We recently asked Baby Gizmo readers to share the best holiday gift they received as a child. We got more than 1,300 responses! Thank you to all of the readers who answered the question. We hope it brought back some childhood holiday magic for you. While we enjoyed reading all of the answers, here are some of our favorites:
The best gift I received as a child was my first bike. It was purple with a flower basket on the front and rainbow streamers on the handlebars! —Heidi Daily
The best gift I received as a kid was seeing my dad come home for Christmas when I was 10. He was in the Army, and that was the last Christmas I had with him before he passed. —Victoria Mayweathers
My dad built me a playhouse in the backyard. It had a window with curtains, a play kitchen full of food and dishes, and a table and chairs. —Shelly Jones
My parents didn’t have a ton of money, so I got one Barbie and I cherished her so much! I grew up with my brother and a male cousin, and whenever my parents gave us money to buy a toy to share, I was never able to get my Barbie clothes since the boys always got their way. My poor Barbie was always in her lingerie, but I loved her! —Lynda T.
My favorite gift was a box of puzzles. I used the box as a pot and cooked the pieces! —Stephanie
My favorite gift was a Walkman. I thought I was so cool listening to my music wherever I went! —Tara Collard
The best gift I ever got was a Playstation 2. My father ran everywhere in town and found it in a small toy shop. It was the last one, and the shop charged my father double the price. I’ll never forget it! —Eunyoung Jang
The best gift I received was my first Nancy Drew book. It opened up a whole new world for me, and I haven’t stopped reading since. —Sally H.
The best gift I received was a Barbie house. Although my parents couldn’t afford the official Barbie one, my dad built me one and surprised me at Christmas! My parents still have it. —Drew
The best gift I ever got as a child was a stuffed animal monkey when I was 3. He was perfectly situated under the tree wearing a cowboy hat for me to wear and a set of ivory and silver toy pistols. I was set! I am 41 now and I still have that monkey. —Jennifer Kreisler
My parents could never afford presents, but one day a Red Cross worker left a package for each of us with my parents. It was my first-ever Christmas present—a fantastic teddy bear! —Mick G.
When I was 5 or 6, I received a tea set and my own little table and chairs. As the youngest of eight, I finally had my own space that no one else could fit in. I remember drinking tea and gabbing with all my stuffed animals at that table for hours! —Michele Rodocker
The best gift I ever received would be the big empty box from one of the presents that my dad took us sledding in. —Amber H.
My baby sister was born four days before Christmas. She and my mom came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. My dad bought a new bassinet and put a big bow on it and she was our “Christmas present.” That was probably the best Christmas gift ever for my other sister and me! —Danielle B.
As a child growing up in a small village in Ukraine, the best present I remember getting is a pair of brand new pink boots from my uncle, who traveled to Germany and brought them for me. —Svetlana
The best gift ever was a homemade wooden drum that my dad lovingly made for me. Each of my brothers got one, too. Then he played “The Little Drummer Boy” on them and sang to us by candlelight. It was a very special time for us, as our family had gone through some major difficulties the year prior. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking of it. I was 16 then. I still have that drum. —Michelle T.
One year I got a Bedazzler. I’m pretty sure I bedazzled everything I owned. —Jessica
The best gift I received as a child would have to be a black sweater. The dress code at school was all black and I didn’t have a black sweater, so I was always freezing cold. I cried when I opened it because I didn’t have to be cold any more. —Kimber B.
The best gift I received was a ring from my grandpa. I started bawling, thinking I didn’t deserve such a beauty. —Allison B.
My grandparents bought all seven grandchildren 13-inch TVs one year for Christmas. It was the most exciting thing. —Kristen Martin
One year I got a teddy bear that was taller than I was. It was awesome! I would lay on it, sleep on it, and attempt to drag it around the house. I would eventually give up halfway, so we often had a gigantic teddy bear lying around random parts of our house. It was definitely the best gift ever. —Remington Richey
Baby nerd alert: I got a set of Kidcraft Encyclopedias that were my prized possessions! —Nina Cohen
It was a Lego monorail set. It was all I wanted that year, and it was given as the last gift. Everyone thought all the gifts had been given, but my grandpa pulled one more out from under the couch. I was so happy I skipped dessert to start working on it. For years I would put it together at Christmas, and in a few years, I’ll be able to put it together with my son. —Ben Eick
The best gift I received was a wooden knitting mushroom. I used it all the time and kept it, and I gave it to my daughter when she was 6. —Sommer W.
I received a unicycle when I was 9 years old. I rode it everywhere. —Kelly Olson
The best gift I received as a child for Christmas was a giant Tinkertoy set. My brothers and friends had a blast with them in the backyard for years. —Paul Arnold
It was my American Girl doll, Molly. I still remember how excited my grandmother was to give her to me. I picked her out of the catalog (pre-Internet days!) on Thanksgiving and could not be happier to finally see her on Christmas Day. —Kristen DiGregorio
The best gift I ever received was a toddler-sized red piano from my late grandmother. My son now has it in his nursery! —Shannon Peterson
I got a pink satin sleep mask when I was about 8. I felt like such a princess. I think I still have it, 30 years later. —Jackie R.
The best gift I received as a child was a handmade cork gun crafted by my grandfather. I was given this the Christmas after his death. He started it for me before his heart attack and insisted on going home from the hospital to finish it. He passed away two days later, leaving the gun finished and wrapped. —Jim Weaver
My parents had sat us down and told us it was going to be a small Christmas because money was tight. But on Christmas morning, Santa brought me a Power Wheel. It strengthened my belief in Santa because there was no way my parents could afford such a gift. —Jennifer
The best gift I ever got as a child was a telescope from my parents. I was very into astronomy at a very young age, so getting a telescope was a dream come true! —Jessica Cromwell
The best gift I ever received was a snow globe that I still have. I was at a white elephant party and I opened up this gorgeous snow globe. I was in love! I was also 5 and I didn’t understand that in a white elephant your gift can be stolen, which is precisely what happened. I was devastated as I was left with a really awful plastic robot gumball machine. The girl who originally stole it from me saw how upset I was and asked my mom if we could trade at the end of the party so that I wouldn’t be sad. I was over the moon. I was so stunned by her genuine generosity. It’s stuck with me my entire life. I still have the globe and we have a white elephant every year and talk about that story each time. It’s been a fabulous lesson for my littles! —Heather Dalton
It was a Pee-Wee Herman wristwatch. The face was Pee-Wee’s head and the band looked like his suit. It even had a special compartment for today’s secret word! —Kelly