Holiday Gift Guide for Creative Kids

Looking for the perfect holiday gift guide for your kids? This one is perfect for encouraging creativity in little minds!

‘Tis the season, friends! After Halloween it’s officially Christmas season, right? I actually love Thanksgiving too and get a lot of joy from the entire holiday season. For the past few years we’ve hosted Thanksgiving, which has been great. I love the feeling of putting a meal together and then seeing everyone enjoy themselves.

But there is something extra special about Christmas

Especially once you have kids, Christmastime takes on a whole new level of excitement. The urge to spoil our kids with loads of gifts can be pretty compelling, and I definitely went overboard my first Christmas as a mom! Since then I’ve learned the value of having SPACE in my house and not toy clutter, so I’m considerably more picky about what we get. I also think having a million toys everywhere overwhelms kids to the point where they can’t really enjoy any of it. For this reason, I wanted to share a holiday gift guide for kids that focuses on active play.

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I like to focus on toys that will grow a bit with my kids. Maybe it’s something they can use in more advanced ways as they get older, or maybe it’s something that simply never gets boring! I also look for toys that don’t have a ton of sound. It seems like my little ones have more fun if their toy isn’t telling them how to play with it. After all, they should be doing the thinking themselves! Lastly, it’s VERY important to me that it’s something that will encourage creativity. Dress up clothes, blocks/legos, dolls. Open-ended toys give limitless possibilities for how your children can play with them!

With all that in mind, here is our holiday gift guide for kids to inspire creativity this Christmas:

1. Play Kitchen

Mimicking what they see adults do is a huge aspect of playtime for kids. And of course in addition to your kitchen you have to get some good eats to pretend eat! This taco set is the perfect way to teach the importance of Taco Tuesday from a young age 😉

2. Legos

Building is such a great way to stimulate kids’ minds, and it helps the little ones work on their fine motor skills. This is a good starter set, and the best part is you can just keep adding to it as they get older.

3. Puppet Theater

A puppet theater that hangs in the doorway is just genius! My favorite part is when you aren’t using it, you can just take it down and roll up to keep it out of the way. Don’t forget to get a set of puppets, like this one, to go with it.

4. Art Easel

Simple artistic expression is so great for little minds! Having both a dry erase side and chalkboard side is perfect for multiple kids using it at once, or just to have different options.

5. Unicorn/Dragon Wings

Dress up clothes in general are always a hit, but unicorns and dragons are especially popular right now. These wings can be a versatile addition to their dress up collection! In addition to the unicorn and dragon, there’s also wings for birds, fairies, butterflies, moths, and owls!

6. Play-Doh Kits

Every kid loves Play Doh, but did you know there were differently themed kits to step up your creations? Check out this construction kit or this pizza kit to add some new inspiration!

7. Flower Press

Going on nature hunts is a fun pastime for kids, and with this flower press they can save some of their findings!

8. Magnetic Building Tiles

I am so pumped for Lulu to finally be old enough to appreciate these awesome magnetic building tiles. It’s the perfect STEM activity that gets more fun as the kiddos get older!

9. Small Trampoline

Any kid would flip out (pun intended) over a full size trampoline if your budget and backyard allow for it. But for the rest of us, this small trampoline will do just fine for burning off some of your little one’s energy!

10. Housekeeping Set

As funny as it can seem at times, kids truly do love to repeat what they see us do. Even with something like cleaning! Encourage their interest to become a good habit by getting them a housekeeping set like this one to help out with.

11. Little Passports

Little Passports is a super fun subscription box sent to your home every month. Being able to combine fun, learning, AND quality time is always an awesome thing! Not to mention you get a TON of stuff for less than $20/month.

For another great subscription box option, check out this post for a review of Kids Night In Boxes.

12. Nature Explorer Kit

This gift is the perfect combination of pretend play and adventure. Your kids can dress up as explorers and go searching for bugs and plants!

13. Dollhouse

Playing with dolls is a fantastic way to develop a thriving imagination. This dollhouse is an adorable home for your kids’ dolls to live in, without being too complicated or expensive.

14. Pipe Building Set

This pipe building set is yet another great STEM activity to combine learning and fun. They can hone in their ability to focus and create by building different designs.

15. Little Kids Big Books of Why

Books are universally a great idea for raising creative kids. For the parents stuck in the ” why, why, why, why, why… (continue on for eternity)” phase, try out National Geographic’s Little Kids First Big Book of Why.

16. Walkie Talkies

If you had walkie talkies growing up, you already know how much fun they can be. The imaginative play that kids can come up with just by playing with walkie talkies is endless!

17. Kinetic Sand

Kinetic sand is the perfect sensory play activity. Manipulating the sand in different ways feels super cool for kids, and they can get as creative as they want with what they build. The best part is it stays all together, so you don’t have to worry about a sandy mess anywhere!

18. Superhero Cape and Mask

Pretending is such a huge part of how kids play. Little boys and girls alike can have so much fun with these superhero capes and masks! My daughter got some of these as party favors at a friend’s birthday party a few years ago, and they are still one of her favorite things to play with.

19. Water Beads

Another great option for sensory play, these little water beads can be used in so many ways. One of the most convenient things about these little guys is that you can reuse them over and over again.

20. Car Playmat

Pretending with cars is such a fun activity for kids! A play mat like this one can be used for more than just cars too. It has an entire little city on there to play with doll figurines, cars, animals, and anything else your kids can think of! These are a perfect addition to the play room.

I hope this holiday gift guide for kids has been helpful! What are some of the things you plan on getting your little ones this year?