Cool Christmas Toy List 2013
With less than 20 shopping days left until all of the presents have to be wrapped and under the tree, the pressure is on.
Here to help with an ultimate Holiday 2013 gift guide, also known as the cool Christmas toy list, is guest blogger Chrissy Jones.
Chrissy is a local Chicago mom blogger at Beyondthepark.com.
Here are her suggestions for kids of all ages.
Let us help you cross things off your holiday to do list with this fully stocked gift guide. And because I think reading is so important for kids of all ages (and we all have a long winter break coming up), I’ve included a great book recommendation at the end of each section.
Perfect Gifts for Children 2 & Younger:
- Green Tea Toy Set: A perfect first tea set for the little ones. Great for indoor and outdoor play and they’re dishwasher safe.
- Music Blocks: Introduce your tikes to the love at music at an early age with these adorable music blocks.
- Baby Doll on the Go: Such a sweet doll that is ready to go along on all your child’s adventures.
- KidKraft Figure 8 Train Set: Give them their first wooden train set and watch the twinkle in their eyes. If you really want to wow them buy one battery operated Thomas to pull the rest of the trains around.
Perfect Gifts for Children 3-4 Years of Age:
- Melissa & Doug Car Carrier: You can’t beat the quality of Melissa & Doug toys. This is a great first car set for the young auto enthusiast.
- Melissa & Doug Puzzles: Give a bundle of Melissa & Doug puzzles and then make mom happy with this useful puzzle rack which will keep the kids from losing pieces and mom from stepping on them.
- Paper Bag Puppets and Paper Plate Bugs : You can never go wrong with the amazing arts & crafts kits from Alex. Super easy to use and mom friends will appreciate a gift that even the 3 year olds can do pretty much by themselves. All necessary materials are included.
- Dress Up Chest like this one from Costco provides hours of fun and promotes imaginative play.
- Stomp Rocket: Always a huge crowd pleaser and the fun never gets old.
- Magna Tiles: A great gift that kids will play with for years to come. Magna tiles can be used to create magnificent 3D structures. Larger sets are available.
- Mini Kick Scooter: If they don’t have a scooter this is the one to get. With it’s lean to steer design, the kids will love the sensation of sailing down the sidewalk while moms and dads will love the stability of the 3 wheel design. Grab a helmet for the complete gift package.
Book: The Day the Crayons Quit. And for a fun take on an old classic, I love Goodnight iPad (my daughter thinks it’s so funny)
5-8 Year Olds:
- Q-Ba-Maze (Marble Run): The 5-8 year olds can get in on the designing and building and the 3-4 year olds will love sending the marbles down the runs. Many different size sets are available.
- HexBugs: Everyone’s favorite bugs just cooler. Now they can climb. This gravity defying loop is a best seller this season.
- Paint Your Own Rain Boots: What girl wouldn’t love to add her own style to her footwear.
- Light up indoor soccer disk: Turn any flat surface into a soccer playing field. Great for the indoor winter months.
- Rainbow Loom: Possibly the hottest toy available right now. If the kids on your list don’t already have a loom then now is the time to give this gift. And if you really want to splurge there’s the full starter kit.
- For the kids that do have the loom, this is a great book to give with extremely clear directions on how to make awesome rubber band jewelry. And this book look like it takes loom jewelry to a whole new level.
- Roominate: It’s like a DIY dollhouse kit crossed with a circuit board. Such a cool tool to encourage girls to foster a love of science and engineering.
- Maisto Baja Beast Remote Control Car: One of the better remote control cars on the market. This guys is built for rugged terrain.
- Lego City Grand Prix Truck: Almost all children love to play with bricks so a Lego is always a great bet. This set comes with the trailer truck and the formula One that sits inside is ready to hit the track.
- Nerf Pink Crusher: Finally the girls can have a cool look while they get in on the action.
- Bedazzled Swim Goggles: Who says you have to lose the bling when you go for a swim. Girls will love these ultra cool goggles that will keep them stylish while playing Marco Polo.
- Magazine subscriptions: Subscriptions to Nat Geo Kids or the Ranger Rick magazines make a great gift.
Book: Bedtime Math. This is my son’s all time favorite book. He begs us to read it at night. Each page has a different math riddle or fun math story. Then for each story, there are 3 levels of questions, and you pick which one to ask depending on the age of the child. You’ll add giggles to bedtime and your child will actually be doing math. Brilliant!
Perfect Gifts for Kids Ages 9+:
- Skylanders Swapforce: The “Must have” game of the season. Building upon the franchise’s success, Swap Force introduces a new level of game play that allows players to freely interchange the top and bottom halves of 16 special characters (all Skylander games require tangible toy figures) by mixing and matching their powers and moves into more than 250 unique character combinations that add to the epic adventure. For other hot video game gift ideas check out my video game gift guide.
- Kindle: It appeals to their desire for tech gifts and yet it promotes reading something that is so important for this age group.
- Cool docking station for their music. What kid wouldn’t be thrilled to receive a docking station for their iPod or iPhone.
- Ezy Roller : Such a fun roller bike and gets kids moving. Always such a popular toy for all age groups.
- Nike Fuelband: Seems like everywhere you look people are sporting the fuel band. This makes a great signature gift and not only tells you how much fuel you burn but will keep them on time as well.
- Go Pro Camera: Definitely an investment but it is the perfect gift for the adventure kid.
- Lillybee Striped Ballet Flats: Any girl on your list will love a pair of these cute striped ballet flats. Buy them in her favorite colors or her school’s colors.
- Skullcandy headphones: Their playlists await these awesome headphones in a variety of colors.
- A magazine subscription to Sports Illustrated Kids
Book: Divergent, Insurgent & Allegiant. My older son (12) is not a reader. He just always finds 34 other things to be doing than reading. That is until he started Divergent. It’s a great series and kids should read it now before the Blockbuster movie comes out in March.
If you have to give a gift to multiple kids in a family, I love to give a family game night basket of some of my family’s favorite games.
Happy Shopping Everyone!