Thursday, November 10, 2016

Christmas Gift Guide - Kids Edition

I don't think it's just me... but the time in between Halloween and Christmas always FLIES by!  I feel like I blink and it's New Years.  That said, I like to get my shopping done early so that I can get everything wrapped and then spend my time baking, watching movies and being with my family instead of running to the mall ;)

The way we do gifts for our kids at Christmas is one larger gift from Santa that's left out (and unwrapped) in front of the Christmas tree in the morning.  Last year Griffin got this dollhouse and the boys got a WII U.

This year Griffin is getting the Willa Wellie Wisher doll from American Girl (or on Amazon HERE)


... and the boys are each getting a Star Wars Lego set.  



Griffin LOVES her baby dolls.  LOVES them!  I don't think she's ready for a full-size American Girl doll yet and the Wellie Wishers line has awesome reviews for younger girls.  She is going to FLIP OUT when she sees her!  As much as I was trying to avoid Legos because HOLY LEGOS they're all over their rooms... that was pretty much their entire Christmas lists and so Santa listened :)

After the Santa gifts the kids each get three gifts from me and Dave and those are typically smaller gifts than their Santa presents.  There are SO MANY PRESENTS over various celebrations and between us, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. we feel like three (plus stockings and their Santa present) are plenty.

So... here is a list of things that my boys either have and love or things that they're receiving this year.

The boys love doing puzzles.  We have this one and have done it twice already...




... and this one looks equally fun. They're more of Luke's level, but Mason loves finding the edge pieces and helping to sort the pieces by color.


Rummikub is probably our very favorite game to play.  Griffin is too young, but both the boys TOTALLY get it and we have the best time playing it.  


We also love Zingo and the sight word version is on it's way to us as well.


This marble run set is going to be one of Mason's gifts...


... and I can't wait for Luke to open this Snap Circuits set.  I read TONS of reviews on Amazon and they are overwhelmingly positive.  This kind of thing is right up his alley and I'm so excited for him to get to play and explore a bit.



Magformers are one of my favorite things to give the kids because all three of them can play with them and I think they're one of those toys that we'll have forever.  We have multiple sets and just throw them all in a big tupperware because they can all be used together.


Each of the boys is also getting an alarm clock :)  My hope is that this will help get them out of their rooms during the week and in their beds on the weekends. hahaha  A girl can dream!


And here are a few other fun gift ideas...







Griffin has been all about playing "band" and so we picked up this guitar and this microphone for her and her brothers to perform :)


She also wants to be a "zoo doctor" when she grows up and so she's getting this doctor set and a set of personalized pink scrubs :)





She also plays A LOT of pretend restaurant (See a theme here???) and she's going to flip over this dessert set.


This set of flowers is one of Griffin's most played with toys.  It is so much fun and I can't recommend it enough.

Griffin received this tea set last year and plays with this all the time as well.



Now for stockings!!!  

I think everyone has their own traditions revolving around Christmas stockings - in Dave's family all of his cousins got the exact same things in their stockings at his Grandma's house on Christmas morning.  An orange, an apple, a pack of gum, a package of pencils, etc.  In my house growing up, our stockings were always waiting at the feet of our beds filled with little toys, stickers. etc.  My brother Mark and I had a pretty great system... whoever got up first would grab their own stocking, head to the other ones bedroom and we'd go through each other's stockings until the set time we were allowed to go wake up my parents :)   This was pretty GENIUS on my parents part. hahaha

Whenever the designated time rolled around, we would take our stockings to our parents bed and we'd take turns going through each of our stockings (my parents stockings were always at the foot of their bed as well).  After we spent some time going through stockings, we'd head downstairs and do the rest of our presents.

With our kids, we do stockings in our bed first thing in the morning.

 The first few years of doing stockings for our kids I feel like we made "rookie mistakes".  I hit up the dollar store and felt like I got a lot of bang for my buck, but most of it ended up in the trash within the first few days.  Since then, we put a little more "quality" rather than "quantity" and fill it up with some essentials that the kids need along with fun things for them as well.

CLICK ON THE LINKED PICTURE TO BE TAKEN TO EACH ITEM ;)

The boys get several essentials in their stockings, like socks, underwear and usually a pair of pajamas. (click on the pics to view the items)


  
GapGapGapGap 

As far as the toy/fun items go, we keep it pretty simple.  Here are some ideas (I shared several of these last year as well!)


Crayola Twistable Colored Pencils, 12 count (68-7408)           


  Candy Blox ~ Bulk 2 Lbs ~

     J!NX Minecraft Toy Action Figure Hanger Set Kingfansion (3-Inch 10-Piece) Series 1  

Keep in mind my boys stockings will NOT contain all of those :) hahaha 

I also typically throw in a package of their favorite fruit snacks or other kind of special lunch treat that we may not get all that often.  Luke ALWAYS asks for one of those giant containers of cheese balls from SAMs as well. hahaha  I have a feeling that even as an adult Dave and I will be buying him the tub of cheese balls every Christmas :)


And here are a few ideas for Griffin's stocking!



 Diane Rubber Bands - 250 Pack - ClearOral-B Pro-Health Stages Doc McStuffins Power Kids Toothbrush 1 Count


  Crayola  Ultraclean Broadline Classic Washable Markers (10 Count)


30 Jumbo Toddler Lacing & Stringing Beads with String & Tote - Montessori Preschool Fine Motor Skills Toys for Occupational Therapy and Autism OT  
 


Play Visions Crayola Bath Dropz 3.59 oz 60 Tablets


Here's hoping that you found a couple of ideas today and got a start (or finish!) on your shopping list. 

Next week I'll share some ideas for husbands, sisters, friends and teachers!  

 So... have you started shopping?  Are you done with your list?  Do you prefer to shop online or love the hustle and bustle of the mall around Christmas?  Spill in the comments!

Happy Thursday, Friends!

PS - This post contained affiliate links... which means that if you clicked on an item and made a purchase I may receive a commission.  THANK YOU for reading and supporting my blog! :)

30 comments :

  1. I know I'm already making a list and checking it twice too!

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  2. I love shopping in the mall and at all the stores because I love seeing all of the decorations. But, I only love it in November. In December I don't want anything to do with stores. So, I try to get all of my shopping done before December 1st. I'm with you on quality over quantity in stockings and buy many similar things for my kids' stockings. I always put band-aids in their stockings. I know it's so silly, but we need them and they love getting new character ones.

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    1. I could totally agree with the November vs December thing. Band-Aids are a great idea!

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  3. Eek!!! This reminds me I've gotta get on it! I've only bought ONE present so far!

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  4. Love all your gift ideas! Snap Circuits are going to be such a hit! My son loved them for years!

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  5. Thank you for the zingo sight word game! We are in the trenches of sight words with our 4th kid. I can't stand doing sight words. Now we can make a game of it and maybe I can get her brothers and sister to help out too.

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  6. Those mermaid slippers are a MUST!!! Love!!!

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  7. I'm getting serious about present buying, too! This magformers are the best toy ever!! Everyone in our house loves them!

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  8. I look forward to your Christmas posts so much! I have my boys almost done, still debating on what the big, Santa gift will be. I absolutely LOVE the tub soup toy! I picked up some magformers already too!

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  9. I'm already done shopping for my kids but now seeing your lists I want to get more! My son only wants lego sets too and we already have so many but how can I not get the one thing he wants, he's also super into the Star Wars ones :) Oh and we love Zingo so much!! Such a fun game

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  10. Great list! I can attest to the greatness of zoobs and magnaformers. Otherwise it's hot wheels all the time over here.

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  11. Andrea! I'm almost 30 and my parents still buy me the giant container of cheese balls for my stocking for Christmas because #tradition. I look forward to it every Christmas and now my own son loves them too so we share it. It is such a sweet memory for me and I'm so glad you have that with your kids!

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  12. I like your ideas! My son is Luke's age so it's fun to compare my list to yours.

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  13. Loved this post! Please please do an "adult" edition too! I always love having more ideas!

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  14. Oh my gosh, the card holder for little hands is genius! These are all great ideas. We got Magformers last Christmas and they were a big hit!!! I teach 2nd grade and I'm thinking I might get the paper airplane and straw rockets kits as gifts for my classroom, and have fun with them the week before the break!! 😄

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  15. Love all the ideas. My son loves the SW legos and asked for those too. He is just now really getting into Legos. He also asked Santa for the Lego Technic Drag Racer. It's one of those sets where it is 2 in 1. That will be his big thing. He is also getting that Darth Vader alarm clock. I am all done shopping for most of my gifts. Just have some odd and end ones to finish. It feels so good and I am like you, I want to hang out at home and bake and watch movies in Dec. I also think a little live pets set is going to be a hit for my son too. Haha!

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  16. I bought my Goddaughter one of the Circuits toys for her birthday in August and it was HUGE hit! Thanks for the ideas, I have a handful of little ones to buy for and I like to get things that are tried and true.

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  17. We are getting our 7 year olds a Wii U for Christmas this year. How have your kids liked it? What games do you recommend? Thanks!

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  18. Oh yay! I can't tell you how helpful this is! I'm always at a loss for my nieces and nephew. We always get them a toy and a book. They are just about your kiddos ages and I'm so thankful you put this together! They will be getting something from this list. THANK YOU!!

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  19. We love those Ravensburger puzzles. Right now we have a five and a two year old so we always get the 100 pieces puzzles. So far we have ordered two for Christmas!

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  20. Love this post! My niece is a bit younger than Griffin, did you do a post like this last year? Or have favorites of hers from last Christmas? Thanks! :-)

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  21. We LOVE Rummikub!!! Our latest favorite is Mexican Train Dominos. Looking forward to getting to play games over the holidays!

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  22. I have been patiently waiting for your Christmas recommendations to come out! It's great! Thank you!!!!

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  23. I'm giving Shrinky Dinks as a stocking stuffer. Hope my boys love them as much as I did!

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  24. Just bought a lot of your boy stocking recommendations (I have 4 boys)! Thank you :)

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  25. I just bought a bunch of your boy stocking recommendations. Thank you :)

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  26. I feel like Legos are all over my house too! And yet, that's what my girl wants for Christmas. Specifically Lego Friends. But what drives me nuts is that we will build it, then a couple weeks goes by and she's picked it all apart to make her own creations. Which is great to see her so creative and all and that's kind of the purpose of Legos, but still. Sometimes I want to go all Lord Business and super glue them together after they are built. (Lego movie joke) 😉
    Also, I thought I was done shopping for my girls, but I had to go look at that stink in' cute American Girl doll you listed above. And then I saw the one where you can buy an accessory pack and give the doll a mermaid tail and my oldest is crazy about mermaids, so I had to get it. Geez.
    Love your blog. 😃

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