My boys are getting to these ages, so this is why I picked these. It is an age I am familiar with and love looking out for bits and pieces and toys that will stimulate their imaginations. Toys that will be played with day after day and always some crafty products thrown in. These are the gifts that are on my boys Christmas list or ones that I think they’d like or make great Christmas gifts for others their age. Are there any you’d like to add?
Pokemon Go has been HUGE this year. Pretty much every child has heard of it or has played it. My boys love Pokemon since this game came out, they play it on my phone when allowed and go long walks in search of elusive pokemon. This year there are a few Pokemon items on their Christmas wish list. The first up being Pokemon Moon or Sun for the Nintendo DS. Just like previous versions of these Pokemon series of games, players choose one of three Pokemon to be their partner to play out the story. So what are the differences between the two versions? There are version exclusive pokemon, sun will work with the real clock time on your DS and moon will skip ahead 12 hours and some other Totem Pokemon are different. Not massively different, just variants on the characters and time. At an RRP of £34.99, I am sure will be popular
with the school kids.
We love arts and crafts, this is something that I always include in my children’s Christmas gifts. This year I’ve went for a 3D option in the form of 3D Marker. This is such a great toy that allows kids to create their own masterpieces using the gel pens, kids can fill the moulds or stencils and then the 3D creation station will bring them to 3D life. Once you have the starter kit you can purchase more moulds and stencils to create all sorts of shapes. It doesn’t have to be just made with the moulds, you can create your own item freehand and let your imagination flow. We are looking forward to seeing what else we can make with this great piece of kit. What would you make? The starter kit is priced at £29.99 and is one that you can add to as they design more and more. I know my boys will love this.
I have included Skylanders Imaginators Crash Limited Edition Starter Pack as I recently reviewed it and think it is a great set. This would make a fantastic gift for any Skylanders fan or someone who is maybe getting a console for their Christmas. You can read more about what we thought in the review, but here is a bit about it. This Skylanders set allows kids to create the characters and bring them to life for the first time in this new adventure. With lots of fun puzzles, battles and tasks to complete in the adventure story. Prices vary, so do check around.
Music is something that all children love to make, whether they carry on with it or not is different. I myself play the harp and my oldest Lucas has recently started playing the trumpet at school, so when I came across the pBuzz, I knew it was something that he’d love and help him to learn. Plus my Tyler would love to have a go too. I think this will be on his birthday list just after Christmas. The pBuzz will allow your child to learn to play in minutes and discover the joy of playing music. The pBuzz is designed by musicians to make it simple for little ones to learn how to play music so they can progress onto other instruments with ease. Its simple to play and looks fun too. Priced at £19.99, I think this is excellent value for money and it may give them the gift of music for life.
Both my boys and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans. I loved the books when they first came out and when I became a parent, one of my favourite parenting moment was sharing my love of these books with the boys. And thankfully, they love them as much as I do. Lucas is reading his way through the books as well as us reading them together. I couldn’t have a Christmas wish list without including something from Harry Potter, especially with Fantastic Beasts being out. My top pick for this year is this Harry Potter Hogwarts Crest Light, since the boys have recently gotten new bunk beds with Harry Potter duvet covers, this would go great in their room. This looks great and can be bought in each of the Hogwarts school houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. At £19.99 I think these would make a great gift for any Harry Potter fans in your life.
As I said
above Pokemon has been a huge hit this year and I am sure it features on many a Christmas list this year. Now Pokemon trading cards, have been about for years, but with Pokemon Go, they seem to be back on the scene and my boys have been seen trading them with their friends at school. I am loving this set that is out which is Pokemon Red and Blue Collection: Pikachu EX Box. This particular set is from the 2oth anniversary celebration collection and comes with a print of Pikachu EX and a jumbo card too. There are 4 generation booster packs and a code for Pokemon TCG online. This box set looks the part and is £19.99, however, there are various different sets and collections available at a varying price range from places such as Argos, Asda, Smyths, Toysrus, etc.
Getting kids to brush their teeth can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. As th
ey get older the novelty of a cute toothbrush with their favourite character can wear off. This is where Playbrush comes into play, literally. Playbrush is an add on to your existing basic toothbrush, it fits onto the bottom and becomes a game controller. The playbrush then connects to your device using bluetooth and allows you to control the games on the app while your brush. The app knows where your child is brushing. Cool, huh! It is a lot of fun. The games are free and are updated to relate to seasons, eg. Christmas. There are lots of different options to purchase on the Playbrush site, from a very reasonable 1 year toothbrush subscription with free toothpaste, to phone holders and the Playbrush itself is at a reduced price of £19.99 just now. It makes a great gift for a child you know.
I mentioned Be My Bear in my preschooler Christmas gift list and I am mentioning it again here as this is something I am buying the boys and possibly for their birthday too. They both love soft, cuddly toys and Be My Bear not only do Christmas bears, but they do cute, super soft ones too and various other different characters. What I love about this bear is his cute brown nose, big feet and gorgeous fur. This kit comes with the bear skin, did I mention it was no sew, the stuffing, a little wish charm, birth certificate and a lovely bag. They are simple and easy to make and making them yourself makes them extra special. Plus you can buy different outfits and accessories to suit. These make fantastic gifts for any occassion and they also do Be My Bear party’s that you can have in your own home. I love this company and their website. Such a great idea and excellent quality products. Prices vary but start from as little as £6.99.
One of the boys most played with toy this year has to have been the Anki Overdrive which we reviewed earlier. This has to be one of the coolest toys we have ever came across. Anki Overdrive is the best car racing game in the world, the tracks are flat, fit together magnetically and there is no cars going flying off the track or getting stuck on the track. It just works and works well. The cars aren’t just cars, they are robots ready for battle, controlled via the app, in which you can upgrade your car or truck now. We couldn’t wait to try out the new trucks and they didn’t fail to wow us. Now Santa needs to bring a few more. The Anki Overdrive starter kit, gives you everything to get you starter and you can build on it. It’s not the cheapest, but it is worth it and it’s well made and a lot of fun. Anki have some offers on their site just now, so do check them out.
Being such book fans, I couldn’t have a Christmas wish list with books could I? Top of my list to get the boys this year is the fantastically talented Jennie Maizels books The Great Grammar Book and The Terrific Times Tables Books. I cannot tell you how amazing these books are. I have spent hours looking at these and being fascinated by the illustrations myself and I haven’t even let the boys see them yet. Honestly, why were these not about when I was younger, learning would have been way more fun. These books are designed to make learning fun with list the flaps, pull the tabs, turn the wheels and more to learn about grammar and times tables up to 12. I love these so much. You might think £14.99 is a little expensive for a book, but these are incredible and worth every single penny. I will definitely be buying more from this range. And while you are on, do check out her fab Sketchbook Club and other fab items.
As I’ve said we love crafts and I love this idea of a Kids Rainy Day Bundle. This bundle contains a great selection of toys, stickers and crafts to keep the kids occupied for hours. There are colouring door hangers, sand art pictures to make, a bubble gun for some bubble fun, sequin art, painting books, over 170 stickers and foil ones you can peel and rub to reveal. There is something for everyone here and it would make great stocking fillers for your to split up between a few kids. There are full instructions and the set looks great. These are one of the many gift packs from Ideal World if you fancy a look.
My kids are very active so we love to get something for Christmas that gets them outdoors, active and have some fun. Decathlon have put together 20 kits, for £20 or less, to help encourage adults and kids to try out a new sport or hobby or get the family together to have some competitive fun. The kits have a wide range some geared towards group activities and some for solo activities. I really love these kits, they are a great price and encourage a wide range of sporting activities. A few examples are baseball, football, basketball tennis and much more. There is a wide range of items on their website from ballet to boxing and everything in between.
What is on your child’s Christmas wish list? Is there anything that I should be adding? Let me know in the comments on on my social media channels.
Disclaimer:- I was sent some of the above items as stated in the post, others I have purchased myself. I’ve not been paid further for mentioning any of these products in this post. All words and opinions are my own and the links have been included out of courtesy.