It’s weird, these days. I’m generally grateful that my kids aren’t exposed to much advertising, but it becomes very noticeable around Christmastime. When I was a kid, I wanted lots of toys because advertisements had shown me what they did. Twenty years later, and I can still sing “Crossfire!” like the commercial. I wanted Skydancers so that they would fly for me, alright? I wanted all kinds of weird toys because commercials had shown kids playing with them and it looked like fun.
Now, Amazon and Walmart and Target and websites I’ve ordered from will send us toy catalogues, but it can be hard to gauge how fun a toy will be from a static image. There’s a definite tendency for kids (that seems stronger the younger kids are) to see a character they recognize and say “I want that! I want Mickey Mouse! I want Baby Shark! I want Pikachu!”
That’s fine… to an extent. But most kids don’t want to play with action figures all day every day. So, here’s a list of some of the toys my kids have enjoyed most that aren’t associated with a TV Show or videogame character. (I also have a list of great board games for younger kids that might help you out!)
Flying butterflies – Okay, these are less a gift in and of themselves and more a way to make any other gift cooler. Get a bunch, and wind one up inside the wrapping of another gift or put it on the floor under a gift. It will jump out at the kid (and yes, probably freak them out for a moment). Santa put a bunch of these under the presents he brought to our house a few years back and they got played with as much as any of the other toys and my kids were very regretful that the big red guy didn’t repeat the trick last year. They’re reminding him this year!
Balancing Stilts for Kids/Monster Feet/Dinosaur Feet – These things are cheap and great. I found them by chance when I was looking up stilts. They have a broad base so they can be used indoors without damaging floors, and the rope strings make it easy to adjust them for kids of any height
Water drawing mat – These things are freaking genius, okay? Your kid gets to “paint,” “use markers,” etc., but the worst mess you can have is a tiny amount of spilled water. The mat dries out in under a half-hour, so they can use it again and again. Oh, and it folds away so it doesn’t take up much space when not in use.
Foam Weaponry – Nerf discontinued its N-Force line, which is a tragedy because we have the axe pictured and it’s still going strong after over a decade, with only minor amounts of duct tape reinforcement. Still, there are TONS of options out there, including many different Minecraft-themed weapons. Do your kids a favor and let them hit each other with soft weaponry.
I also want to give a special shout out to the Zing Air Z-Tek bows, the only children’s toy I’ve ever seen fire foam arrows with force and accuracy. A Z-Tek arrow fired by my brother broke my mother’s Christmas village from two rooms away, and if that’s not a recommendation, I don’t know what is.
LCD drawing tablet – You can find things like this for $30-50 in retail stores, or you can find them 2 for $12 online. They’re like what Magnadoodle wanted to be: use a stylus to draw, hit a button to erase, fine detail is easy to produce. They do take batteries – the same weird flat kind your bathroom scale uses – but they generally come with them and a battery lasts a long-ass time since it’s only used when drawings are erased.
Tracing table – The only one of these I know of is Crayola’s. The concept is great for kids who like drawing/coloring, though, because it lets them produce “drawings” far beyond their personal skill level. Put a print-out of Pikachu back there, and suddenly your 3-to-5-year-old’s drawings of Pikachu go from “Uhhh… is it Mommy?” to fairly recognizable, which is very rewarding for them.
Smartivity building toys – Do you have a smart kid who likes building things? How would he or she like to build a real, working, programmable music box? Or a kaleidoscope, periscope, Rube Goldberg machine, or more? Yeah. Check this shit out.
KiwiCo Eureka crates or Tinker crates – a subscription gets a bit pricey, but any of the individual kits is honestly a steal at $15-$20 each. My kids have made articulating desk lamps, automated calendars, catapaults, color-changing LED lights where they could manipulate the color, and more. The instructions provided are good enough that they frequently need minimal to no help to complete the projects by themselves.
Jumbo waffle blocks – So, these take up a bunch of space. I recommend these only if A) the kids you intend to give it to live in a house you own or B) you have consulted with the owners of the house the children in question live in. They’re also a bit pricey. That said, we own two full sets and ours get played with a TON. It’s so nice to be able to just build a cage around your 2-year-old sibling and keep them in there. Surprisingly, the 2-year-olds are often into this game. Ours have also been made into boats, houses, mailboxes, and thrones. So many thrones. Thrones for days.
Backlit eInk eReader – Obviously, this isn’t a toddler gift, it’s for kids old enough to read independently. That said, it’s a great thing for them to own for many reasons. If they share a room, it makes it easier to read at night without bugging younger siblings. You can check out library books for them without needing to make a trip to the library. If a book they want isn’t available at the library, you can likely get the eBook more cheaply than a print book. Plus, the eInk screen won’t strain their eyes the way a LED screen would. It’s also a great thing for them to have for long boring car trips or any time they might need to sit around politely while adults are doing boring things.
Got other suggestions? Let me know, I might add them to my post!
