Today I’m sharing with you a holiday gift guide for kids. That’s right. It’s all about our favorites –as in fun things our kids have and actually use.
I’ve got two boys (15 and 12) and a little girl (4). I love to get ideas too so if you’d like to chime in, I’d love to hear your comments about what gifts YOUR kids have that they LOVE.
And if you need more ideas, you can check out my 2018 Gift Guide for kids with a bunch more favorites.
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1. Dog with Carrier – Aren’t these little dog carriers so cute? My daughter got this one from Walmart for her birthday and plays with it all the time. It was a good consolation prize for not having a real puppy.
2. Spikeball – spikeball is a fun and active game for the whole family, but the older boys love it especially. They especially love playing against me and laughing at how terrible I am. For some reason that kind of hand-eye coordination and I do not mix. 🙂
3. Sparkly Cowgirl Boots – My mother-in-law and I looked everywhere for the perfect pair of cowgirl boots for my daughter last year for Christmas. These are it. She absolutely loves their pink sparkly flare and can even put them on herself. So cute for the little cowgirl in your life.
4. Playmags – We got these after my daughter wouldn’t stop playing with them at the library and the orthodontist office every time we went. They are so much fun even for the older boys although they would never admit to it. There’s lots of magnetic tiles out there, but these are a fairly inexpensive option that we love.
5. Exit games – If your family enjoys escape rooms, this is a fun and cheaper option. The only drawback to it is that it can only be played once because you destroy the game as you play it. It’s a good cooperative experience to figure out the clues together, especially with teen aged kiddos.
6. Little People House – I’m not a super huge fan of noisy toys, but Fisher Price little people toys is one exception I make. There’s always the option to take the batteries out because they are fun even without the sounds. We have this little doll house plus an older model of the farm and school bus. All of which have held up well with hours of play and still look basically brand new even though some are over 10 years old.
7. Poppy and Sam Complete Book of Farmyard Tales with CD – We’ve had the older edition of this book for years and absolutely love it. All my kids have read and listened to it over and over again. It’s great because it comes with a CD that tells the stories with music that’s fun to take in the car on road trips especially. It’s a great alternative to keep kids entertained without a screen.
8. Elephant and Piggie Biggie Book – If you haven’t read the elephant and piggie books by Mo Willems, you really need to. They are the cutest books and perfect for young children, beginning readers, and even adult or teen readers enjoy. My daughter got this book for Christmas last year and we read it over and over and over. Her favorite is the last story “I really like slop”. We laugh and laugh over the punchline “don’t push it bub” (which we have incorporated into our regular conversation with the kids and makes us all laugh).
9. Dress-up Crowns – My daughter got these for Christmas last year and loves to wear them everywhere. I love snapping pictures of her in them and maybe even caught a few of the teenage boys trying them out too – haha.
10. Light up Frisbee – This light up frisbee is perfect for night games. We brought it with us camping this summer and it was a lot of fun playing after dark. Even I with almost no sports skills really enjoyed flinging the cool glowing disk around and sometimes even catching it.
11. Ticket to Ride + Ticket to Ride Europe – These games are probably one of our very favorite board games of all time. They get played over and over and over. Perfect for a family gift.
12. Wooden Lacing Cards – We have an old set of Melissa and Doug wooden lacing cards that have lasted forever. They are especially handy to pull out for a quiet activity (like at church or in the car). All the Melissa and Doug toys we have have been great.
Hope that gives you a few ideas. And if you’re looking for more, be sure to check out the other gift guides I’ve posted.
I’d love to hear any you have to share also — What things do your kids play with and LOVE?
