Holiday Toy Recommendations
Written by Kayla Knowlton
It’s that time of year, holidays are quickly approaching and the deadlines for purchasing gifts for the children in our lives gets closer and closer everyday. If you’re like me, sometimes it’s easy to run out of ideas for gifts to buy for the littles in your lives. You might question whether a toy is appropriate, if they will actually play with it, if it’s fun? It can be an overwhelming process. Here is a little gift guide I have put together based on my experiences as a play therapist, an early childhood behavior consultant, and a care-giver to the children in my life!
My Picks for Inspiring Creativity
Playdough and Clay
It’s a classic! Playdough, or any other brand of molding clay is an excellent activity for children of all ages. It encourages them to be creative, comes in a variety of colors, and assists in fine motor coordination. It’s a real hands-on activity and a fun way to be creative! Be mindful of buying Playdough sets, some of the sets are marketed as a singular use system (this one makes desserts, this one makes pizzas) and it really gets in the way of children’s creativity and freedom to explore with play.
For an added adventure try some of the bake-at-home molding clays. This can be a fun way to turn your child's creativity into Christmas ornaments, toys, and decor!
Legos and Building Toys
Legos and other types of building toys are an excellent gift for kiddos. It opens avenues for creativity, incorporates fine-motor skills, and engages them in problem-solving. The best option is buying loose Lego or block sets. Many building toy options these days have been marketed as sets, with specific goals for creating a one-focus product. I recommend staying away from these because they limit creativity!
Art and Craft Supplies
For fun and creativity, there’s nothing better than arts and crafts supplies!
Crayons, markers, colored pencils, glue, glitter, construction paper, sketching paper (sometime I use plain old printer paper), paints, and so much more!
Providing art and craft supplies allows your kiddos the freedom to be creative and explore a variety of artistic avenues.
Toys that get you moving
Kids have a lot of energy and A LOT of needs when it comes to development and movement. With the increase of indoor time due to weather patterns and the increase of technology use overall, which leads to extra sitting, it’s really important to supply our kiddos with opportunities to engage in movement while playing! Luckily, there are tons of cool toys out there that keep kids active and can be adaptable to indoor and outdoor use!
Check out some of these:
Phlat Ball- This toy is such a cool creation! It helps promote movement and incorporate both fine and gross-motor skills.
Wubble Ball Collection- Wubble offers some amazing AND cool ball products! Some of their products are clearly more commercialized and intended to partner with other companies, but they really do have some great products that are fun for kids (and adults too)!
Hopper Balls- They literally get you bouncing!
Board Games that Build Togetherness
I personally am a lover of board games! I think they are a wonderful way to practice interacting with others, and to learn skills that can be beneficial in life. One of my LEAST favorite things about some board games is the overt competition and the effect competitive games can have on development and emotional regulation. Competition can be a good thing if it’s introduced in a healthy way. Personally during early childhood I think it’s important to focus on cooperation vs. competition. We need to allow our children to learn how to interact with peers and engage in teamwork before we introduce them to types of competition they may not be ready for, which makes it hard to regulate. Thankfully, we have a lot of wonderful game creators out there who are promoting collaboration in children and family board games! Say goodbye to those tear filled Monopoly nights and try out some of these:
Hoot Owl Hoot- By Peaceable Kingdom
Race to the Treasure- By Peaceable Kingdom
My Very First Orchard- By HABA- This game is created for children as young as 2 !
Gifts for Imaginative and Real-Life Play
When it comes to playtimes, children get a lot from exploring their imaginations, as well as engaging in real-life play. It offers them the opportunity to explore concepts they are exposed to in their world. Offering opportunities to engage in nurturing and care-giving play, identity exploration, aggressive play, and so much more.
Dress-up and Role-Playing Toys
Dressing up can be loads of fun! Allowing kids to play out numerous roles. Try to find some gender-neutraloptions for dressing up!
Additional toys to assist kids in role-playing can also be a great idea! Especially for normalizing and playing through emotions related to doctors, scientists, chefs or caregivers, first-responders, and so much more!
Dolls
Dolls are a great gift for boys and girls to play out caregiving themes! I encourage parents, educators, and caregivers to select diverse and neutral dolls. Some wooden doll sets even allow you to design your own dolls offering an extra opportunity for creativity. Toys like Barbies and Bratz are often over-sexualized and can be harmful to developing brains, especially regarding identity and ideas about sex and gender.
Odds and Ends
Many other toys assist kids in healthy forms of play! Puppets, animal figures, dinosaurs, cars, and other items allow kids to really explore the world through their own language! These toys offer children the opportunity to act out their emotions, themes in their lives, and family dynamics through the language of play!
Hopefully this list has been helpful in providing some ideas for excellent toys to purchase! Whether it’s for a holiday celebration, birthdays, classrooms, or simply to have at home, these are gifts I highly recommend that align with the developmental needs of our kiddos. The items in these lists are available online and in most stores.