Have you ever heard people joke about getting an extravagant gift for a child, and all the recipient wanted to do was play with the box? That’s because for all the bells and whistles you can find attached to today’s toys, the fact remains that children love any opportunity to imagine, create, and pretend. And as a parent and educator, I love to give kids that opportunity! Here, you’ll find some of my favorite gift ideas for igniting that spark!
*This post contains affiliate links to products I genuinely believe you’ll enjoy!
Let’s Build
Gears! Gears! Gears! Super Set – 150-Piece Set
LEGO Ultimate Building Set – 405 Pieces (6166)
Marble Race Deluxe
Melissa & Doug 60-Piece Standard Unit Blocks
Let’s Pretend
Melissa & Doug Cook’s Corner Wooden Kitchen
Deluxe Wooden Furnished Dollhouse
Melissa & Doug Pizza Party: Ask your neighborhood pizza place for menus and a takeout box and you’re set!
Lillabo 20-piece basic train set : These tracks fit the wooden Thomas brand trains at an incredible price!
Let’s Read
Nighttime Ninja
Brontorina
One Spotted Giraffe
Duck! Rabbit!
Let’s Create
Kiwi Crate Subscription: It’s a gift that keeps on giving — and creating — all year long!
Scratch Art Magic Rainbow Black
Easel from IKEA : Another stellar deal from IKEA!
Creative Kits: Build a Fairy Box, Playdough Cupcake Making Kit, Spin Art (Just an inexpensive salad spinner and paints!)
What are your favorite gifts that encourage creativity?
*This post contains affiliate links to products I genuinely believe you’ll enjoy!
I like that easel! We’re giving our kiddo lots of crafting supplies and several books this year. She’s also getting a subscription to Sparkle Stories from her grandparents that I’m excited about.
I love the idea of subscriptions, and I hear Sparkle Stories are fantastic!
A note about the Ikea train set: yes the Thomas trains fit the tracks BUT they are taller than the Ikea trains and so will not fit under the bridge. Major bummer.
Good point — some of the trains are too tall for the tunnel. We have both the train set and the unit blocks pictured above, so when we ran into the problem we pulled some blocks that were the same length and set the tunnel on top of those to make it a little taller.