Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Gift ideas?

I was wondering if anyone might have any good gift ideas for 5 to 7 year olds?

Whenever Christmas comes around, my first thought is always that this is a good opportunity for us to add to the fun learning opportunities in the house. Honestly, I sometimes wish we could give them more gifts throughout the year (wouldn't tell them that, though). Yes, I know we can stimulate them with cardboard, scissors and markers and we do, but I also love the toys. I'm a bit of a big kid at heart.

Our boys love most building toys (Lego, Magformers, straws and connectors, zoobs), science kits, and reading. If anyone wants book ideas, I have lots.

Other than those, what are some of the educational toys that have been the biggest hits around your house?

Snap circuits, a good microscope, and board games. Life is the favorite board game right now but I just got Wildcraft and Prime Climb. I'm sure we'll play those this weekend and I'll try to get back on to review them for you. My boys are 6 and 9.

I second things like building a circuit board, microscope, science kits, legos ect if the child is interested in the areas of science and technology. Such provides hours of both knowledge and a medium to let imagination run wild.


FWIW for me my ideal toys at that age were things to take apart like radios and hair dryers. My mother would also throw in an analog ohm meter and a few 9 volts lol.

I second the snap circuits, legso, Keva wood tile kits, etc.

Also, art supplies can be a good gift. Decent quality ones may be more useful for a kid who is interested in art - some of the kid stuff is fine, but some are just junk and might frustrate a child rather than foster their interest.

The gift idea thread from about this time last year may be: Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat (2015).
The 2014 thread is here.

The Davidson Database also has a list of Gift Ideas for Eager Young Minds.

Other threads with gift recommendations include:
- Book/toy suggestions for science-y 7 year old,
- drawing books,
- Chess Set Recommendations,
- Science kit recommendations,
- games for preschoolers,
- Board games for little kids,
- Cricket magazine,
- Graphic novel recommendations.

This post mentions some ideas and considerations for charitable gift-giving.

Happy for the suggestions so far, especially the idea of old electronics to take apart!

I love toy recommendations that come with a parental endorsement. I love lists too, but I get a little lost with them (I want to get everything recommended). Speaking of parental endorsements, do any of your kids have a Rokenbok set and if so, do they like them? They look great, but I'm wondering whether they worth investing in considering that we already have tons of Lego?

And I also have recommendations: Our boys love ThinkFun logic and brainteaser games - Rush Hour, River Crossing, Shape by Shape, Hoppers. The SmartGames games are also great (Camelot Jr., Camouflage North Pole, IQ Twist, etc.). They're great because they're individual games, so they can actually play quietly. We often bring one or two out when things get a little too crazy around the house, and it works wonders.

And to your point on charitable gift giving indigo, I love that as well. We do a fair bit of volunteering and always involve our kids, and we also want to do something special at Christmas. One thing I've done with friends in the past was to make Christmas stockings for the homeless - we stuff new socks with things like deodorant, small sized shampoo bottles, chocolates, etc. We might repeat that one this year if there's still an organization that delivers them.

My daughter received a subscription to a Tinker Crate (http://www.kiwicrate.com/tinker) for Christmas last year. Even though the recommended age is 9-16, and she was only 8, all of the kits have been perfect for her. If you don't think your kids are quite ready for a Tinker or Doodle crate, they also sell a Kiwi Crate subscription that is geared towards 5-8 year olds.

I love this gift because she gets a new project in the mail every month, which is exactly the "more gifts throughout the year" that you wanted. We wrapped the first box up and put it under the tree, and she received another one in the mail each month after that. We are doing the same thing again this year.

My DS loves building stuff so we got him the ZomeTool (http://www.zometool.com/). It was a hit. You can start with a small kit and move up to the larger ones if your kids like them. We've also gotten him Brain Games books since he loves solving puzzles. He once played Bananagram with a group of kids and adults and he loved it. So it is on our gift list for this Christmas.

Wildcraft game is a hit!

Take a look at UGears - may be advanced for a young child but will appeal to the child in you :-)