As soon as the calendar flips to November, I am on a mission to purchase all my Christmas gifts before the month ends. Why? Because I love researching presents, choosing presents, price-comparing presents… basically everything having to do with giving presents except rushing to shop under pressure.
So I start early and take my sweet time, being careful to protect Thanksgiving and all it represents. Then December in our family is wonderfully free for the usual suspects: piano recitals, school concerts, church activities, baking cookies and spending precious time with family and friends. Plus I like to reserve a full day sometime in early to mid December to tune into Christmas music and wrap all the gifts while my girls are at school. It’s my favorite “me” day of the year.
Several years ago, I started a tradition of sharing my Christmas shopping list with you, my lovely blog readers. Each year the gifts have changed as my girls have grown, and many of you have reached out to say thanks for the ideas or to share your own. I love that we can connect over the joy of gift giving and celebrating Jesus’ birthday through generosity to others. {If you’d like to hear more about my philosophy on gift giving, I wrote about it here several years ago.}
More than a few of you have already asked when this year’s list is coming out. Eeek! So here it is, my friends—with plenty of time to shop stress-free! This year I’ve included items I’m planning to give my girls, plus some of my favorites from last year that have proven to be useful and well loved.
And don’t forget—there’s lots more where this came from! I keep a running list of my favorite year-over-year gifts, toys, books, games, etc. on my Amazon shop. Click here to see all the fun suggestions listed there, including gift ideas for kids and adults of all ages. New this year: a Best Baby Gear section, thanks to my sister-in-law!
Koolaburra boots by UGG—My seventh grader asked for a pair of UGGs, but seeing as how real UGGs cost about a trillion dollars, I was thrilled to find this more affordable option, still made by UGG but for half the price. These come in adult and youth sizes, and you can find them on Amazon or at Kohls.
The Land of Stories book series—These books by Chris Colfer are about twin siblings who magically travel into fairy tales and have all sorts of adventures. It’s a #1 New York Times best seller and highly recommended by several friends. My older daughter read one of the books last year for a book report in school, and she thought it was both entertaining and fascinating, which is saying a lot from the girl who holds most books against a Harry Potter standard. So I’m buying the series for my fourth-grader, who loves to get wrapped up in a good story. Her tastes in fiction fall along the lines of Percy Jackson and Wings of Fire.
Acrylic paint set—Both my girls have been asking for high quality acrylic paints; one for her DIY projects, and the other for her newfound fascination with Bob Ross. These are a step up from the cheap bottles of acrylics, with more concentrated pigments and smoother blending, yet they’re still washable (unlike oil paints), which makes Mom happy. I compared a bunch of options before settling on these for the high ratings, greater volume (36 ml per tube vs. 12 ml in many other kits) and reasonable price. Right now you can purchase a set of 18 tubes for $14.95.
Gravity Maze—I like STEM games for my science fan (nine-year-old). This is one I’ve had my eye on for a while, and I think she’ll enjoy the challenge of creating tower paths for a marble to pass through. Good for spatial reasoning and logic.
Telestrations—Hilarious family fun. My girls and I played this with a group of friends at a mother-daughter camp last spring, and we had a laugh-out-loud blast. It’s basically a visual game of telephone using your drawing skills (or lack thereof) and your wacky imagination. This game kept my kids and their friends entertained for hours. Highly recommend.
Farkle—This is our latest favorite game in the Kopitzke household. We got it for Christmas last year but only recently cracked open the box—and oh my goodness are we ever having a grand time with it. This simple dice game does require some math skills (recommended ages 8+) and our nine-year-old picked it up with no problem. It’s kind of a faster-paced version of Yahtzee with some risk-taking twists.
Kumi Kreator—Another gift from last year that my 12-year-old is still using… and in her own creative way. The Kumi Kreator uses a hand crank and basic embroidery thread (included in the kit) to twist and weave thick friendship bracelets, which are finished off with a clasp for easy on/off. The device is kind of loud and clunky but surprisingly effective. It does make sturdy bracelets. My daughter is using these bracelets not as jewelry but instead to hold together her collection of hair scrunchies. It’s pretty clever, actually. Refill packs are available when you run out of thread.
UFO hand-controlled drone—We bought one of these for our nephew’s birthday, and I’m thinking about getting one for our younger daughter, too. It’s a small rechargeable) battery-operated drone that moves wherever you guide it with your hand. And supposedly it has sensors to prevent it from flying too high or bumping into walls and other objects. I like that the propellers are caged so little fingers can’t get hurt.
Professor Noggin’s Trivia Card Games—I like to combine education and fun wherever possible, and these quick-trivia card games come highly rated on Amazon. I think I’m going to get the geography set for my fourth-grader, and possibly the wildlife set as well.
Camo Pocket Hoodie—I bought this for myself on a flash sale a few weeks ago, and my 12-year-old wants to steal it. {It’s a great hoodie. I can’t blame her.} I might get her one of her own for Christmas. It comes in tons of other patterns and colors, too.
Bones—Remember dissecting owl pellets in school? Yep. Gross. But… my science girl will absolutely LOVE picking apart these sterilized pellets to search for real animal bones. I’ve done a lot of research on which owl pellet kit to buy (can you believe there are dozens of them??) and I finally settled on this animal science kit on Amazon, mainly because it has the best bone chart and an educational booklet with extra info on careers in zoology and wildlife biology, which is right up my girl’s alley. Reviews say the owl pellets included in this kit are fairly small, but I can always buy additional jumbo pellets later, if she enjoys the process. One thing I’ll be adding to this package, though—a pair of rubber gloves. Ick.
Planner Kit—If you know a tween girl who’s into paper crafts and planners, Michael’s has a ton of options to make young crafters happy. From planner kits like this one to blank note card sets like this one (which I snagged for my seventh-grader because she’s always stealing mine), and tons of scrapbook paper packets in every color and print, I can always find a fun gift for my girls. I sign up for the Michael’s sale alerts and take advantage of their frequent coupons for 40% or 50% one item.
3D Night Light—My younger daughter likes to sleep with a small light on, and this one looks like the perfect solution. It combines her love of animals with her love of science (the “light” is actually a 2D piece of illuminated plastic that projects to appear three dimensional), plus it just looks super cool. It comes with a remote and can change colors on command. These night lights are available in all sorts of shapes, from dinosaurs to football helmets to unicorns and lots more in between.
Tinker Crate subscription by KiwiCo—Formerly called KiwiCrate, KiwiCo has expanded to offer a variety of educational craft and STEM project kits for kids of all ages (babies through teens). The kits come in the mail and include all the supplies and instructions your child will need to complete each project. You can purchase a single kit, or choose a monthly subscription for 3 months, 6 months or 12 months. The price per kit lowers the longer the subscription. And right now you can use the code GIFT to get a third of your months for free! My nine-year-old will love either the Tinker Crate (science and engineering for ages 9-16) or the Atlas Crate (geography for ages 6-11). I haven’t decided which one to get her yet. Click here for all the options.
For lots more kid-tested, mom-approved gifts for kiddos of all ages, check out my Amazon Favorites Shop. And let me know what your favorite gifts are, too! I love sharing ideas!
Happy shopping,
Becky