Mel’s Holiday Gift Guide: For the Kids!
Yesterday was all about our favorite games! And today it’s gift ideas for the kids in your life. This is certainly not a comprehensive list and it won’t fit the bill for everyone because the ages and interests of my kids are probably different from a lot of kids. But hopefully the ideas will be a starting place to explore some fun, creative gifts!
As a point of reference, my kids (4 boys + 1 girl) are currently ages 14, 13, 11, 9, 6.
I feel like a broken record saying this, but just a reminder that none of the ideas below are sponsored! Just things I’ve found, bought/been gifted by friends and family, and loved to the moon and back.
Disclaimer: most of the links below are Amazon affiliate links (where I’ve most likely purchased these items), but feel free to shop around for the best deal!
Here’s a quick link to all the gift guides I’ve posted over the years.
And here are several past KID gift guides (so many of the things my kids still play with are in these gift guides!):
Kids Gift Guide 2014
Kids Gift Guide 2015
Kids Gift Guide 2016
Kids Gift Guide 2017
I would love to hear any favorites of your kids over the last year! Your ideas are so helpful for others who have kids in different ages/stages than mine. Plus, sharing favorite things is the best thing ever! And selfishly, I’ve gotten some of our best loved toys/games/etc from your ideas!
Let’s Get Started!
1. Smarty Pants Cards: my sister told me about these cards, and they are fantastic! Perfect for car rides and quiet afternoons, they’re so clever and fun, the kids forget they are learning. There are several sets sold by grade level – it helps to read the reviews on Amazon to see which set would be best. We love these!
2. Magnetic Mosaic Picture Maker: we’ve had this little creative kit for a couple years, and it continues to provide hours and hours of entertainment for Cam (6 years old), and usually one of the boys hops in to help/participate/torment. I think Cam still grabs it off the craft stockpile (yep, that pile is as chaotic as it sounds) several times a week after school. I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of this one.
3. Fill in the Blank Love/Awesome Books: I don’t know that I’ve been this excited about a stocking stuffer for a long time! I came across these books and decided to get one for each of the kids for their stockings. There are TONS of different options (enough to get a different theme for each kid), and they are personalized by filling in the question prompts on each page. So creative – I can’t wait for Christmas morning!
4. Electric scooter: Cade (11 years old) got this scooter last year for Christmas, and to say it was the perfect gift for his fun-loving, crazy personality is an understatement. It stays charged for quite a while – and charges quickly when the battery dies. He’s ridden this thing in all weather and all seasons. 🙂
5. Pop Art Beads: our resident craft lover (and her mom) love these pop/snap beads. Cam regularly makes jewelry for all of us to wear, and we do so willingly (ahem, some of us). Again, another craft toy that has given hours of play around here. I’m not going to lie – they are a pain to clean up when they are scattered from here to kingdom come, but on the whole, they are worth it!
6. Coleman Sleeping Bag: at least two of our boys have this sleeping bag (birthday gifts for both), and it is wonderful. Durable (important for teenage scouters), warm, and lightweight.
7. Card Magic Book: Walker (13) got this card magic trick book (it is really more like a kit) for his birthday, and he has spent hours and hours mastering many of the tricks. The kit comes with all the card decks a kid will ever need (several trick decks and several normal decks), and I am honestly shocked at the tricks he can pull off with these newfound skills!
8. Parachute Cord Craft Book: my kids and their cousins are still obsessed with paracord; we gifted this simple but practical and easy to follow book to one of my sister’s sons, and it’s been so fun to see what he has made. My boys have learned a lot of new paracord crafts and skills thanks to this book, too.
9. Animal Drawing Book: Ty (9) asked for a book so he could learn how to draw animals. At first, this book seemed a little too involved, but he stuck with it, and the step-by-step instructions for each animal have made it so he has drawn some amazing and lifelike animals! If you are looking for cartoon-ish animals, this probably isn’t the right drawing book, but for lifelike animals, it’s fabulous!
10. Reading Light: know of any voracious readers? That can’t stop reading in the car once it gets dark? Or who like to make forts in their closets to read Harry Potter? We’ve owned a crazy amount of reading lights over the years, and this one has stood the test of time. As in, best ever. Even when the forts get strewn about the room in the cleanup process and the reading light accidentally gets sucked up halfway in the vacuum.
11. Unique BYU Gear: if you are a BYU fan like we are, you might also be like us and get tired of seeing the same ol’ BYU gear around. I was so over-the-top excited to see this new online store with clever and original BYU t-shirts/hoodies. I laughed out loud at least twice scrolling through the shirts, and I’ve already put in an order for some BYU-loving family members. Also, if you’re a BYU or BSU fan, my kids are still selling their huge sports flags here.
12. Doll House: a Christmas gift last year, Cam has this set up in her room and it’s the first thing she plays with when she has friends over to play. I did a lot of “doll house research” before buying this; I knew I didn’t want to break the bank, and this doll house has been so perfect and so much fun.
13. Off Brand Go Pro: I have no doubt real, live Go Pro cameras are awesome, but guess what? We can attest that so is this off brand version; it was a gift for my 12-year old last year at Christmas, and we have more footage of trampoline tricks, riotous rides on the electric scooter, and crazy basketball shot attempts than I’ll ever know what to do with. Long battery life…and hours of fun.
14. Mini Waffle Iron: Cade (11), my aspiring chef, bought this with his own hard-earned allowance a couple months ago when we were at Crate and Barrel in Portland, OR. I was skeptical the low price tag would yield a reputable waffle iron, but this thing has been a total hit. Whenever we have waffles in the morning, he makes his own – and before I know it, he’s making miniature waffles for everyone while I stand abandoned at the lifesize waffle iron. He’s even made a “fried” egg in this, and it worked surprisingly well! Love this little gadget.
15. Osmo: we bought this Osmo system at the beginning of summer as a resource for structured screen time, and it has been so much fun! It has been the biggest hit with the younger kids under the age of 13, but even the older kids get drawn in when the Newton app is turned on. I love that this system involves a lot of creativity – we have the games that come in the genius kit + the monster game and the coding awbie game.
16. 360 Rip Rider: our 360 rip rider died a slow death earlier this year after the kids had ridden it for almost five years, and it continues to be mourned every day. I think at least four of them are hoping it appears under the Christmas tree again this year. This isn’t a toddler’s trike. No, no, this is for kids who like crazy, spinning, fast rides on a trike that moves like no trike has ever moved before.
17. Disney Puzzle: we are huge fans of every Ravensburger puzzle we own (and we own a lot of them), and this easier, large-piece Disney puzzle is no exception. Cam loves this one and pulls it out very, very often to put together on the kitchen table (or smack dab in the middle of the entryway).
18. Binoculars: I have no idea why, but my kids are seriously obsessed with binoculars. All the boys have gotten a pair at some time or another, and binoculars are currently at the top of Cam’s 6-year old list this year. These are the BEST binoculars for kids. Great magnification and also shatter proof. Can’t beat that combo.
I hope this list of gift ideas has gotten the creative juices flowing as you think of gifts for the kids in your life! Like I mentioned above, I’d love to hear any kid favorites you have in the comments below!
Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for these gift guides, Mel! I’m thinking about getting that mosaic picture set for my 5 year old, but I’m wondering if the little mosaic tiles come in a box or are contained in some way? With my youngest on the verge of crawling, I’m not sure I want a toy that has so many small pieces that aren’t contained.
I wish I had some other suggestions for you but our kids have similar tastes and similar toys. Minus the girl stuff, our gifts under the tree will be very similar to yours! Thanks for sharing all your great ideas!
Oh I love these posts so much! We’ve used so many of your recommendations! From this list we are getting the drawing book, the binoculars, and the paracord book. We are debating on the camera—I think it would be a hit with the boys! Will also probably get the mosaic set for our five year old. The binoculars are for our bird loving daughter and she’s getting a bird watching book and a bird feeder along with them! I’m so excited about it! Along with your recommended drawing book we got one specifically for birds because my kids love drawing birds! Also ordering the remote control helicopter give recommeded in a past gift guide. We have one of them (for my husband) and are getting one for our oldest son. I love your taste in gifts! It matches my own and it’s nice to have tried and true recommendations! Thanks for doing these!
Love to hear this, Diane! I’m so glad some of the gifts provided some great ideas for your crew! I just love so much that your daughter is in to bird watching. That’s so awesome.
Hi!
I’ve been following you for a while, but this is my first comment. We just got that Kid Kraft doll house for our daughter and I’m trying to figure out what dolls to get? Any suggestions for size? My daughter is young (3.5) and this is her first dollhouse, so I don’t think she’s too particular.
Hey Megan, the Melissa and Doug dolls would work; we have some hand me down dolls from my mother-in-law and I think they are the Sweet Li’l Family Brand (the older version).
Or resident 5 year old has been all in on accessories and jewelery lately, so those small beads are going on her list! I can just see myself wearing all the fabulous creations now!
I ordered 3, 4, and 16. I love your gift guides! It’s like my adult version of the JCPennys toy catalog 🙂
Haha, thanks Marci! 🙂
You are the best!!! I love these gift guides! I have 4 boys, 12, 10, 6, 2 so your guides are a perfect fit for us. Thank you so much for helping me out!!
Thanks, Moriah!
Thoughts on the card tricks for an 8 year old? Too hard?
Hmmm, not all of them will be. There are definitely some simple tricks in there. But there are others that my 13-year old has had to really work at (and at times has gotten kind of frustrated…not in a bad way…just motivated him to try harder to learn them). So I guess my gut feeling is that the majority of things in this particular kit may be a bit advanced for an 8-year old unless they’ve already learned a fair amount of card tricks before (or are super interested).
I seriously hope these are affiliate links because your family will be taking one heck of a trip off of me. 😉 I wait for these guides every year and do the bulk of my Christmas shopping off them. Thanks for doing it earlier this year (than I remember, at least!)!
Thank you for all the work you put into these gift guides! I seriously love them! So many good ideas 🙂 I want to buy one of everything for my kids, haha! I will have to show some restraint with so many great ideas. I look forward to these every year!
Thanks so much, Leigh Anne!
Such a great list! I’m going to have to add several of these things to my list! And I was so happy to hear you like the off brand go-pro! I’ve been on the fence about it! Thanks for all the help!! 🙂
Thanks, Haley!
You have the best gift ideas Mel! Thanks for putting these together every year! I always look forward to them!
Thank you, Mistie!
Thanks, Mel! You just got me a jump start on my Christmas shopping – I hit all your lists! I have big kids (17, 14 and 12) so I’ll have to keep working on those ideas but you have something really fun ideas here!
Thanks, Melody! Good luck on the older kid search!
Can’t WAIT to purchase several of these items! Thanks so much, Mel! Btw what dolls wills you recommend to go along with the dollhouse?
I wish I had a good recommendation for those! My mother-in-law gave Cam her set of dolls that she’s had for probably 20 years (from an old dollhouse) so that’s what we use. I think they are the old version of these ones: https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Together-Family-Action-Daughter/dp/B00MW7OE74/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1542491920&sr=8-7&keywords=dolls+for+dollhouse
Thank you!! Btw I purchased several items from these most recent guides (dollhouse, necklace, Ditto game) and a couple past guides (iPad/recipe stand, drawing book) last night (free shipping on Amazon for a lot of items right now…we cancelled our prime subscription earlier in the year). Unfortunately, our Amazon account is connected to my husband’s email and he was kinda freaking out that I was buying so many things I explained that your gift guide had just gone up and he did concede that you always have great recommendations. I’m so excited for all of my purchases!!! Thanks again for all the hard work you put into your blog! It is my absolute favorite! (I’m going to be using your Thanksgiving post to do my meal planning for Thanksgiving tonight!)
Haha, well I hope your husband doesn’t secretly hate me! 🙂 I’m so excited you’ve found some great ideas! Thanks for letting me know! And good luck with the Thanksgiving menu planning!
This list is so helpful!! Thank you!
Love the idea of binoculars. Is there a pair you recommend for an older boy? Or have your boys always received this particular pair?
My older son has these ones: https://www.amazon.com/Binoculars-Waterproof-Binocular-Traveling-Sightseeing/dp/B0756BXDTX/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1542492208&sr=8-6&keywords=binoculars
I have followed you for several years now and this is *surprisingly* the first time I have seen these lists. I. LOVE. THEM. Thank you so much for the time spent putting these together. Have you ever considered putting together a book gift guide? I like to buy books for Christmas but like anything else, it is nice to get something that comes recommended. That would be amazing 🙂
Hey Amanda! Thanks for the comment! I did a book post several years ago (https://www.melskitchencafe.com/summer-book-reading-list-for-kids/) but I should probably update that! That’s a great idea!
I don’t usually care for gift guides because I rarely get any ideas for my kids but you just gave me several great ideas! Thanks! One question, does the scooter work well on dirt/gravel? We don’t have a lot of asphalt or concrete around:)
Part of our driveway is paved and the other part is dirt/gravel, and it works great on both! I think ideally it works best on paved surfaces but Cade zooms around everywhere. If the dirt or gravel is really uneven that might pose a problem but as long as it’s relatively flat, the scooter works great.
Your gift guides are the best on the planet! Thanks for all the awesome ideas! Dumb question….for those cool “you are awesome” books, are you going to fill them out before you put them in their stockings?
Yes!
Your new picture is super cute.
Ha. Thanks, friend. Ty took it for me one day after school. You get what you pay for! Haha. 🙂
I love your toy and game lists. On your recommendation a few years ago I bought my daughter an Our Generation horse. 2 years later she still plays with it everyday and even started taking riding lessons this summer. Thank you for taking the time to put these lists together. Many great suggestions!
That’s awesome, Becky! Cam still plays with that same horse all.the.time!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your gift guides. I have purchased many winning items making me the favorite aunt. A couple of years ago I gifted my nieces (all five of them at the time) roller skates. They were a huge hit and still are today. Just one more gift idea for your readers that’s an oldie but goodie. Thanks for taking the time to put them together and for posting them early as I am just now rounding out my holiday shopping. You are the B-E-S-T best!!
That IS a great idea! love it!
Ravensburger puzzles really are the best puzzles. Thanks for a great list of gift ideas for kids. When my children were young they enjoyed Jenga, Uno, badminton sets, chemistry sets, and pick up sticks. My girls loved Polly pockets and bead kits. My son enjoyed video games and Legos. I hope your family has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Love those ideas, Teresa! I bet Cam would really get into Polly Pockets now that she’s a little older.
Fabulous ideas!! You’re the best, thanks Mel!! 🙂
Thanks, Brittany!