Kingston and I put together these gift ideas for kids who enjoy learning about the world around them – science, geography, reading, etc. If you have one of these people on your list you know you can’t just run out and grab the “toy of the year” (is that even a thing anymore?!) haha! Nope. You have to get creative! So we thought this list might help give you some ideas as you help Santa make his list.
Microscope
Rotatable objectives give this microscope more magnification: 40x, 100x, 250x, 400x and 1000x. The double light high power microscope has incident and transmitted LED light sources, which can see both opaque objects illuminated from above and translucent specimens illuminated from below. It also has a cell phone adapter with an eyepiece that allows you to share pictures or videos with your families and friends in real-time. Comes with a box of microscope sliders (4 prepared slides & 6 blank slides) which include sample about animal legs, onion, wood and cotton.
Llama Line-Up
Get your llama game on with Llama Line Up, a fun-packed fast-paced family game that gets players competing to pick out the right llama quickest! We laugh so hard when we play this!
Glowing Marble Run
The National Geographic STEM series provides kids high-quality educational toys that are a whole lot of fun! This construction kit is designed to fit together snuggly, so your marble maze won’t fall apart while you play. With 9 sturdy bases, 26 exciting action pieces, and 85 clear smooth-run tube pieces, this kit has countless imaginative configurations. The learning guide inside teaches about the physics of motion and aerodynamics. It also includes marble run construction experiments!
Subscription Box
We’ve big fans of subscription boxes at our house! A few favorites have been: Universal Yums – An international snack box from a different country each month. Try delicious (and sometimes strange!) snacks and candies from around the world while reading an interactive guidebook! Bitsbox – The smartest way to introduce curious kids to coding. Choose between several fun, monthly boxes for kids age 6-12. This one was featured on Shark Tank! KiwiCo – These boxes empower kids to explore, create, and learn with hands-on kits delivered monthly. Groovy Lab in a Box – Committed to make learning fun, these science experiment kits help your kid explore the world of science.
Mad Libs
Oh, Mad Libs! The sillier the better. What kid doesn’t enjoy these?! Mad Libs will help keep you in touch with the funny side of life. The idea is simple: someone asks for a part of speech: a verb, a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Players call out their ideas to fill in the blanks and in the end, you have a story reeling from one silly sentence to another until nothing makes sense.
LEGO Gingerbread House
We love building a gingerbread house every year, but they always taste horrible! So this might be a fun alternative. Gather the family and build fun memories with a delightful LEGO brick Gingerbread House that makes a festive holiday centerpiece kids of all ages will love!
Underwater Camera
This is obviously a fun pool toy, and what Florida kid wouldn’t love having one more thing to play with at the beach? 🙂 The 48MP underwater digital camera also features rich video resolution options and is equipped with a waterproof design, allowing you to dive up to 10 feet. It’s ideal for water sports, including swimming, drifting, surfing, snorkeling, etc. With the front 2.7 inches screen and rear 1.8 inches screen, you can record every memorable moment and take a selfie easily.
Book Collection
A full set of your child’s favorite book series is a gift they can enjoy over and over again. We’re currently into Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Big Nate. Kingston also loved these graphic novel adaptations of some of the classics!
Magazine Subscription
The gift that keeps on giving! Who doesn’t love fun mail? Our favorite kid’s magazines are: National Geographic Kids and Highlights, because they’re the perfect mix of educational and entertaining! And if you have a big sports fan, you might want to check out Sports Illustrated Kids.
Kids Global Holiday Dessert Kit
Have some do-it-yourself family fun making three kinds of sweet treats that celebrate the holiday season: Austrian linzer cookies for Advent (December 1-24), mochi from Japan for New Year’s Day, and gingerbread men from Croatia for Orthodox Christmas. Key spices and hard-to-find ingredients are included, so budding chefs can do it all themselves—or “just add grownups” anywhere along the way. The instructions walk you through every step and there are colorful fact, puzzle, and activity pages to enhance the fun.
All the Things: How to Draw Books for Kids
Perfect for both budding artists and kids who have never drawn before, this beginner drawing book will teach your kid how to draw cool things in no time! The kid friendly, mini drawing lessons will help your child practice their basic art skills and teach them how to draw with confidence. This book is perfect for kids 8-12, but kids 5-7 with an interest in art will be able to easily follow along as well. From cupcakes, to unicorns, to cars, and cats, your kid will be drawing all sorts of things that they’ll want to show off to their friends, or color afterward and hang on their room! No experience required!
The Oregon Trail Handheld Game
You have died of dysentery. 🙂 This is true to the original; based on the iconic computer game with authentic 80’s graphics, sounds, and game play just like you remember! We bought this for Kingston last year, and he got such a kick out of it. We all play it!
Metal Detector
This is another gift that was a HUGE hit with Kingston. We’ve found so much treasure at the beach – bottle caps, scrap metal, hair clips. ha! We did find a ring once, but it was a cheapo. The possibility of that illusive treasure keeps us going though!
For even more ideas, check out our Amazon list.