I don’t know about you, but it seems like lately I spend half my time searching Amazon for the perfect gift for my kids, or nieces and nephews, or my kids’ friends. It is enjoyable, but I have one major problem.
My problem is, I get sucked into hopping from one popular toy to another and looking at the reviews forever.
Suddenly two hours are gone from my day and I still don’t know what to buy.
So we at AFineParent.com decided to do the work for you!
Here is a list of the most popular gifts for your little ones, their friends, nieces, nephews, grandkids and more.
And the best part?
They are all from Amazon, they all have a 4+ rating from tons of reviews and most are available through Prime shipping, so even if you are shopping at the very last minute, you might still be able to get them in time!
Many of these I gave to my own children. A lot of them I specifically picked because we use them in the primary class of my Montessori preschool. Some of these are “classic” enough that you may have played with them when you were little!
Editor’s Note: Also check out our other guides
Alright, here we go –
Toys that Encourage Creativity
Butterfly Wing Costume
Let your child’s imagination take flight with this awesome costume, sure to delight any kid who wants to live the dream of life with wings. These are lightweight and vibrantly colored, perfect for creative play anytime of the year.
Kid’s Binoculars
Functional and padded for small hands and eyes, these will have your kid exploring the world in a whole new way. These are compact and come in a whole host of different colors!
Dino Race Track
These are a variation on your typical cars and race tracks; the track on this is completely bendable and can be made into any shape and can be completely taken apart and rebuilt. The cars are fast and light up (they look great in the dark!) and the bridge is a great exercise for a child’s dexterity.
No-Mess Art
Now you can have art without the worry! The markers only work on these papers, not your walls, floors or siblings. They come in fun designs with a pack of special markers to delight any budding artist.
Play Doh
Play Doh is one of those classic toys that will probably be around forever! It comes in so many colors that it makes it easy for kids to unlock their creativity. And Doh is fun for little hands to squish and mold.
- Builds muscles for fine motor control
- Allows for right-brained creative development
Kinetic Sand
Kinetic Sand had a wonderful texture that kids love on their fingers. It sticks together just like sand on the beach! It comes in a variety of colors and creates a slightly different tactile stimulation than Play Doh.
- Development of fine motor control
- Creative development
- Tactile stimulation
Costumes
Playing dress-up is one of my kids favorite ways to be creative. They can pretend to be different people. It allows them to express what a career in medicine might be like. Or to experience the power of being an indestructable superhero. It expands their ideas of who they are and what they can become.
- Builds self-esteem
- Develops problem solving techniques
Water Color Paints
In our preschool, the water color paints are always being used. The children love the novelty of creating a picture out of water and solid paint. The children find something meditative about running a brush across a blank piece of paper and have the color fan out behind it. It allows them to express themselves through a different artistic media.
- Develops creativity
- Builds fine motor control muscles
- Builds self-esteem
EMIDO Building Block Kits
This is a different kind of building block. For one it has little fingers sticking out of a hub that interlock with each other to be able to build differently shaped objects. This gives children more freedom to express the complex designs they are thinking up, which leads to more satisfying play.
- Develops fine motor control
- Develops problem solving skills
Wooden Building Blocks
A classic for a reason. These wooden building blocks are durable and come in many shapes perfect for stacking and building. Kids can design and develop their own houses and cities. They can build the blocks up in to towers they can smash down to the ground with great satisfaction. And then they can do it all over again!
- Develops fine motor control
- Develops problem solving skills
Dinosaur Toys
When my son turned 6 dinosaurs were suddenly all he wanted to talk about and play with. I think we had about twenty of these plastic dinosaur toys in our house. He used them for imaginative play, but they also helped him learn all about the field of archaeology and the concept of scientific names.
- Creative play
- Manipulative aid in learning bigger concepts
Musical Instruments and Drum Set
Creating music is one of the most imaginative things a child can do. This bag of percussion instruments and the drum kit is perfect for preschoolers who are just learning about rhythm and patterns. They can tap and pound out rhythms as they sing their own songs.
- Develops gross motor skills
- Develops pattern recognition and creation
Safari Animals
Children like to play with things that represent the real world. It makes them feel powerful to be able to manipulate what they see around them in a way that is satisfying to them.
- Builds their self-esteem
- Develops problem solving techniques
VTech Little Apps Tablet
A little technology toy with a big learning and creative impact. There is an alphabet, a counting board, and a piano. This is perfect for keeping kids entertained in the car or stroller.
- Develop fine motor control
- Develop pattern recognition
Lincoln Logs
A classic that even your parents played with! The logs inter-link together to allow children to build houses, bridges, towers, and cities.
- Promotes focus
- Develops fine motor skills
- Builds problem solving skills
Lego Duplo Blocks
These chunky inter-locking building blocks are great for little hands. They let kids build to their heart’s delight and they don’t fall over as easily as regular building blocks. And there are wheels so they can build cars as well as houses.
- Develops fine motor skills
- Allows creativity to flow
- Starts a love of engineering
Washable Dot Markers
We use these in our Montessori preschool classroom all the time. They can make dots or lines or whatever their heart desires. It’s paint, but not as messy!
- Develops fine motor skills
- Empowers creativity
Little People House
There such a wide variety of Little People. Pilots, teachers, doctors, farmers, mommies and daddies. Little People act as an avatar for our kids’ imaginations. Kids get to be any of these people and make up pretend lives and careers for them, which empowers them to interact with the world around them in a more confident way.
- Develops self-esteem
- Develops a wider sense of the world
Toy Cars
Boys and girls both love to play with cars. There is something so fun about pushing a car along, running them up and over couches and tables. It’s meditative as well as creative and they can easily come along on an outing!
- Develops self-esteem
- Empowers creativity
Hand Puppets and Puppet Theater
Kids love to put on a show! Writing or imagining a play with puppets and its own stage is one of the more creative things a child can do. It reinforces story building and structure as well as having them dream up characters and a whole new world.
- Teaches story building
- Allows for creative expression of their world view
- Builds self-esteem
Lemonade Stand / Grocery Store
Make believe is one of the most important games a child can play. This little grocery store can be stocked with play food and allow your child to participate in the real-world activity of grocery shopping and selling. This make believe grocery store set up can also double as a lemonade stand that your child can set up outside and sell real lemonade.
- Builds self-esteem
- Develops a sense of how the world works
Pretend and Play School Set
Kids love to play school. I remember playing school as a child. I was a student and then I was a teacher. Playing school gave me an idea of what to expect at school and when I finally got there I confidently fit in. Even after starting school a lot of kids love paying it at home with all their dollies and dinosaurs lined up as students. It is so precious to watch them play and get a glimpse of their slowly budding world away from us.
- Build self-esteem
- Develops a sense of how the world works
Reusable Water-Reveal Activity Pads
A different kind of activity book for kids. This one only requires water in a pen for the activity book to work. No markers to get all over your kids’ clothes or back seat of the car. And it is just the perfect size to go anywhere with you. Tuck one of these in your purse, your car, the stroller, the travel kit and anwhere you anticipate you will need to whip out a quick, mess-free activity.
- Develops fine motor skills
- Engages creative activities for learning
Busy Box
This is a giant box of fun. It has all kinds of different materials that your child can use to make collages pictures or animals. Using different materials engages your child’s tactile senses as well as sparks their creativity into looking at the materials in their world differently.
- Develops fine motor skills
- Allows sense of touch to play a part in creativity
Toys that Encourage Learning
Zingo! For Pre-Readers
The ultimate way to encourage learning is to play! Here’s a way to include the family and make the process of learning to read even more fun. There are a variety of Zingo games available for different skill levels or areas of focus as well!
GeoSafari Talking Microscope
This is a fun way to play and learn! With Bindi Irwin’s voice talking, your child can view images through their microscope (like a viewfinder) and listen to facts or get quized on the slide’s 60 different animals and plants.
ABC & 123 Interactive Wall Chart
With 9 songs and sound buttons on each square, this is a fun and space-saving way to encourage learning and have a great time without having any toys to clean up!
Matching Game
A great, quiter activity that requires concentration and lots of brain power. Great for developing focus, memorization and matching skills which are key for young minds.
Pattern Blocks Puzzle
We use a version of these in our Montessori preschool. This type is magnetic so the pieces stay put on the board. Kids build pictures out of differently shaped blocks. It helps them to see the different patterns in their world.
- Develops problem solving skills
- Builds pattern recognition skills
- Introduces children to rudimentary math concepts
Magnetic STEM Blocks
A different kind of building toy. These two dimensional plates magnetically attach together to create three dimensional objects. Kids can make anything they can dream up and more!
- Develops fine motor skills
- Develops problem solving skills
- Develops critical thinking skills
Gear Set
A unique toy! These gears interlock together so that when you spin one they all start turning. Your child can make your system into any shape they want and it includes fun interchangeable shapes like ladybugs and bees.
- Develops critical thinking skills
- Builds problem solving skills
- Develops fine motor skills
Abacus
The abacus is a counting and calculating tool that dates back to ancient Mesopotamia. The bright colors delineate the different numeric places and gives kids a visual and tactile understanding of mathematical concepts.
- Develops fine motor skills
- Develops rudimentary mathematical concepts
US Map Puzzle
