving up now and buying presents as each payday passes to make sure I buy everyone something. 
My nephew will be 20 months old at [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] and I am stumped as to what to buy him. I thought I had it sorted with [name_u]Mickey[/name_u] Mouse stuff, but he has now lost interest in it and Peppa Pig is his thing right now. His name is also [name_u]Noah[/name_u] so I thought of a [name_u]Noah[/name_u]'s Ark or something of the sort, but he was given a few arks when he was born so that’s out too.
I would ask my sister but I want to keep it a total surprise so that’s where you Momberries come in. 
If anyone can help, that’d be great. So, he likes Peppa Pig, he has a lot of Toot Toot toys (which aren’t being used right now, but I suppose they will be as he grows older), he has drawing stuff but loses interest in that quickly, and his biggest love is music. Whenever music comes on, he’s away dancing to it. But I can’t exactly buy a 20 month old an iPod… I thought of maybe buying a child-proof DVD player and then a stash of Peppa Pig DVDs and educational sing-a-long DVDs, but then I thought I was being silly with that. Are there any toys out there that play DVDs or you can plug your phone in to play music? I have no kids myself being 18, so I am not sure where to start.
If you could tell me what you bought your own son (or family member/friend) when he was around this age, that’d be good too. I am after all ideas but my price range for him is probably only £50, although I can go up to £100 if I’m feeling generous. I know I went on a bit here but I wanted to give some sort of hint as to what he likes/has. Thank you all!
Beginner musical instruments are great at this age. You can get a starter ukele (around $30) or a harmonica, or a nice hand-drum. You can always include some nice noise-canceling headphones for his parents. I wouldn’t go for the kid-specific instruments as these are usually overpriced for low quality and it can be frustrating to get them to make music. [name_m]Just[/name_m] get regular starter instruments instead.
If you wanted to spend more, you could look around and see if there is a music class in his area for kids his age. I would think this would require talking to his parents about it, though, but many of those classes offer gift certificates so they can choose the schedule later.
Off in a different direction, our son loved ride-on toys at this age. This is great if there is someplace he can ride them. Someone gave him a toddler-sized trampoline, that was a big hit and also wonderful for us so he could burn off energy on rainy days. Tunnels are lots of fun, too, and they do collapse which is nicer for folks with smaller spaces.
My daughter really loved her instruments at that age, and still does. A child sized ukulele is a great suggestion, or a piano. You could also get him some children’s music CDs and a child friendly CD player.
I think your best option may be to look into local music centers for children (or even gym centers or mommy and me places, which do tons of music) and get a gift card for classes there. Especially if he’s not in day care and his mom, dad, or a nanny/caretaker is home with him all week, but even if his parents work they’d probably like to do an evening or weekend class with him.
Thank you both. 
@tarynkay: He was bought a small set of plastic instruments a year or so ago but I think they drove my sister crazy that she gave them to my mum to have at her house, lol! I like the idea of a ride-on toy or some sort of indoor trampoline, he loves to sit on this little plastic quad bike and take it to the top of the slope and wheel back down it, so I know another one of those will be a hit. I will have to give Amazon a quick once over and see if they have anything good on there, although it may be better to go to a store like Toys ‘R’ Us… Not too sure.
@leadmythoughts: My sister only works 3 times a week (my nephew’s father works 5 days) so it would seem a good idea to see if there are music classes for her to take him to once a week. I am not sure on her thoughts on that though, but I won’t know until I try! I am also going to hunt down a children’s music player because I know that’ll be a big hit.
Maybe without letting on that its a gift idea, just ask your sister if she’s taken him to any music classes or say your friend with a similarly aged child took a class somewhere and ask if your sister looked into it, so you can get an idea, if she says “oh he’d love that” or “I was thinking about signing up at XYZ for a class”.
I know this is kind of a random idea but my older boys were obsessed with the toy lawn mowers at preschool when they were around that age. I think the [name_m]Little[/name_m] Tikes one is going to be under our tree this [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] for Zachy (and [name_m]George[/name_m], later).
Thank you. I work in a retail store which just happens to be the biggest toy retailer in [name_m]Britain[/name_m], which is a plus, so I’ve spent a considerable amount of time looking at the stock and I have found some musical toy for [name_u]Noah[/name_u]. @mill1020, he has a push along vacuum and a cleaning set with brush and mop, and he loves it (he also loves hitting people with the mop…) I think I’ll look into a lawn mower too.