Gift Guide for high energy kids that love to create. If that sounds like the kids in your life, this list is for you!
I love gift guides for kids!
However, so often the guides contain more imaginary/make-believe gifts that kids find fun for a time, and then they get buried in their closets until they get donated – at least this is the case at my house!
My kids love to create with their hands and can hardly sit still for more than ten seconds. They helped me create this list and I edited it to include only the things that lasted for more than a month.
Be sure and check out the other gift guides for 2019:
Enjoy!
1) Hoverboard: This hoverboard is the biggest splurge on the list here, but it has been going strong since we bought it “for dad” last Christmas and is the most loved toy on wheels we own. The creative play and fun they've had with this has been priceless. I'd like to mention that I think it was a good call on my part to gift it to dad, because it meant I only had to buy one and they know they have to share it. It wasn't quite my plan, but in retrospect, it was pretty genius.
2) Best Snow Pants: These are the ONLY snow pants I buy for my kids. They can take a serious beating (like kids sliding down barely snow covered rocks). The fleece vest is super cozy and keeps snow from going up their backs. There are lots of colors to choose from too. They are just simply the best!
3) SnowStoppers Gloves: To go along with the world's best snow pants above are the best kid invention I've ever seen. Gloves that stop snow from getting into their sleeves or hands because they pull all the way up their forearm. They never fall off, never get filled up with snow, and are impressively warm. They are also very durable and we've used no other brand since 2012.
4) Freezable Lunch Box: My daughter adores this lunch box and it keeps her food perfectly cold all day long. It's even still cold when she gets home from school. It has also proven to be durable enough to be dragged and thrown around (yep, even my daughter is a wild child).
5) Water Bottle: Love this water bottle! No yucky straw to keep clean, easy to drink from, and it doesn't leak. I've tried a ton of water bottles (just ask my husband, or don't, it's a touchy subject) and this one gets my gold star.
6) Alarm Clock: For kids who play hard, then crash hard at night. Mine can sometimes be hard to get moving in the mornings and these clocks have made all the difference. My kids love these alarm clocks! They are simple to use, no frills, have a nightlight, and are easy to read.
7) Watch: This watch has been dragged through it all and is still going strong several months later. My kids love having watches for racing each other, timing how fast they can clean their room, or seeing who can ride the Hoverboard the fastest (I shut that game down real quick). Affordable and durable!
8) Slime Kit: This kit is fantastic for letting the imagination go wild with the bonus of being a very fun sensory activity. My kids love slime and the slime that comes in this kit is a good one, not overly sticky or smelly. They can “decorate” their slime with beads, glitter, etc. I've bought 2 kits so far.
9) Big Life Journal: I've adored watching my daughter get excited to write in this journal. The journal prompts are so well thought out and they do a tremendous job at helping my daughter evaluate and express her thoughts. I will be buying one of these for my sons in a couple of years as well.
10) Jump Rope: Extra-long jump rope for jump roping and any other crazy ideas my kids come up with (like tying it to someone's bike while the other person pulls them on the hoverboard . . . it never ends). Excellent durability and the perfect weight for when they actually use it as a jump rope.
11) 3D Coloring Puzzle: Color it flat, then piece it together to see your masterpiece in 3D! Even I got excited to play with this one! The coloring is intricate so we got a lot of quiet hours out of this one.
12) Diamond Sticker: This is another therapeutic activity. Little dots, AKA diamonds, get placed on a sticker in a certain pattern to create a cute, dimensional sticker that ends up on bikes, notebooks, my planner, etc. I suggest buying one pack for multiple kids to share since it comes with several stickers to choose from.
13) I love you key chain: This one isn't exactly pertinent to the “active kid” theme, but my daughter loves seeing her side of the key chain at school and it warms my heart every time I see the other side hanging on my car keys.
14) Be Kind Bracelet: Another gift along the same lines as the key chain, this “Be Kind” bracelet is cute and a perfect, quiet reminder to my daughter of the kind of person she wants to be. I'd like to put one on every kids wrist in the school! What a great, multifunctional piece of jewelry!
15) How to draw animals: I'm shocked at how much this did to teach my kids to draw even beyond the book. The animals were cute and simple to draw and encouraged many more great masterpieces. My kids call themselves “artists” and I feel like a lot of it came from the confidence they gained from these books.
16) Best Night Light: I bought one of these for each of my kids and it was a great purchase. It shuts off after the time you set it for and emits a positively dreamy and relaxing shower of stars in the color of your choosing. If I'm being honest, I even took my sons for a couple of weeks so I could fall asleep to white stars circling above my head.
17) No Tie Shoe Laces: Swap their laces for these fancy, colorful bands. They make shoes extremely comfortable and make them easy to slip on and off all while securely holding them in place for adventures including, but not limited to, scouring mud hills in the freezing cold.
18) Snow Fort Builder: This seemed like a silly purchase at first with all the bowls I have in the kitchen, but I bought it anyways realizing that most of my bowls that get taken outside, don't always make it back into the house. This makes perfect “bricks” for building forts. Such a fun idea!
19) Brain Twister: Unlike a Rubix cube, this game brain game is actually possible to complete and keeps my kids focused for small bites of time. I like to throw them in my purse and pull them out in the car.
20) Digital Bookmark: Again, my kids just really like things that track time! This digital bookmark has been spectacular for encouraging nightly reading. It never gets lost because it stays with the book, it's easy to use, and I've never replace a battery in over a year.
21) Camera: Fun, fun, FUN! My daughter uses this to capture moments with her friends and cousins and they all get so excited to see them print out and slowly reveal a picture. I suggest buying it in this kit form because it comes with a very fun collection of borders, filters, extra film, etc. The images aren't top quality by any means, but for fun, giggles, and sharing, they are perfect.
22) Headsets: I'm so impressed with these headsets. They have lasted over a year, they have volume control so they won't harm their hearing, and they fold up and pack really well. They also block out sound well so they can hear their movie or music without needing to turn it up very much.
23) What Should Danny Do: I would like to give this author the biggest hug! These books have been read over an over again since last Christmas. As they read, they get to choose Danny's next step, and see what happens as a result of his actions. I saw light bulbs go off for both my boys while reading these books about the impact their choices can have on their day. They also get a big kick out of choosing all the bad choices for Danny to see how awful his day can turn out, haha!
24) Build or Boom Game: I'll confess, this game has resulted in tears a few times, but I've also used it to teach them how to lose in a more classy manner. The teammates pick a pattern to build, then use the building pieces to create the same pattern on a platform that's hooked to “dynamite”. The first one to successfully build his structure gets to BOOM down the opponent's structure by slamming their fist on to the opponents “dynamite” which will knock their structure over. That's possibly a confusing description, it's actually quite simple and my personal favorite game of the year.
I hope this helps make your Christmas shopping easier! We've loved all of these items so much and I can't wait for it to bring joy to the kiddos in your life too!
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!
Comment below to tell me your favorite kid buys!
Thank you! I added a bunch of these to my Amazon List!
Marcy, Awesome! I’m glad it could help!