35 Awesome gift ideas for kids

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On Black Friday, I finished all my Christmas shopping for my kids (plus the birthdays we celebrate in December and January). If you’re like me, you’re always looking for fresh gift ideas. So I thought I’d share mine.

I think you’ll find some gifts your kids will love!

For my 9-year-old daughter

My Nine would prefer her own iPad, Kindle, or computer, but my husband and I are very reluctant to give our kids their own electronics. For now, she gets to share ours – and enjoy these non-tech gifts.

American Girl magazine subscription – My Nine loves reading American girl magazines from the library, so we bought her a one-year subscription. It’s such a fresh, clean, fun, and age-appropriate magazine for tweens.

Mona List paint by number – These Faber-Castell paint-by-number sets are a great gift for quiet, introverted kids like my Nine – or for anyone who has patience and likes to paint. They really turn out amazing – and it’s not something your child will complete in one sitting – making it a great value for the price.

Color by Number set – The Aquarellum paint sets had good reviews, so I bought this fairy-themed set. They have a huge variety of themes, so you’ll probably find one to suit any young artist.

Book light – Very soon, my Nine will be moving out of a room with her brothers into a room with her little sister (age 2). Since the little one goes to sleep early, we thought this book light was a great gift idea.

American Girl boxed set – This set of American Girl books is actually from my sister, who knows how much of a bookworm my daughter is. And since my Nine loves history (particularly the Civil War era), these books about Addy should be the perfect set.

Draw & Write Journal – We’re taking a long road trip soon after Christmas, and my Nine always needs something to keep her busy in the car. This All About Me Journal should do it!

Fairy Tale Hidden Pictures – The cool thing about this hidden picture book is its vintage appeal, plus a full page fairy tale retelling for each hidden picture activity. It’s another goodie for our road trip. (Psst… buy it directly from Dover before 12/31/16 and get 25% off using the code WHBX.)

Qwirkle – This is actually a gift from my parents, since they know that my daughter loves playing this game at their house when we come to visit.

For my 8-year-old son

My Eight is a content, easy kid, which actually makes him hard to shop for. (If I give him a stack of paper, markers, and tape, he can be happy for hours.) It helps that he loves reading, science, and engineering, so I kept those things in mind when shopping for him.

Ask is a science magazine for kids, and it looks amazing! I think he’ll love getting this magazine throughout the year. (Want to see a sample issue before you buy? You can do that here.)

Calculator – A calculator might sound like a lame gift, but my kids are obsessed with them.  Since his old one recently broke, my Eight asked for a new one for Christmas.

Lego chain reactions – We have a similar Lego set (this one), and my Eight has loved it. So I knew that this chain reactions set would be just the thing.

Lego idea book – Speaking of legos, this is a fantastic book that’s perfect for kids who have more legos than they know what to do with. It has a ton of tutorials for projects you can make with legos you already have – from the amazing activity blog, Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls. Since my Eight has never-ending patience when it comes to finding lego pieces, this should be perfect for him.

Gooey Worm Wonders Science kit – Steve Spangler science kits aren’t cheap, but they are by far the best science club kits we’ve tried. So I was content paying a bit more for a set whose experiments I expect to actually work (and be pretty cool too!).

Weird but True 8 – My kids love, love, love the Weird But True books. We have a sizable collection already, but they’re such a big hit that I was happy to see that there’s a brand new one. This will be great entertainment for our long road trip!

For my 6-year-old son

My Six can be really hard to buy for, because he has a million ideas for what he wants, and they change every day. Plus, I don’t like all his requests. (For example, I am not interested in buying toy guns.) Here’s what we settled on:

Drone – Yes, a drone, which sounds crazy for a six-year-old, but it was my husband’s idea. He actually owns three drones of his own, and this will be a daddy-son activity. (By the way, we bought it on a mega sale and got it half off.)

Art set – I’m always hesitant to purchase an art set that’s not from Crayola, but we struck gold with this one! We gave one to our Nine last year, and the quality is fantastic. My Six has had his eye on it and asked if we’d buy him one for Christmas. As far as art sets go, it’s super affordable!

Nerf football – Our Six drives me crazy with all his energy is extremely active and athletic, so we thought this Nerf football would be a good choice.

5-Minute Marvel Stories – I’m a fan of great children’s literature, so it might not be a surprise that I dislike kids’ books about movie and TV characters. However, I did buy this for my Six because he’s obsessed with superheroes. I know he’ll love it.

Also, he’s not a great traveler, so this will help him pass some time on our road trip.

(Okay, I admit it. I bought him Batman 5-Minute Stories too.)

Superhero Mini-Journal – Because of his love for superheroes, I know he’ll enjoy this superhero mini journal on our big trip. It’s got over 60 activities in which he can record super powers, secret identity, and more. (Get it from Dover before 12/31/16 for 25% off with the code WHBX.)

For my 4 (almost 5) year old son

Our Four (almost five) is perhaps the hardest to shop for, but I think that all these gifts will be winners!

Giant set of play dough – I’m not sure if its his temperament or something he’ll grow out of (hopefully the latter!), but my Four can get a bad case of the grumps. Thankfully, play dough always pulls him out of it. We bought this set a few years ago and need a replacement. It’s bright, fun, and long lasting (when you put the covers back on…).

Fun Factory – Our Fun factory has gotten a lot of use over the years – so much use that it needs replacing. The price is right for endless hours of fun!

Hair cutting play dough set – I was on the lookout for a play dough toy that lets you grow and cut hair. Even though my kids haven’t seen the movie (and I don’t like buying character toys), this Despicable Me set looks perfect.

Curious George collection – Our kids don’t watch regular television, but they do watch a lot of Curious George shows on DVD. My Four is a forever fan – both of the books and the show. So I know this Curious George collection will be hit.

Marble run – We have an older, well-used marble run that we bought at a yard sale. My Four is using it quite a lot these days, so I thought it was time to upgrade. I love that this set has transparent pieces so you can watch the marbles travel!

Walkie talkies – It may seem that we’re buying a lot of gifts for my Four. He has a January birthday, so we’ll save some of these until then. But I doubt we’ll wait to give him the walkie talkies – he and my Six have had hours of fun with our previous two sets.

Yes… previous two sets. One met its demise when they put it in the pool (to “see what would happen” — grr!) and the other when my Eight put a battery in the wrong way and fried one of the receivers.

Little Critter collection – My kids and I have always been a fan of Little Critter, and this is such a great buy – an amazing price for a solid, hardcover book with a collection of favorite stories. I’ll read this from the front seat on our road trip.

What’s Wrong? activity  book – It’s hard to find activity books that are a good fit for preschoolers, but I think this will be a hit!  It’s another book to pass the time as we travel.

For my 2 (almost 3) year old daughter

Dollhouse bathroom set – Our Two (almost three) is getting a solid, second-hand dollhouse from my parents for Christmas. I decided to buy her some sturdy wooden dollhouse furniture. This bathroom set looks fun!

Dollhouse kitchen – This is just so cute. I know she’ll love opening and closing the little doors.

Kitchen dollhouse accessories – Of course, the best part of a dollhouse is playing with all the tiny pieces. So I wanted to get this kitchen accessories set too.

Dollhouse people – This cute set won’t arrive until after Christmas, but no problem – they’re for her January birthday.

Family counters – She’s going to love these family counters – both to use on her own and in learning activities with me. I can think of so many possibilities!

Little Critter collection – This hardcover volume of Little Critter stories will definitely keep her busy on our road trip. Such a great buy for so many books in one!

For my almost-1-year-old son

When you’re baby #6, you don’t get a lot of baby gifts. We have enough baby toys, and I’d really rather not add to our collection. Plus – to be honest – he’s really not interested. He’d rather do what the big kids are doing or find something (anything!) to put in his mouth.

So, I’ve bought him a lot of clothes – and two gifts.

Rhythm instruments – While this set of rhythm instruments are meant for older kids, I think they’ll be a  big hit with my One. Plus, he’ll enjoy them when he’s 2, 3, and 4 years old too. You can’t say that about a lot of baby gifts.

Board book – We have a big set of board books already, but our Wheels on the Bus book bit the dust. Here’s a cute replacement.

And that’s all I bought for my One… and the truth is that music set is for his December 21 birthday! It’s okay, really – he’ll have more fun with the boxes and wrapping paper anyway. I promise I’ll do better when he’s old enough to care. 😉

I hope this post gave you some great gift ideas!

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