Kids Gift Guide Ideas
Still looking for the perfect Christmas gifts for your kids? Look no longer! We’ve put together a number of gift guides for kids ages 0-10, that won’t just wind up in the trash or collect dust on the shelves! These are the best children’s gifts we have come across, enjoy!
Stocking Stuffers
Plus-Plus Holiday Tube
The BIG Plus-Plus is great for ages 1-4 and the regular size for 5+
Babylit Holiday Book (A Christmas Carol or the Nutcracker)
Que Water bottle (collapsible water bottle)
Kwik Stix mess free paint sticks or soap clay. Use code ‘BAYAREAMOMS’ for 15% off
Bath Toys: Bath Crayons & Bath Drops, Bath Letters, Boon Water Pipes or Kid Bath Bombs
Coloring books: My First Big Book of Christmas & for the unicorn lovers, My First Big Book of Unicorns.
Jumbo Crayons, Palm Grip Crayons, Watercolor Paints would be great to go along with the coloring book
Gifts for Babies 0-18 months
Manhattan Toys are so great for this stage! Treetop Activity Center, Winkel, Classic baby Beads and the Swish Classic are our favorites.
YBike-This walker/ ride on toy is amazing!!!! I recommend to everyone. Morgan’s boys love it and are obsessed with it. Wish we had 2. It was wells (18 months old now) present last year for Christmas but my almost 5 year old uses it every single day.
Music- Musical Instruments, Hape Pound and Tap, HABA Shakin Eggs
Learning Resources- What’s Inside Box, Magnetic Gears (we have these and put them on the fridge…gives my little guy something to do while I am cooking) or Magnetic Letters.
Melissa and Doug Shape Sorter, Play House Set , Train stacker, cleaning set
Hape Wooden Toy Car Set- perfect for those little hands.
Bilingual Reading Books + Wand (We just got these a couple months ago in the Spanish version and we love them!)
Gifts For Toddlers 2-4
Building-Melissa and Doug Solid Wood Building Blocks. Duplo Open Play Box, Train set. Way to Play Roads-Although these are pricey, they are very durable! You can take them to beach, in the mud or even in the bath and they will hold up! They are also very easy to clean. I love how flexible they are making it easy to connect the pieces. My kids also like the Melissa and Doug Town to go with it. If you don’t have a Costco or not a member, here’s the town from Amazon and you’ll have to get the cars seperate.
-Rainbow Stacking Toy- The amount of ways of daughter has played with this open ended toy, is incredible! She stacks them, uses them for tunnels for her cars or creates houses for her little figurines.
-Magna Tiles are a good durable brand but for half the price, Connetix Tiles work just as good and has free shipping and same delivery time as Amazon. I’ll be adding on this car set this year to our magnetic tiles. I recommend getting two sets so kids can really build but getting one right now is a good starting point.
Games-You have to have the classics: Hungry Hungry Hippo, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders or Hi Ho Cherry O. We got the Sneaky Squirrel last year and it was a fun to work on colors, fine motor skills and matching skills. Pretty Pretty Princess is a blast from the past! Getting it for my girly girl and/or this fun Disney cupcake game.
Books-Leapfrog Learn to Read. Elephant and Piggie Books. Bilingual Reading Books + Wand (We just got these a couple months ago in the Spanish version and we love them!)
Airfort-perfect for cold and rainy days. It sets up in seconds and folds up so small taking up very little space.
Imaginary Play- Dress up clothes and shoes bring endless play. We have a superhero cape set like this and both my son and daughter love it.
-Every little girl needs a tea set. Green Toys are always durable and will last forever. I also love this pretend makeup that looks so real!
-Play Kitchen. We have this cookware set to go with our kitchen. Here are some great play food options: Melissa and Doug Food Groups, Wooden Cookie Playfood, Toaster, Mixing Bowl and Cutting Food. This shopping cart is so dang adorable to go with it!
-Tool Workbench from FLEXA
-A doll house isn’t just for girls. Hape has a great gender neutral house that comes fully furnished. Here is the family that goes with it.
-Melissa and Doug Ice Cream Counter -This has been the most popular toy in our house that kids want to play with when they come over. They also have this one that is smaller and cheaper.
-Calico Critters- If you don’t have any, this is a great starter one, the cottage and family. I am loving the treehouse too! If you want something larger, the Luxury Townhome set looks awesome!
Outdoor Play-Balance bike: Strider Bike, Woom 2 Bicycle, Micro Mini Deluxe Scooter. We’ve also heard great things about the Banwood bikes.
Play-Doh- Green Toys Race Car Maker Dough Set, Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Magical Microwave
Cars- Candylab toys, Bruder vehicles, Hot Wheels cars and track, V-Tech cars and the Spinning Spiral Tower, Playmobil Fire Engine
Learning Resources- This was my daughter’s Christmas gift last year, Fairyland Playset. When we have playdates, kids will always pull that out and play with it. It’s great that almost all of the pieces can be stored inside of it and I love how durable they are! The Alphabots are super cool too! They are chunky letters that twist and turn into robots. Mix and Match Magnetic Animals. and these Snap ‘Em Robots are at my daughter’s preschool and all of the kids love them.
Gifts for Kids 5-7
Games- Guess Who, Operation, Monopoly Junior, Sequence for Kids, Mermaid Island, Connect Four, Hedbanz Junior, The Floor is Lava, There’s a Yetti in my Spaghetti, Hoot Owl Hoot and Classic Card Games 6 Game Set.
Outdoor Play-Micro Maxi Scooter, Woom 3 Bicycle
This Omzer Camera is on my list to get my 5 year old girl this year. She is always taking my phone to take pictures and she loves to make her own videos. I know she will enjoy it. There are a few other colors as well.
Lego Classic Creative Box + Lego Chain Reaction Craft Kit. This kit has instructions to build fun machines and ramps to create different chain reactions
Play Osmo-This is a game system that works with the ipad, iphone and Fire tablet that uses the camera to interact with real-world objects like puzzle pieces or drawings. The Cosmo unit is very well made and the apps are creative, educational, fun, thoughtful.
Books- Dog Man, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series, Fablehaven
Learning Resources has some items on my list to get my kids this year: Spiral Art Design, Ultimate Fort Builder, Kids Croquet Set, Royal Kingdom Adventure Castle.
Bow and Arrow (these look so great for a first set for littles, the arrows are just a soft felt round tip at the end)
Piggy Paint Nail Polish (non-toxic and chemical free!)
American Girl Doll or Our Generation from Target is also a great alternative.
FLEXA doll bed (designed to fit with American Girl dolls)
Kids vacuum that really works
Cars- Candylab toys, Bruder vehicles, Hot Wheels cars and track
Art Set-I remember getting one of these when I was younger and being obsessed with it!
Gifts for Kids 8-10
Games-5 Second Rule Junior, Hedbanz, Mouse Trap, Clue, Monopoly, No Stress Chess, Life, Pictionary, Monopoly Deal, Ticket to Ride, Sorry!, Blokus, Battleship, Rummikub, Guesstures, Sequence and our personal favorite as of lately…Cover your Assets
Books-Captain Underpants Series, Harry Potter, Goosebumps, Judy Moody, Ramona, The Borrowers, The 13-Story Treehouse, National Trust Secret Diaries Collection, The Dragonsitter Series and Puzzle Adventure Stories Collection.
LEGO’s-Lego Harry Potter Bus Set, Pirate Ship in a Bottle.
-Hidden Side LEGO’s-The Haunted High School, Graveyard Mystery, Shrimp Attack or Toy Bus.
-Marvel Avengers-Iron Man Hall, Compound Battle or the Hulkbuster.
-Friends-Friendship House, Mission Boat, Lighthouse or Heartlake City Restaurant
Kids Cookbook
Outdoor Play- Electric Scooter, Nerf Howler Football, Razor RipStik, Razor Scooter, Pogo Stick, Hover Board and Magnetic Dart Board.
Big Christmas Gift
Trampoline-This was Morgan’s family’s big gift last year. After lots of research they decided on this one. We wanted one that will last for our boys through their childhood. We were set on getting a springless trampoline for safety reasons. I like the oval shape because it makes better use of space and feels bigger.
Electronics-Kindle Fire, Nintendo Switch
Experience Ideas
Season Pass- Getting a local membership pass is a great to tell your parents or in-laws when they ask what to get your kids for Christmas. . Some of our favorites are Happy Hollow, Discovery Museum of San Jose, Bay Area Discovery Museum, SF or Oakland Zoo, Curiodyssey or Monterey Bay Aquarium. Most of these are apart of a reciprocal program where you can get half off admission to other zoos, museums or aquariums.
Vacation-I have some friends that will give their kids a trip every year. This could be your big Christmas gift that focuses on the family and creating memories.
Event Tickets-Book a concert you know your child will love or plan a outing for an event coming up. Is there a movie, museum, or sporting event they have been wanting to go to? Look up kid shows in the area, I know Disney on Ice comes back early next year.
Lessons for a cooking class, dance class or music class. The possibilities are endless!
Date Day-Lot’s of possibilities for this as well. For my daughter she would love a date to Color Me Mine or run around a play place.
Restaurant Gift Card-Get a gift card to their favorite ice cream shop or food place. Kids will have fun “paying” for themselves.