With birthday season in full swing, and Christmas fast approaching, you may be looking for gifts. Here’s a list to help you. The gifts below are good for independent play for four to eight year old children. Most of them are loved by boys and girls. Even boys will join in playing with a Barbie Camper.

The list below has Amazon links to try and help you out during this hectic time of year. If you can buy them locally or even get them pre-loved that’s a huge win for the planet and your budget.

Gifts For Artists

In our house colouring in and drawing is always a winner. We have a variety of ‘mediums’ to chose from. Let’s face it, when kids are mindfully drawing and colouring the adults can get things done, or just enjoy adult conversation. BIC Kids Colour & Erase Magic Felt Pens can blow creative little minds as they get to erase pens. WHAT?! That is magic, just be sure to remind the kids that doesn’t give them free range to go all Banksy all over the house.

If you are looking for a gift for a mature six year old, a trip to an art exhibition could be the best gift ever. The presents my kids appreciate the most are one-on-one time adventures with loved ones.

To continue on the colouring in and drawing theme BIC Kids Plastidecor Colouring Crayons give a different experience, look and feel to kids artwork. They go nicely with a pack of pens. Be sure to pair pencils, pens, textas, and crayons with an Artists Sketch Pad. Parents will thank you for this, since there won’t be endless pieces of ‘artwork’ scattered around the place.

If you have a friend like me then feel free to get their kids paints. But I know most parents leave panting to school and childcare, so it might be safest to stick to drawing mediums.

The Crayola Light Up Tracing Pad Light Board has lasted for years and is still a firm favourite with my nine year old. Lara and Olivia often set it up to trace drawings, or just light up the creations that they’re working on.

Gifts For Readers

There are plenty of great inspirational children’s books available at the moment. Two that my kids keep going back to are Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and Shout Out To The Girls. Lara even went to her first book week as Sia, since she is her favourite person in her favourite book.

I have to confess to not reading High Five to the Boys as yet. However, I am planning on getting it for my nephew. Stand Up for the Future is on order for a few of the kids I love, especially my daughters.

If your gift recipient loves reading and shows an interest in learning another language, then a bilingual picture dictionary is a sure winner. My six year old daughter can often be found sitting quietly with this French English Bilingual Visual Dictionary. Sure she isn’t fluently speaking a second language, but she is stimulating her brain in another way.

Games

Last September I stumbled upon Ocean Bingo and instantly bought it as a shared Christmas present for my girls. I’m not usually that organised, but I’ve learnt that when you see something that awesome you need to grab it there and then. Boy am I glad I did. This game is THE BEST! Kids can play it independently as it is picture based. When played with adults they can learn all about the sea creatures in the accompanying book.

This game has brought joy to my daughters, their friends, their parents and grandparents. It truly is a game for everyone, I seriously commend the creators of this game. Get it for that special kid in your life and they will forever be grateful.

Toys Always Make Great Gifts

A simple toy that doesn’t get old, doesn’t make mess and travels easily is magnetic building shapes. Olivia was given Magnetic Building Shapes for her second birthday which proved to be a hit then. Even adults love creating architectural shapes with them.

It is one toy I often recommend to people when they say they don’t know what gift to give. This is my go to grab and run when we are meeting up with my sister and two year old niece since this toy is safe and fun for all ages. It’s also nice and compact when sitting at a restaurant. It’s a great STEM toy as it encourages the builder to develop engineering skills.

My six year old daughter and her 4.5 year old sister play for hours and hours with the Barbie Doll Camper. I resisted getting them this for nine whole months. Lara asked her Great Grandmother for it since she knows she is the only person able to push through my boundaries. But the two of them play with this toy AND pack it up. I should confess to not giving them all the tiny knives and forks to play with though.

Even boys like playing with this interactive, imagination inspiring toy. It probably helps that I’m often heard saying “there’s no such thing as boys or girls toys”. Busting through gender barriers, heck, barriers in general is something I’m passionate about.

Lego Will Never Go Out of Style

Lego is always perfect for gifts, just be mindful that with Lego for six year olds comes lots of tiny, tiny pieces. So if the six year old has much younger siblings, do the parents a favour and don’t add to their workload. If not, the Turtle Rescue Mission is very relevant for little kids that like to tell everyone that “straws kill turtles”.

If you want to stay friends with the parents of the child that you are giving Lego to, then pair it with a Toy Storage Bag. That way the kids can sit in the bag with the lego so they don’t lose any pieces when they are playing. Then the KIDS can easily tidy up ALL the tiny Lego when they’re done.

One of our household gift giving hacks is to have a massive roll of plain brown wrapping paper. It can be left as is with a fancy reused ribbon for a classic gift for grandparents, or drawn all over when wrapping gifts for kids.

If you would like some recommendations for educational toys view my post here.

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