BEST Gift Guides for Kids
If you are looking for gift ideas for children ages 0-7 this holiday season, look no further! As a former kindergarten teacher, preschool teacher, AND mom of three kiddos ages 7, 5, and 3, I have carefully and thoughtfully put together 10 different guides to hopefully help narrow down or inspire some gift ideas for you this year.
All items featured in these guides have undergone rigorous testing by my own little ones, and most have withstood the test of time, serving as beloved playthings for years on end. I'm committed to recommending only those items that have consistently proven their exceptional value – these aren't fleeting novelties that lose their appeal by the second week after Christmas, only to be relegated to dusty shelves. ;)
The links provided in these guides are affiliate links, and your support through these links earns me a modest commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Wishing you a joyous and delightful holiday season, and I hope these guides add an extra dash of magic, and help to relieve any stress from your gift-giving endeavors this year!
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I think I am most excited about this guide, which is why I’m sharing it first! Every single item included in this guide is one that all three of my kiddos play with and love at their current stage. My children are in 2nd grade, kindergarten, and I have an almost 3-year-old. This means that items on this list are gifts you could give a toddler, and there’s a good chance it will still get played with years down the road. I don’t know about you, but these are the types of toys I want to be gifting my children. They are open-ended, and will bring joy and creative, independent play to my kiddos’ lives for years to come!
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If you are anxious at all about being cooped up with active, energetic kiddos for the colder months, this guide is for you! Every single item on this list is one that we personally own, and can confidently say that they have helped us survive the coldest, dreariest of winter days.
Some items, like the basketball hoop and the slide, get moved outdoors in the spring and sometimes stay there, but these are items that can DEFINITELY be used indoors (especially when they are brand new)! We bought our slide for our oldest when he was a toddler and we kept it inside for the first several years of his life because it kept him so entertained.
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Here is a great list of playful gift ideas for babies! I always liked to gift my babies a few practical items at Christmas time (bibs, hats, pacis, plates/cups, etc.) but if you want to throw in a few fun, developmentally appropriate play things as well, this is a great round-up! Several of these items do actually still get played with by my crew (who are all out of the 0-12 month range by now)!
A few honorable mentions:
#9. A great way for babies to learn “stacking” - the bright colors are very inviting and it’s almost impossible for them to topple over!
#8. Stacking cups - stacking, building, and a “sensory toy” for life - we love these for the bath, and water tables!
#1, #2, #7. Two words: CAR RIDES. Keep these in the car for entertainment and play on the go!
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The only item on this list that we do not actually have is the Radio Flyer ride-on toy. We have one similar that is a giraffe but it was not in stock when I was putting these guides together. I trust the Radio Flyer brand and think the horse is actually adorable. A ride-on toy like this is honestly great for indoors OR outdoors! The rest of the items on this list are ones we own, and have served us well for several years of cognitive, fine motor, and gross motor development.
I will also mention that MEGA BLOKS (#1) double as one of my all-time favorite learning tools. You can write on them with dry erase marker and use them for patterns, simple addition, building words, letter matching, etc.! I have a blog post sharing details on a few of these activity ideas here if you are interested!
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Pretend play is so important during the toddler/preschool years! Some of the items on this list have been some of our all-time most played with and well-loved toys that I will continue to recommend until the end of time. There is something for everyone in this guide from mini chefs, to mini landscapers, farmers, store clerks, or little mommies/daddies.
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3-5 years old is around the time that 2/3 of my kiddos transitioned from a nap to a quiet time. Many of the items included in this guide are ones that have been played with a lot during those quiet times. There are plenty of options here that will build cognitive development, fine motor skills, pre-writing skills, pre-reading skills, spatial awareness, and problem-solving skills.
As a former preschool and kindergarten teacher, I feel very confident in recommending toys for this age group knowing how many different ways they will benefit them! The goal here is to help them learn… but make it fun… so they don’t even realizing they’re learning. ;)
Lastly, a humble plug for my very own “Oh Hey Let’s Play with LETTERS” learning activity book (#14). This is an 84 page, professionally printed, spiral-bound, fully laminated and wipe-clean activity book that includes 3 pages of hands-on, low-prep learning activities for ALL 26 LETTERS of the alphabet. This is one of our most popular and best selling resources that we offer in our shop so I couldn’t pass up including it in one of my gift guides. :)
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More items we have and love in our home! My oldest uses his galaxy projector light every night and I honestly kind of want one for my own room… it’s amazing. Ever since we got him his FitBit for his 5th birthday, counting his steps and setting goals to fill all his activity “rings” has been one of his favorite past times. The kids FitBit does not have any games or messaging capabilities but it has been a great way for him to keep time, track his activity throughout the day, plus it also includes a stopwatch and a timer.
Many of the other items on this list (Legos, marble run, Lincoln Logs, etc.) are open-ended enough that I am confident they will continue to get played with for years, and they are also already getting played with by my 5 and 3 year olds.
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For our artsy and crafty kiddos! DO NOT SLEEP ON NUMBER 11. It has changed the way we paint for the absolute best and I’ll never watercolor paint with a cup of water ever again. We love it so much. The Melissa & Doug magnet painting set is a great way to decorate your fridge or give homemade, hand-painted gifts to grandparents, the gel crayons are amazing to use with water and a paintbrush (they give a watercolor effect), and dot markers are one of the ultimate must-have items for learning activities - follow me on Instagram, if you don’t already, and you’ll understand!
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This is such a fun age to start introducing games to your little one and these are some of our favorites to start with! Many of these games work on color recognition/color matching, number sense, and even fine motor skills. Little ones will also develop language skills, and learn life skills like taking turns, and of course, how to win and/or lose well. ;)
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For starters, we were gifted these card holders last Christmas and they have been so great for card games with little hands! My kiddos love that they allow them to hold and see all their cards at once rather them juggling and dropping them for all other players to see.
The Melissa & Doug dominoes are a must, not only for the fun, bright colors, and a great, simple game, but they also make for an awesome learning tool for activities, as do the letters from the Bananagrams game! These letter tiles are some of my all-time favorite letter manipulatives to use for learning journal activities. My final activity plug is UNO CARDS. Don’t sleep on these either… think: color sorting, number order, sorting by number, count and clip with mini clothespins, addition, THE LIST GOES ON.
This concludes my list of gift guides for the 2023 holiday season. I truly hope you found them helpful! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
