The holiday season is upon us and it is time to check out some of the top gift ideas for the year! This gift guide includes some of our favorite educational gifts for kids!

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Educational Gifts for Little Ones

LeapFrog My Pal Violet Smarty Paws & My Pal Scout Smarty Paws

This snuggly update to the My Pal Violet and My Pal Scout toys features touch sensitive front paws. When kids hold both paws together, the toy starts singing and talking, offering songs, games, silly reactions, and mindfulness exercises. As soon as they release the paws, the noises stop, teaching little ones about cause and effect. You can even personalize the activities by programming Scout and Violet to use your child’s name, and their favorite food, color and animal. Scout and Violet also teach kids about words, counting, spelling, and feelings, and squeezing the toy’s ears and paws allows them to play over 40 fun songs. Night mode also offers an option to play soft, soothing music for up to 15 minutes. Ages 6 months+

LeapFrog Clean Sweep Learning Caddy

Do you have a kid who loves to help clean the house (or you wish they did)? The Clean Sweep Learning Caddy offers a chance for kids to engage in imaginative play while learning how to clean and follow fun and silly directions. Kids will love listening to the directions from the cute face on the bucket encouraging them to hop, dance, and move around while they clean up imaginary messes. Ages 3+

VTech Level Up Gaming Chair

Does your little gamer want to be just like you? This cute gaming chair gives kids a chance to act just like the big kids with their own gaming chair with joystick, pretend headphones, and removable interactive gaming tablet. The tablet teaches letters, numbers, animals, and music and includes gaming sound effects. The tablet can be easily removed from the tray, leaving it open for drawing, snacks, and more. Ages 1.5 years – 4 years 

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Snorble

This interactive companion is a game changer for bedtime routines! Snorble is an engaging character that helps families to encourage healthy habits and bedtime routines through fun games and activities. During the day, Snorble interacts with kids through games like dance party and story time, and activities like color identification, yoga, and meditation. At night, Snorble helps kids get ready for bed with familiar routines, and helps settle them down with bedtime stories, breathing exercises, and soundscapes. Snorble can even help them self soothe if they wake up in the middle of the night! (Where was this when Little Bookworm was younger!?)

CoComelon Ultimate Learning Bus

This interactive toy bus, inspired by the CoComelon animated series, features 2 modes of play: Music and Learning. In Music mode, kids can use the buttons and dials to sing 6 familiar songs. In Learning mode, kids can learn their colors, numbers, letters, and phonics. There is even a handle on the roof so little ones can push the bus along. Ages 18 months +

Reading Gifts for Kids

OSMO Learning System

This learning system offers an alternative to screen time with physical pieces that kids can use along with digital apps. The OSMO system works with Amazon Fire tablets and iPads, and the Genius Starter Kit includes a base, a reflector, and the physical pieces that kids can use along with the 5 included game apps. There are lots of adorable game kits that can be purchased separately and used with the OSMO system, covering math, coding, geometry, art, and more! Ages 6+

OSMO Reading Adventure

This new learn-to-read program uses the OSMO system to help kids build confidence in their reading skills. The kit comes with 4 leveled books and a wand, and pairs with interactive games in the app. The books feature short sentences with CVC words, sight words, and pattern text, making them easy for beginning readers to decode. In the paired app, users take a magical journey with Oliver and Nebula, two main characters who help kids to sound out words and match sounds. Kids can use the included crystal wand to interact with the books and make things happen on screen. This is a fun way to get kids excited about learning to read! Ages 5+

BYJUs Magic Workbooks

These workbooks bring learning to life with favorite Disney characters! Using the OSMO learning system, the BYJU’s Workbooks gives kids an opportunity to practice language and math skills. The workbooks pair with the BYJU’s learning app, so the camera can “read” the workbook page as kids fill them in. The app will correct their pages as they complete them, giving them real time feedback. The erasable pen means they can complete the pages over and over again. Kids can also explore the games and stories on the app featuring their favorite characters, and parents can track their child’s learning journey. Check out my full review of the system here! Ages Pre-K to 3rd Grade 

Related Post: Make Learning Fun with BYJU’s Magic Workbooks!

Toniebox

The Toniebox is  a screen free audio player that gives kids an opportunity to listen to stories and songs that they love. The box is a soft cube with a speaker, a magnetic top, and two small ears that control the volume. Kids can easily control the stories and songs by tapping and tipping the box. There are tons of adorable tonies currently available to pair with the box, and more are being released all the time. The collection includes stories from classic children’s books, Disney movies, Nickelodeon shows, PBS shows, and more! There are also tonies for mindfulness and bedtime routines, and recordable tonies for your own content. We use our Toniebox every single day and it is by far one of our favorite toys! Check out our full review here. Can be enjoyed by all ages, especially 3+

STEAM Gifts

Magical Adventures Microscope

This was one of the coolest toys I had the opportunity to see at the Holiday of Play toy show! This real working microscope allows kids to look at samples with up to 200x magnification. Young STEM lovers can also capture and save on-screen images, play fun games, and use the included smart slides to unlock BBC videos and images. There are also reusable slides included, allowing kids to explore things they find in the world around them as well. Ages 5+ 

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Spirograph Mandala Maker

This fun art kit takes the Spirograph fun a step further! Create soothing mandalas with the interchangeable Mandala wheel. The easy to use stencils and wheels snap into place, making it simple for users to create evenly spaced mandalas. There are colorful pens included in the kit, but users can use their own markers or pens as well. I have had a lot of fun using this one too. Check it out in use here! Ages 8+

Brainometry

This fun STEM kit from Learning Resources encourages kids to explore shapes and develop problem solving skills. There are 34 colorful shape pieces that kids can sort and use to solve 10 geometry challenges. Kids will love moving around the colorful pieces and creating different structures and solving puzzles.

Numberblocks

We LOVE Numberblocks, so we were excited to see new Numberblocks toys from hand2mind! These Numberblocks MathLink Cubes sets give kids a chance to bring their favorite Numberblocks episodes to life. The 1-10 set includes colored cubes, face plates, and stickers to create characters 1-10, while the 11-20 set includes the pieces to create characters 11-20. Each set also contains cards that introduce the numbers, and offer learning activities inspired by episodes of the show. Ages Pre-K – 1st grade

Numberblocks Stampoline

This fun stamp kit was inspired by the show Numberblocks. The set includes 20 stamps (1 blank square and 1 face for each Numberblocks character 1-10), plus 12 colorful ink pads and 2 large ink pads for facial features. The stamp blocks are reusable and the ink is washable so kids can reenact the popular episode over and over again! Ages 3+

Pixicade Pets

In this fun interactive game, kids have a chance to create their own virtual pets! Users start by drawing their own pets on paper, then scan them into the app and watch them come to life. They can also draw their own toys, treats, and homes for their pets. Once they bring their pets to life, they can take care of them, interact with them and play with them. This is a great way to combine screen time with real drawing time! Ages 6+

Playsmart Dice

This dice game gives kids a chance to practice math in a fun way! This set comes with 4 Playsmart dice, 20 chips, a rule booklet, and a travel bag so you can take the fun anywhere. There are 11 games that the dice can be used for, giving kids a chance to master various levels of mental math. Ages 6+

3Doodler

This 3D pen gives kids a chance to create structures and figures. When kids add the filament to the back of the pen, it starts coming out the other end. As kids draw their design, the filament starts to harden, so they can build on previous levels and shape the components. The starter kit comes with the pen, a USB cable for charging the pen, over 140 strands of filament and an instruction guide with design ideas. This is a fantastic starter kit for 3D printing, and the pen doesn’t get too hot, so it is safe for kids to use. Ages 6+

Toys to Get Kids Moving

Got2Glow Baby Fairy Finder

This follow up to the popular Fairy Finder gets kids moving as they attempt to find baby fairies hidden in the world around them. Unlike the original Fairy Finder, the Baby Fairy Finder is smaller and uses lights and sounds to direct users to the fairy being detected. Kids can also play 3 new games with their baby fairies, or transfer their baby fairies to the original Fairy Finder or the new Fairy Pet Finder to unlock rare fairies. Ages 5+ 

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Got2Glow Fairy Pet Finder

This new Fairy Pet Finder offers a chance for kids to find over 80 new virtual fairy pets! Each Fairy Pet Finder has 40+ fairies to collect, and fairies can be transferred between devices. Kids can carry their Fairy Pet Finder around and collect fairies from the world around them. They can also trade fairy pets with friends, and feed and engage with the fairies that they have collected.

Koosh Flix Sticks

This fun game plays like lacrosse, using a soft Koosh ball! It’s an easy way to introduce lacrosse to young kids, since the Koosh ball is soft and doesn’t bounce, which makes for easy catching. Ages 6+

What educational gifts for kids are you most excited for this holiday season? Share in the comments below!

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