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Great Gifts for Children
We all want the children in our lives to be thrilled with the gifts we give them! In our house, we love to scheme about gift-giving for Bambino, his cousins, and his friends. The most popular gifts in our house are those that encourage open-ended play. In other words, gifts that don’t prescribe HOW to play with them, but that encourage a child to use her imagination. Here are a few of our favorite gifts to give the children in our lives.
And don’t forget to stop by my shop for your own copy of The Nice List, my Christmas planner, stickers, or my other books, too. They make wonderful gifts.
Personalized Call with Santa & Rudolph
We aren’t having a visit with Santa this year, but he can still be part of your child’s Christmas experience. If your children are big fans of Santa (and who isn’t?), I have a fabulous gift for Christmas morning! Actors Pete and Jen of Theater Unmasqued will create a personalized audio file for your children featuring a conversation between Santa and Rudolph. They can customize the experience, too. Santa isn’t their only friend. They also know the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the toys in your child’s room, and more!
Personalized Crayons & Sidewalk Chalk
I absolutely love these! PastelloRosso will make a child’s name or other favorite shapes like Mickey Mouse and Star Wars figures. Crayons are always fabulous, too! PastelloRosso also does sidewalk chalk — always handy over winter break!
Grow-A-Frog
Are you the child’s parent? Then read on. If not, move along. Don’t ever give a child a pet unless you are the parent — you must be ready to care for the living creature.
OK. Disclaimer over.
We gave Bambino a Grow-a-Frog for his birthday, and it has been a wonderful gift! Actually, we gave him two tadpoles in a small container. Over the course of a few weeks those tadpoles sprouted legs and became awesome aquatic frog pets. This fall we gave them a larger habitat — a 10 gallon aquarium with a filter. They are such happy little frogs. They zip around their aquarium with great speed! And they are very interactive — much more so than fish.
When you purchase a Grow-a-Frog, they will assess the weather for an appropriate time to ship the frogs to your home. We started with two tadpoles and a 2 compartment Tube-Town. It was only once the frogs were full-grown and the water just didn’t stay as clean as I would like that we moved them to an aquarium. The people at Grow-a-Frog are very helpful, and they can help you troubleshoot any issues you might have, too.
Art Supplies
Sticker Subscription
I really wish this had been a thing when I was a child. I used to save my money to buy Mrs. Grossman’s stickers from the big rolls at a little shop near our home. But now they will come right to your door!
Mrs. Grossman’s has a monthly sticker subscription! Each month they send out an envelope of their cutie patootie stickers.
There are other sticker subscriptions as well depending on what your child’s interest might be. Pipsticks has options including several for adults. And for people who use planners, there are planner sticker subscriptions, too.
Xyron Create-a-Sticker Machine
This is the craziest contraption, but it works — and it is really fun! If you have a child who is into art or scrapbooking or journaling, this has a thousand uses. When you insert a piece of paper into one end of the machine and turn the knob, it comes out the other side with a thin layer of archival glue on one side — essentially creating a sticker. The adhesive is stronger than a glue stick, and it is great for gluing down heavier paper.
Water Colors & Paper
“Every child is an artist.”
Artists need good quality supplies. Frankly, most art supplies marketed for children are terrible. We love water colors. I don’t buy the tubes of pigment, yet, but I buy good quality palettes and, more importantly, really good watercolor paper. The paper is key — watercolors run and drip on paper that isn’t absorbent which is frustrating and can ruin a masterpiece. Buy good paper, an assortment of good watercolor brushes — there are different shapes and thicknesses which help paint all kinds of images — and decent watercolors. You never know what doors a good paintbrush will open for a child!
make An Art EveryWHere Kit
I always have a sketch book in my purse or bag, and when we are waiting — at a restaurant, at the doctor, wherever — we pull it out along with a pouch of colored pencils, and we draw. As with watercolor paper, paper quality matters. Blank books tend to be made with cheap paper that doesn’t take color well. Choose an unlined sketch book and a set of Crayola’s twistable colored pencils which never need to be sharpened. Tuck the sketch book and pencils in a cute zippered pouch, and you’ve created an art-everywhere kit.
Better yet! Give some art supplies that are zero-waste! I love Wisdom Supply Company. They take all of the work out of finding zero-waste solutions. They even have refillable dry-erase markers! I didn’t even know such magic existed!
Inspired Play
Costumes & Dress-Up Clothes
Now, I am not suggesting that you run out to the Disney Store and buy a princess costume for the child in your life. We do costumes that are a little more open-ended.
I’ve purchased wings from Etsy which have been bird, dragon, butterfly, and bug wings as the occasion required. Hats are awesome — Goodwill and vintage clothes shops are good sources for fun hats. Scarves, gloves, large pieces of silky fabric (hemmed), masks, glasses, necklaces, animal noses — these are all the foundation of great dress up play. And the less prescribed they are the more children will use their imaginations to create costumes of their own.
So, leave the pre-made costumes at the store and opt for a box of pieces — and then sit back and watch what happens.
Dinosaurs & Animals
Our child started with animals and then added dinosaurs to his imaginative play. Now both play — sometimes together, sometimes independently. When he was a toddler, we started with the Playmobil 123 sets with which he played constantly. We have the zoo and farm sets as well as a variety of forest animals. They are still beloved, and they sometimes mingle with the Legos and even appear in our family Nativity set on occasion.
When Bambino’s interest in dinosaurs piqued, we chose the Schleich dinosaurs. They are more expensive than some dinosaur toys, but they have lasted and lasted through many adventures including water play and exploring in the snow. Schleich makes all kinds of animals, so even if dinosaurs aren’t your child’s thing, there is something for everyone.
No matter what brand you choose, animals give children an opportunity to play out all kinds of scenarios whether alone or with friends. And it is through that kind of open-ended play that they learn so many critical social-emotional skills.
Games
We have been playing I Never Forget a Face since Bambino was three. I love all the different children’s faces from around the world, and Bambino gets very excited when his favorite faces are flipped over.
Another option: Pinhole Press’ memory game made with family photos is a fabulous idea! Kids love Memory, and to have familiar faces pop up — all the better!
Uno is a classic card game, and I was shocked at how quickly Bambino not only understood the game but learned strategy, too. Like I Never Forget a Face, it is about winning. But Outfoxed and Busytown are both games which emphasize teamwork. These games are great for children to play with each other, too — something that can be harder with competitive games.
Happy Families is a version of Go Fish with charming illustrations. Cahoots builds on math skills and cooperative gaming. We are just starting to get the hang of it with our second grader. I imagine great games ahead in a year or two. Our family loves the National Parks, and Trekking is amazing! We are learning so much about the National Parks system and love this game which is full of geography skills, trivial knowledge, and strategy. Sushi Go is fabulous, too, but it is a bit beyond our second grader. I have played it with adults, and think it would be fantastic for middle school and above.
Toys for Building & Imagination
As I said before, I like toys that encourage open-ended play. I want toys that ask kids to do the work of imagining and playing. Building and the subsequent playing that happens is a great example of open-ended play, and there are several brands which are staples in our house for that kind of play.
Lego
Let’s start with Lego. I love Lego! There are so many amazing sets to build just about anything, but you can also buy bricks individually or by the scoop at Lego stores or online. And let me say this: I am really annoyed by their more recent gendered marketing — and I completely ignore it. Bambino loves the Friends series of sets as much as he loves the Star Wars sets. So ignore their “girls sets/boys sets” nonsense!
These are some of our recent favorite builds:
PlayMobil
Maybe the child in your life isn’t ready for Lego yet — or maybe that detailed building isn’t their thing. Consider PlayMobil. Like Lego, PlayMobil is an investment, but it also inspires hours and hours of wonderful play in our house. We started with the PlayMobil 123 sets when Bambino was about 18 months old, and he still loves them. Now he has moved on to How to Train Your Dragon and other animals, but the basics remain the same: he can lose himself for hours in his PlayMobil sets.
I absolutely love the PlayMobil animal family sets which are very reasonably-priced and are so cute! We often have pandas and sled dogs hanging out with dragons and knights. Everyone gets along beautifully in PlayMobil play!
Here are some of our favorites from PlayMobil:
Other Great Building Toys
I believe in buying toys that last and are flexible enough for children to use them for years and years. Wooden blocks and Magna-Tiles are both that kind of toy. For blocks, I love Hape’s maple sets. They are beautiful, well-designed, and durable. We bought ours eight years ago, and they still get pulled out for dinosaur play or other adventures on a regular basis. The same is true with Magna-Tiles. They are such fun to build with, and they make a great start for play with all kinds of creatures and other toys.
As with so many things, there are other brands and cheaper brands, but you get what you pay for. Buy a smaller set of higher-quality toys like Hape or Magna-Tiles. They will last longer and will be more enjoyable!
Practical Gifts that are Also Fun
Of all of the items I have purchased for Bambino, nothing has been used more than the Art Easel. It has occupied a corner of our Art Room/Kitchen for years, and Bambino uses it daily for drawing, writing, games… it is inconstant use. We have an older version of the Hape easel which I bought on the Facebook Marketplace. It still looks great and is very functional. I highly recommend it!
My sister first introduced us to the Bath Bombs by SkyOrganics. They smell great, come in a bunch of fun colors, and they make bath time super fun! They also don’t irritate sensitive skin — something which isn’t true of all bath bombs. Stuffed animals inspire lots of imaginative play in our house, but storing them can be a problem. Or at least it was until I bought a bean bag chair. Now they are neatly tucked away inside the bean bag which is also a cozy place to read. The bean bag chair covers come in lots of sizes and patterns — and you could stuff any cover with stuffed animals depending on what suits your child’s decor and preferences.
Books. Books. And More Books
I give lots and lots of books. When giving a gift, I try to buy them in hardcover. I also look for gorgeous illustrations, and I search beyond the best seller list for a copy that not every child will have. These are a few of our latest favorites.
