What is your favorite thing about the holidays? We love the cozy weather, creative family activities and opportunities for quality family time. We also celebrate with a few special family traditions. One of our holiday traditions is to read the Christmas Story and allow our kids to open one gift on Christmas Eve, which is usually pajamas! Meaningful gift giving can be challenging when you have several kids of different ages. We like to give our kids gifts that are educational and inspire creativity, such as learning games and art supplies. My kids also enjoy toys that add to their existing toy sets. Here are some of our tried-and-true gift ideas for kids which encourage kids to learn, be creative and play with great quality toys.
American Girl Custom Gift Box
Celebrate your little girl’s caring nature, her artistic talent or her love of dance with a gift experience you can customize just for her! Choose a doll that’s most like her, along with play packs that match her interests. Store everything inside an American Girl custom gift box alongside a personalized letter from you! This awesome gift set comes bursting with just-right items to fuel every girl’s imagination. Learn how you can design a custom American Girl gift set for your own daughter!
Glitter Dance Shoes
Little dancers can glitter from head to toe thanks to these Dreamy Dancers glitter ballet shoes. The fun colors and handcrafted construction provide the perfect fit as girls practice their dance moves. Most dance classes require ballet shoes, so why not sparkle and shine with every step! Dreamy Dancers shoes come in several colors and toddler, little kid and big kid sizes.
Disney Frozen 2 Coding Kit by Kano
Code the elements by making blizzards, gusts of wind and more. Create an Ice Palace by raising your hand. Stop Olaf from melting and make a mini snowstorm. Techy kids will love exploring the Disney Frozen 2 Coding Kit by Kano. Complete the step-by-step challenges to make actions happen using code blocks and the motion sensor, or tweak the code and design your own projects! This interactive kids’ STEM activity allows young programmers to connect code blocks, see the JavaScript and learn about loops, logic and variables. The Disney Frozen 2 Coding Kit works on both laptop and tablet devices and requires the free companion app for Disney Frozen 2 Coding Kit by Kano.
Tiny Tukkins Play House
Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Tiny Tukkins Play House includes a soft, plush animal family, play accessories, clothes for the family and more! Kids will love playing with the plush characters and dressing them in removable clothes. The set comes with outfits and pajamas for Mom and Dad and a removable diaper for Baby. Pull down the bed and set up the crib to tuck the family in with soft blankets. You can purchase this adorable kids’ play set and other Tiny Tukkins sets at Walmart.
BIGiggles Take-Along Pals
BIGiggles by Beverly Hills Teddy Bear are colorful take-along pals that repeat what you say and giggle. These characters can go wherever you go on your shoulder with the help of a hidden magnet attachment. Tickle its tummy to hear it giggle and make fun sounds. The chat-back feature with pitch control allows it to talk in different voices. BIGiggles characters include a unicorn, dog, lama and koala.
Play Cash Register
The Learning Journey Play and Learn Cash Register is a fun way for kids to set up a play store. Kids can pop out the cash drawer and make change with play money or swipe a plastic credit card. The cash register has a working calculator with LCD screen and easy-to-push buttons. This play set reinforces learning though numbers and basic counting and helps kids develops language and social skills.
Character Matching Game
Kids will enjoy making characters with this Match It! Who Am I? puzzle matching set. Teach kids about professions and encourage them to play independently or together. Introduce kids to key concepts of different jobs by matching the various parts of each character. The thick, durable cardboard construction makes the puzzle pieces easy to grasp and hold.
Monkey Flipping Game
Enjoy a family game night with this interactive Monkeys Up flipping & switching game. Monkeys Up encourages learning through play and helps kids build crucial strategy, memory and logic skills. Players compete to get a set of three monkeys with the highest numbers. Each monkey has a hidden value under its feet that is only revealed when flipped. Players take turns rolling the action cube and completing the task to switch, steal or flip. All the kids stay engaged because the game moves quickly!
Codi Storytelling Robot
Codi is a storytelling robot that interacts with your child and encourages imaginative play. It doesn’t have a screen, which is a huge plus for a techy toy. Codi is an adorable robot character which kids can hold, dress up, and interact with using the buttons on its front. Kids can start a song, play one of the many classic stories, or listen to a character lesson about sharing or managing emotions. Choose from 130 classic stories that stimulate the imagination without a screen. Enjoy a playlist of 100 classic songs to get your child moving. Use Codi’s exclusive content to remind your kids to brush their teeth or clean up. See our detailed Codi review here!
Tiger Paw Gloves & Hat
Mittyz by Veyo Kids are specially designed to end the thumb war with toddlers and kids ages 6 and under. The patented 100% waterproof design is easy to put on thanks to the oversized gauntlet and integrated thumb pocket. The inside is fleece lined for added warmth. Mittyz fits easily over any coat sleeve and the elastic cinch strap seals out snow and ice. Use the quick release wrist buckle for easy removal after outdoor play. You will quickly discover these are the best kids’ gloves on the planet! Available in several designs including tiger paw, dragon, pirate, butterfly and snow princess.
Cozy Suede Boots
Many kids love getting new clothing and shoes for the new season. It’s great when a gift idea also serves a practical need. These darling pediped Flex® Maggie Boots in fuchsia protect kids’ feet while offering a comfortable fit for adventures in the cold. Every girl is sure to be a style standout in the eye-catching vibrancy of these rich suede boots. Available in sizes EU 20-36. Features include a genuine suede upper, faux fur lining, flexible rubber sole and Flex Fit System™ with additional insoles for a snug fit. pediped footwear is the fastest growing children’s footwear brand in the United States, thanks to exceptional quality, unsurpassed comfort and distinctive styling. pediped footwear is also approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association for promoting healthy foot development.
Rizmo Musical Monster
Rizmo the “Rhythm Monster” is ready to play immediately out of the box. Kids can help Rizmo grow over time as they interact, cuddle, sing and play with it. Rizmo grows and evolves from an adorable baby to a playful kid until it becomes the music-loving Rizmo. Once Rizmo fully evolves, kids can access extra play modes and additional interactive features.
Inventive Animal Masks
Give the kiddos the chance to explore their wild side! Go Fun Face! makes a variety of fun, high-quality animal masks for children including lions, tigers and bears, oh my! as well as T-Rexes and dragons. Go Fun Face! animal masks are made from a foam rubber material which make them soft, durable and easy to wash. They are patented with one-of-a-kind, artistic designs that kids will love. These masks are perfect for playtime, dress up, birthday parties and more. They also promote dramatic and inventive play, a key factor in early childhood development.
Scented Squishy Collectible Pals
Squeezamals are super squishy characters that are fun to play with and collect. Kids will love making friends with Narcissa the Narwhal, Fifi the Fur Ball, Beatrice the Unicorn, Samantha the Sloth and more! These 3.5″ squishy stuffed animals are made from colorful plush and they’re sweetly scented. 11 characters are available in each collector series.
Lego Building Sets
Legos are an awesome gift idea for kids because these colorful blocks can be built into anything you can imagine! I mean, can a family really have too many Legos? Kids can practice their motor skills and creativity when they play with Legos. You can find Lego sets in all themes and colors including Disney-inspired sets, Jurassic Park, Lego City and more!
Hape Toys Wooden Fire Station
Classic wooden toy sets often have ergonomic designs that use physics to make playtime fun! The Hape Toys Fire Station comes with a wooden helicopter and fire truck, wooden fireman, wooden dalmatian, fire hydrant, flag, flame of fire, fire axe and alarm bell. These characters and accents are simple but add a creative and interactive element to the toy set. Kids will love sending the fireman spiraling down the fire pole. Land the helicopter on the roof, park the firetruck in the garage, and pretend to put out the flame of fire with the fire extinguisher. See our Hape Toys Fire Station review here!
Design & Drill SparkleWorks
Design & Drill SparkleWorks by Educational Insights encourages kids to practice creative thinking and motor skills while learning how to drill colorful, child-size bolts into the glowing activity board. Kids can create their own designs or follow the 12 included patterns. Kids will enjoy easily drilling each bolt into the board and watching their design glow.
Lil’ Monkey Play Set
Keep kids busy this winter with the Lil’ Monkey Climb N Slide Everest. This play set is so easy to pop out quickly and set up. Kids can slide down the slide, climb up high and feel extra tall, or wiggle and crawl through the various cube frames of the structure. See our full Lil’ Monkey play set review here.
Morph Shape Shifting Fluff
Morph shape shifting fluff is an ultra light, super soft sensory medium. Flip and fold to fluff your Morph and watch it grow to 3 times its size. Create fun fluff textures and super soft cloud-like creations. Morph is made from millions of mini-spheres that are filled with air and magically stick together. The more you Morph it the fluffier it gets!
Although the holidays aren’t all about gifts, we think it’s fun to surprise kids with a few things they will be excited about. Which gift idea would your child enjoy the most?
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My daughter would love the Tiny Tukkins Play House!
Turquoise is my favorite color and I want to play Monkeys Up, lol…I may have to buy that for my great niece or great nephew so I can play it with thtm! 🙂 LOL
These are great gifts, but now I wish I had given my kids fewer gifts and more travels. I started late traveling with them but now we go as often as possible even if it just a few hours away.
These are some great picks. I know my girls would love some of these.
Nailil
thirtyminusone.com
I love this gift guide. I saw the Disney Frozen coding kit and it’s pretty awesome that it is a thing kids can get into at a young age. I like the idea of a cash register so that kids can learn how to count money.
I am guilty as hell but I got myself some holiday presents. And they are glittery dancing shoes and Lego – Harry Potter edition!
Some fab gift ideas here, the Tiger Paw hat and gloves look so cute as well as the Disney Frozen 2 Coding Kit by Kano
These toys are all so cute. My kids are older now so it is helpful to have a gift guide for the younger kids in the family.
With the arrival of Christmas it is very nice to choose gifts for your children
My favorite thing about the holidays is decorating for the holidays! My kids are super into sensory boxes – I make my own but I really like the ones you have linked!
Awww I love this! I don’t have kids yet but I do need to do some shopping for children so this is perfect. Thank you!
I was looking for some kids holiday gifts for my daughter. I’m glad that I found your blog.
This list is so awesome! My niece will be excited about these options!
This is a great list of beautiful things to buy for kids for Christmas. I am sure they will be happy receiving one of these ideas.
Wow, there’s a lot of beautiful items to choose from and I am sure my kids would love to have some of these. Thanks for sharing!
I love this guide! My nephew are gonna be thrilled with any of these options, thank you!
I love these picks. The LEGOs are a great choice. They’re excellent for getting kids to use their minds.
I love that this list has some suggestions that aren’t common and encourage hands on play!!