Its that time of year again when you are probably starting to think of what you are going to get your kids for Christmas or you are possibly even finishing up your Christmas gift shopping. I recently asked my kiddos what they were wanting for Christmas and both of my kids had a couple things in mind, things they have wanted for years that they haven't gotten yet, but otherwise they said that they didn't really need anything because they loved the things they already had and didn't need more of them.
Our kids play all day every day. They can spend hours playing with only one or two toys and then typically play that way for days on end. We are very minimal with toys and the toys and items we have purchased for our children over the years have been very intentional and planned out. Our children do not lack in toys and I have never once heard my children say "I am bored." Having less toys and being intentional about the toys and items we do have in our home has truly been such a gift over the years. I am truly so thankful for the peace we have in our home regarding toys. As I was thinking about all the gift guides I see around, often full of things just to have something to buy, I wanted to provide something different. I wanted to provide an intentional list of tried and true gift ideas (with a few wish list items) that my children play with nonstop that I truly think every child, when given the chance to play, will love for years to come.
I have compiled a list of gift ideas for girls and boys in the 6-10 year age bracket, for kids in general (these are our absolute favorite toys), for the creative, for stocking stuffers, and picture and chapter book recommendations. These ideas make great Christmas presents, Easter basket gifts, and birthday presents.
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Gift Guide for Kids
These ideas are hands down the best, most used toys in our home. If my kids aren't outside using their scooters or playing catch they are inside and have at least one, if not all three of our building sets out.
1. Wooden Blocks: These Melissa and Doug wooden blocks are the best. These are one of those things we will hold onto for our future grandchildren. They are so well made and are played with many times a week.
2. Picasso Tiles: Magnetic tiles are one my kids favorite toys and have stood the test of time. This particular set has withstood hundreds of hours of play and knocking down and have been turned into everything from castles to nativity scenes to present boxes and more. So much fun.
3. Knex: These were my husbands childhood favorite toy and I am so glad that he saved all of his sets because my kids build something out of these every single day. Knex are by far superior to Legos in my husbands opinion. They are so versatile and can be used to build so many things whether from directions or on your own.
4. Kinetic Sand: The kids received their first little treasure chest of kinetic sand 3 years ago from a friend and that Christmas we bought them a 2 lb bag of it to share and it has provided hours upon hours of fun. Once we got Kinetic Sand we haven't bought or made playdough. Just the other day my kids spent 6 hours straight playing with Kinetic sand and turned around and did the same thing the next day.
5. Scooter: We love our Razer Scooters and have several of them so that when friends come over they have some to play on to. They have stood the test of time and all the zigging and zagging outside and in our unfinished basement.
6. Scooter Board: Does anyone remember Scooter Board day in gym class? It was always my favorite day when we saw the Scooter board cart out. My kids absolutely love theirs.
7. Toss & Catch: This is another one of those things that is a major blast from the past moment. This was one of my favorite things to play as a kid and now its one of my kids favorite toys to play with outside.
Gift Guide for Girls
Girly, imaginative, Jesus loving, old soul. That is how I would describe my sweet daughter and all of these gifts are things she has or would love to have. In a world that is pushing girls to be "older" than they are and not valuing them in their childhood, I am on a mission to protect my daughter for as long as I can. So when she wants dolls and hair bows and has a desire to own enough Prairie style dresses for every day of the week and then some that is what you will find her with.
1. Prairie Dress: Like I mentioned above, my daughter is on a mission to own a prairie dress for each day of the week and this is the next one on her list. She loves all things Prairie and Colonial times.
2. Velvet Bows: I love how simple yet sophisticated these sweet velvet bows are. They take you from little girl to little big older little girl haha.
3. Bow Sets: Adding bows to braids or cute little piggies or just in your hair to accessorize is my favorite for my daughter. This simple little set is just darling.
4. Bible Cover: If its floral and cute it checks the box for both me and my daughter and this Bible cover is the cutest. Our son uses his Daddy's old Bible Cover and so I would love to get my daughter one of her own to use for her Bible.
5. Sticker by Number Words of Jesus: We LOVE these Sticker by Number books in our house and when I saw this Words of Jesus one I knew that my daughter needed it. They are perfect for that 7-12+ year old range.
6. Purses: Our son bought these for our daughter last year for Christmas and she carries one every time she goes to church. She loves picking out which one goes with her outfit and shoes and its the sweetest little purse for a couple little trinkets. It makes the perfect little accessory.
7. 18 Inch Doll: I remember the first time my daughter saw an American Girl. From that moment forward she was determined to get a "doll with hair" as she called it and now she has 3. While the ones she owns are from Walmart and Target, she was helping me pick out one to share with you and she absolutely loved the outfit on this one.
8. Instant Camera: This is a wish gift for my daughter. Many of her friends have them and she loves looking at the sweet pictures they have taken together. Another one of those blast from the past moments for me as I remember LOVING taking pictures with ours growing up and watching the picture show up after a few minutes.
9. Roller Blades: Another wish gift for her is Roller Blades. She is determined to learn how to use them without falling. I also suggest investing in a good set of elbow and knee pads too.
Gift Guide for Boys
Can't forget my strong, honorable, rough and tumble little guy. If it moves, shoots, or builds you can almost guarantee he will love it. These gifts are something I feel like all boys request or show an interest in at some point in their lives.
1. Remote Control Car: This little car is the BEST one that we have had and it is used like crazy in our home. It's my sons favorite toy of all time. This little guy zooms around and twists and turns all around. If you have tried purchasing reasonably priced RC cars then you know they tend to break quickly, but this one has been used hard for well over a year and is still going strong and is an amazing price too.
2. Hot Wheels Track: We purchased the basic set of pieces for him and bought a simple curve set and he uses it to build is own tracks all through the house. He is requesting more because he is determined to make a track throughout the whole house. I love that he is not restricted to only the few twists and turns in "premade sets". He pairs them with all his Hot Wheels cars that were his daddys and he has an absolute blast.
3. Lego Creation Set 1 - Set 2 - Set 3: In addition to our large collection of basic Lego Pieces, my son loves these little Lego Creation sets. He creates the cars with the directions and then he loves the challenge of using the pieces to build and create his own cars.
4. Rival Nerf Gun: We absolutely LOVE the new Nerf BALL guns. We have replaced all of our dart guns with the ball guns and love how easy they are to use and love that the balls do not break constantly or get jammed like the darts would. The Rival Nerf balls make the most perfect stocking stuff too.
5. Light Sabers: Light Sabers have been at the top of my little guys wish list for a while. He watches select Mandalorian and Star Wars episodes with his daddy and plays it all day long.
6. Drum Pad: This is another one of those wishlist items and have heard wonderful things about this set. My little guy turns everything into a drum and as I am typing this he is drumming away to the music in his bedroom at rest. He would love to learn how to play the drums and I think this would be a great beginning system for him.
7. Real Tool Set: If you have a kiddo who loves to tinker, giving them a REAL tool set is a wonderful option. We are always trying to track down our own personal tools when our little guy takes off with them so we are thinking of getting him his own tool set.
Gift Guide for the Creative
If you have a creative in your house like I do, you will want to add some of these gifts to your list.
1. Origami Set: My daughter loves making paper crafts. We have never tried origami before. This set looks like the perfect set to get started. It comes with an idea book and paper.
2. Rainbow Loom: How many rainbow loom bracelets are too many? Asking for a friend. This is the perfect activity for creative hands to do. They are so fun to make and perfect to give as gifts.
3. Perler Beads & Perler Bead Plates: I wasn't so sure about these when we first got them, but my kids have come to LOVE creating with perler beads. We are almost out of the beads we first got and they have been begging for me. They love being creative with their patterns with these and love making them special for people in their lives and giving them as gifts. The big plates allow you to make any shape you want, but they do have pre-made shapes that are perfect for kids as well.
4. Embroidery Kits: My daughter got several of these beautiful embroidery kits for her birthday and she loves them. These would be so fun to get for yourself and your daughter or son to do together.
5. Felt Animals Sewing Book: This book is full of patterns to make the cutest little felt animals. I think its definitely meant for older girls with help from an adult to make them, but oh my goodness do they make the cutest gifts and are truly a great beginning sewing project for kids, especially when following a pattern.
6. Needle Felting Kit: Needled felting looks like so much fun and I think my daughter would love it. This looks like a great start up kit.
7. Weaving Loom: This has been a wishlist item for a while. I have heard great things about the Melissa and Dough Weaving loom and I love how it is wood.
8. Rainbow Scratch Paper: My daughter loves these rainbow scratch paper activities and requested some paper to make her own. I love how this set comes with little stencils.
Stocking Stuffer Ideas
Stockings are always so much fun to put together. Like I mentioned before, we don't just buy things to buy and the same thing goes for our stockings.We are very intentional and typically stocking items end up being only 3 or 4 things. These are some of my top picks.
1. Playing Card Boxes: We have put one of these in the kids stockings the last few years to hold their Redemption cards, a Christian "trading card" game. As they collect cards they need places to store them and these little boxes are perfect. They would be great for storing any standard sized card game.
2. Card Games: We LOVE card games in our house. Its one of my favorite things to do with my kids. This is a link to all of our favorites.
3. Washi Tape: My kids love having their own tape for their crafty projects and giving them some they can use without having to ask is a win win in my opinion.
4. Water Bottle: These are hands down our most favorite water bottles that we have every owned. They are leak proof, have lasted us years (unlike the couple months of everything else we have ever tried), they stay cold for quite a while, and I don't have to worry about anything yucky getting on the part that you drink out of.
5. Popper Fidgets: I don't know if you have ever used a popper, but quite honestly I love them just as much as the kids. They are like reusable bubble wrap and who doesn't like to pop bubble wrap right. My kids love to fidget with these when we are reading aloud.
6. Chomps Meat Sticks: Snacks are always a great idea to include in stockings. We have recently found these Chomps meat sticks and love that they are filling and don't have all the nasty junk that most processed snacks have. These are meat sticks I can feel good about feeding my kids.
7. Redemption Cards: Redemption Cards are a Christian trading card game that my husband introduced to our kids and they are obsessed. Not only do they get to have fun playing a game their daddy grew up playing, but while they have fun they are learning all about different people in the Bible and reading truth and Scripture on each card.
8. Stationary Set: I saw this sweet stationary set and immediately knew my daughter would love it. How stinking cute are those sweet florals.
9. Sun Art paper: I have never used this before, but have several Sun Paper kits tucked away from a stash of homeschool stuff we were gifted and I am excited to gift them to my kids. What a need concept.
10. Kanoodle Game: I have seen this game recommended over and over again and definitely want to get it for my kids. We love games, especially those which require a bit of thinking.
11: Slingshots: I love that this set comes as a two pack so if you have two kids they can each have one or even if you only have one that you can use it with them or even yet you could have one for inside and one for outside. These are a great price too.
Gift Guide-Picture Book Recommendations
Picking only a few books to recommend is HARD friends. The one thing you will not see me be a minimalist in is books. Most of these books are new to us this year and I am excited to recommend them to you and think you should own each one.
1. Farmhouse: I wasn't sure what I thought of this book the first time I read it, but it is now at the top of my list. The thought of a home seeing all different generations of a family and then some is just so touching to me.
2. A Hat for Mrs. Goldman: If I had to pick a top favorite book of the year it would be this one. It is the sweetest story of friendship that gifts from the heart are so so special. Ahhh I just love it so much.
3. Home in the Woods: This is the sweetest story of learning that no matter what circumstances you find yourself in, you can make the most of it. Home is not a building but the people you spend time with and that you love and are loved by.
4. The Night Gardener: This was one of my kids favorite books. Imagine looking out your window and seeing a tree transformed into an owl with more creations in the days to come. This book is the sweetest story of not only topiaries being transformed, but peoples lives changed in such a powerful way.
5. Finding Narnia: This is the only book on the list that we have not personally read, yet, but I have heard so many wonderful things about it. We love the Narnia books and are so excited to read this one.
6. Hello Lighthouse: This is the sweetest story of a lighthouse keeper through the seasons.
7. The Honeybee: I am not sure if I love the text or the pictures more in this sweet book. I love how we get a peek into how bees "work" throughout the seasons.
8. Finding Winnie: This is the true story of the bear named Winnie. We have come to love Winnie the Pooh over the years. I loved to hear about where the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh came from.
9. The Complete Brambly Hedge Collection: This is the absolute sweetest collection that I think every book shelf should hold. The stories of friendship and adventure are woven throughout every page with beautiful illustrations. It makes me want to be part of the mouse city. Does anyone else ever feel like that when reading?
Gift Guide-Chapter Book Recommendations
Keeping new books or books my daughter hasn't already read 3 times in our house is nearly impossible. She LOVES to read and can go through several chapter books a week. We also have several read alouds going at a time in our house so we have read through our fair share of books over the years and I have loved every single one. These are must reads in our opinion.
1. Heartwood Hotel Series: Book 1 - Book 2 - Book 3 - Book 4: This is my absolute most favorite series ever, hands down. It reminds of the Brambley Hedge series so much, with the sweet animal characters. Each book is a sweet story of friendship, courage, and community.
2. Sophie Mouse Collection: These books are a wonderful option for your beginning readers. They are short and simple and again are a tale of sweet friendship among mouse friends. I seem to have a theme of loving books with mice. And as long as the mice stay in the books we are good to go. haha
3. The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls Collection: We LOVED this 8 book series. If you love Magic Tree House or are familiar with them then you will love these. The kids find ancient scrolls and are transported back to Biblical times where they get to meet key Bible figures.
4. The Very, Very Far North: I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The author has a way of making the characters relatable in such a humorous way. Another tale of friendship and adventure that will leave you wanting more. We are excited to try out the second book in the series.
5. Gooseberry Park: When we finished this one I immediately looked up to see if there were more just like it and am excited to check them out. We had so much fun reading this book and am so thankful for a fun book that was clean and appropriate for my kids.
6. Imagination Station Books: These books, like Magic Tree House and the Hidden Scrolls, transport the children throughout time where they are met with great danger and adventure around every turn. Each book the children learn a lesson, oftentimes a Biblical one. My kids loves these because they also get a glimpse into what could have been happening during that time period.
7. The Secret Garden: This is not one I have read with my children yet, but I know they are going to love it as much as I do. It is the sweet story of a young girl who finds a secret garden and works to bring it back to life.
8. Because of Winn Dixie: This has been one of my favorite books since I first read it in 4th grade. Kate DiCamillo is such a fabulous author and has a way of pulling you and and captivating you wither her stories. I have not read this with my children yet, but Winn-Dixie is sure to pull at their heartstrings like it has mine for so long.
I hope these lists give you some suggestions to intentionally shop for your children this year. What's the one thing you are most excited to gift your children this year?
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