A Kid’s Gift Guide That Inspires
November 17, 2017
Can you believe the holidays are here? I don’t know about you, but the insanity in our homes are in full swing. The guest rooms are being prepared for all our out of town guests, the menus are being set, decorations have been pulled from the bottom of stacked boxes in the garage, and the kids are preparing their “wish lists” to Santa. Yep, the old dreaded “Santa’s Wish List” that us parents get to agonize and stress over year after year. If it is anything like our kids’ wish lists, it consists of items that are completely unreasonable, way too extravagant, on a waiting list for 5 years, or you need to be Jennifer Lopez to get your hands them. And many of the toys we (Santa) end up buying will be played with once and end up at the bottom of the toy box in no time. It is inevitable that our children end up with gifts that fail to keep their interest, do not stimulate, and end up in the donation box before next Christmas. Yes, with all the love and happiness during this time of year, sometimes Santa’s wish list seems to be a bit stressful. So this year, in order to make your Santa’s Wish Lists a success, we wanted to track down all the best toys that your child will not only love, but will inspire them to dream, create, and stimulate their busy little minds. Let’s get started!
Magna-Tiles: Manga-Tiles is an absolute FF favorite! With our children spanning the ages of 2 to 7, magna-tiles is one of the only toys that they all love to play with together. Magna-Tects develop fine motor skills as they start by stacking, making flat patterns, and 3-D Shapes, and with time, create complex creations. It is so fun to watch our oldest freckle teach the younger ones about shapes and help them to create and explore the through play! Each tile has magnets along it’s edges. The secret is the unique ability to attract even when the tiles are flipped. They always connect! This is a toy that will stand the test of time and provide your child hours of creating and imagining.
Bits Box: This is an awesome gift for all the future techies! Bitsbox is a learning system that teaches real coding.Each level introduces a new computer science concept with a set of crazy fun app projects that come every month! My son absolutely loves getting his box and spends hours creating all his new apps. It continues to build on their skills and teaches them concepts they definitely use as a student and beyond.
Goldie Blox: We are all about women and girl empowerment. Letting girls know there are more than just little kitchens and dolls to play with. I love the idea of teaching little girls who to use their brains and learn to build. With my sisters both being doctors, I think it is so important to show little girls they too can be interested in science and give them opportunities to explore those areas. Goldie Blox toys do just that. Cool toys as teaching them how to build a parade float or a zip line. This is a great gift for little girls for the holidays.
Moonlite: I love any toy that encourages kids to read. This a cool new way to introduce books to your kids in a fun and creative way. It comes as a mini projector that slips right on to your Iphone. It uses your flashlight to project story book images on to your child’s bedroom wall. You can buy the books that go with it and build yourself a little mini library. How proud will you feel when your kids start asking you to add more books to their library? I really love this idea and think it promotes imagination.
Antsy Pants: With the ability to build anything from a pirate ship that lets you sail the seven seas, to a castle that protects you from invading dragons, each kit encourages imaginative and limitless play. With easy-to-assemble, high quality snap and click poles and connectors, kids can build each kit with the help of a friend or family member. They have so many adorable covers to choose from; ice-cream truck, pirate ship, castle, etc. I love the lemonade stand and donut shop, as the kids not only learn how to build but also can explore the entrepreneurial skills as well.
HowToons: howtoons is a subscription box that delivers a brand new imaginative project kit to your front door every month. Every kit contains all the parts you need for the project, plus an accompanying signature Howtoons comic, a window into the science behind the build, and an interview with an inspiring professional in the field. We love it because it really promotes creativity, learning, and new ideas to explore.
Little Bookish Wardrobe: We took think that books can inspire. I honestly wish my parents encouraged me to read more when I was little. It’s such an amazing way for kids to escape and not have their heads stuck in an ipad or tv. Little Bookish Wardrobe is a subscription service where you receive an exciting and whimsical book that comes with 2-3 corresponding costumes that match the characters from the book. They have a chance to act out and play with their books in a brand new way.
The Doll Kind: Besides the fact that these dolls are adorably cute, they have the most amazing meaning behind them. Each doll comes with 10 tokens. These tokens are for your children to give out as an act of kindness. To share love and compassion. To lift others spirits and most importantly share kindness to one another. For each doll purchased, a doll will be donated by The Doll Kind to a child less fortunate.
We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week and happy shopping! Hopefully this gives you a few great ideas for your holiday shopping list.
Xo,
Katie, Carrie and Alison
Magna-tiles are at the top of my list for the kids this year! Such a fun toy that will keep them entertained for a while.
My son is getting magnatiles for Christmas! They are the best! His preschool has them and he loves using them to build his creations!
These are great ideas!! Finally, creative and different options that are just as appealing to kids, if not more, than the usual go-to options!
I think this will be really helpful next Christmas!!
We love Magnatiles! My kids spend so much time creating and building with them. I love how it stretches their imagination!
Great ideas, love these suggestions!
This was very helpful! Thank you!
My boys are grown. This helped me make decisions on gifts for niece and nephew
I love books for presents!! My 2 1/2 year old loves to be read to and also “read” to me!! If you can foster the oven of books early, I think it really helps!
Great advice!
I love the idea that this is things that can inspire and entertain at the same time. Thanks for sharing!
Great suggestions! Very helpful tips for the upcoming years.