Over the past few years I’ve shared a few different themed gift guides – including sustainable presents for kids and teens, but this year I’m sharing some of my personal favourites that are both educational and fun. This guide includes gifts that I’ve got for my own little family members (shhh don’t tell them!) as well as some presents that I’ve donated to the Christmas gift appeal at my local charity The Benjamin Foundation.
I’m starting with something for the littlest ones first. Magicube is part of Geomag but the building blocks are suitable for younger ages at 1-5 years and it helps them to learn about magnetic forces from a very young age. It allows them to construct their designs in a variety of different ways so they can use their imagination while they’re playing.
One of the things that first drew me to this system is the 100% recycled plastic used to manufacture the blocks and when I discovered that it’s also an early STEM activity, I knew it would be ideal for pre-school children to get started on their learning journey. Let’s be honest, anything that’s screen-free is a bonus for kids, right?!
It can be difficult to find games that are suitable for toddlers to play but this Save The Bees game from the V&A Dundee shop is ideal for ages 3+. It’s packaged in a wooden box that doubles up as the playing board, as well as providing a lovely place to store the bees, coins, rings and flowers.
Seeing as bees are SO important to our planet’s ecosystem, I thought this would make a great gift to teach little ones about this, while also being a fun game for kids to play. The task helps children to develop their dexterity and problem-solving skills, which is an added bonus for this colourful kit.
Moving on to school-aged children, I love the idea of getting them away from their tablets or TV shows and engaging them in a funny game. This version of the classic charades game is suitable for ages 6+ and has actions that most children will be able to demonstrate – and the adults too!
The fact that Kids Charades is a team game makes it great for developing children’s team-working skills and we all know just how funny (and often riotous!) a game of charades can be. It’s a Christmas essential and I’m sure you’ll all be playing it during the school holidays, which is great for keeping the kids active and engaged.
One of the criteria of my gift guide this year was to make sure that the gifts had an eco-friendly focus and this one couldn’t be more suitable for that. Rush to Recycle is a board game that can be played cooperatively or competitively by children aged 4-8 years. It encourages the correct sorting of recycling before the recycling truck arrives – yes, I AM the kind of person who thinks that rubbish-sorting is a fun task haha!
The game itself is constructed mostly of cardboard (so it is actually recyclable itself, not that you’d want to bin it!) with a wooden truck and dice. It’s an easy game to understand and fun to play – again, getting children away from screens and interacting with other players. Plus, I love the sustainable message behind it. Like Save The Bees, it’s also available from the V&A Dundee museum shop.
If you enjoyed playing Guess Who as a youngster (and let’s face it, many of us still enjoy playing it now) can you imagine just how much fun it would be to play the same elimination game with dinosaurs instead? I love that the addition of dino characters by the National History Museum has turned this into an educational gift as well as a fun game. Plus, it’s great for all ages – I can’t wait to have a game with my family this Christmas. It’s available from the Natural History Museum shop.
I hope this gift guide has given you some inspiration for your festive shopping. Plus, I’ve already shared a selection of handmade presents for adults from my favourite Etsy shops and I’ll be adding my gift guide for teens shortly, so watch this space! Merry Christmas! 🙂
Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂
