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Family Holidays Parenting

Unique Gifts for Kids

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This post may contain affiliate links.

When it comes to gift giving in our family, I try to really be creative. I get tired of the typical things and like to come up with things that are out of the ordinary. With Christmas coming I wanted to share some unique gifts for kids that will surprise and delight your little ones! (I received several of these products for free and was compensated for my time in writing this post, but all thoughts are my own.)

 

Unique Gifts for Kids

Awesome & Unique Gifts for Kids

Experience gifts:

Give Museum or Zoo season passes or trips instead of presents.  This year we are opting to gift our kids a season pass to one of our favorite local museums.

I have a friend who does not do gifts, they go on a family trip instead. Their kids unwrap the destination at Christmas time! This is such a fun idea!

subscription box for kids

Subscription boxes are a fun gift idea for kids. They deliver fun things each month There are so many different ones available!  We have tried a few great ones including: Pley (Toy rentals), Junior Explorers, Kiwi Crate, The Adventurous Mailbox, and Bitsbox.

Creative Gifts to Read:

Books and Magazines are an awesome gift idea!  We love magazines at our house. I have gifted magazine subscriptions to my kids a few times. They love them all year long! Check out my post on Fun for Kidz Magazines for a fun subscription idea. We also love the magazines from Cricket, American Girl magazine as well as the Zoobooks magazine.

how machines work

We like books a lot in this house. There are some awesome books that inspire kids to do something.  The How Machines Work book by David Macaulay is a fabulous example of that. This awesome interactive book has gears and flaps and levers and all kinds of simple machines. My kids LOVE this book!

Some other examples of books that inspire kids to do something are:

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The Daring Book for Girls/Dangerous Book for Boys, The Girls/Boys Book of Adventure, The Kids Outdoor Adventure Book,  The Complete Aquarium Adventure– A Field Trip in a Book

Choose Your Own Adventure Gifts: 🙂itunes

Give your kids gift cards to their favorite store or website. My kids love apps, so I am putting iTunes gift cards in their stockings this year. That way they can pick their own apps to purchase and download.

Sensory Gifts:

litecup- unique gifts for kids

We got the coolest cup that doubles as a night light. I love this idea because kids always want a drink at night, too! Litecup is a new innovative idea! It has a soft blue LED light that is soothing and great to keep kids happy at night.

chewi gem- unique gifts for kids

Does your child chew on EVERYTHING?  Get them a Chewigem. I have a son who thinks he needs to chew on everything!! This neat invention lets him have his own chewing device at all times. It is on a necklace and looks discreet. It’s non-toxic and comes in all kinds of colors and shapes!  We are loving it in  our house because it is saving shirt sleeves from being chewed up. We received a raindrop pendant in black.  Such a COOL idea!  Use code cyber2015 for 20% off chewigem and litecup on Cyber Monday, Nov. 30, 2015 only!!!

scented pencils

Scented pens, pencils or markers are such a fun thing to add into a stocking!

Food gifts can be really fun! Does you child have a favorite sugar cereal or chip that you rarely buy?  Treat them to it for Christmas!

food face plates- gift ideaOr make mealtime more fun with the Mr. & Mrs. Food Face plates.

 

magnetic putty- stocking stuffer idea

Magnetic Putty is a super gift for the science-minded kids!

kinetic sand- unique gifts for kids

Kinetic Sand Will keep your kids molding and creating for a long time!

 

Artsy Gifts:

kwik sticks

Do you have a budding artist?  Kwik Sticks are awesome paint sticks that make a whole lot less mess than regular paints!  They are a solid tempura paint in a stick kind of like a glue stick.  They dry super fast and work on  lots of different mediums.

kwik sticks- mess-free paint sticks

My kids enjoy painting with them and I enjoy how simple and mess-less they were.  (I have a giveaway for these today!!)

Custom Vinyl Design- great for kids room

Decorate their room with some cool vinyl cutouts!  We got this awesome Dr. Seuss saying to put on our wall and have been loving it.  Custom Vinyl Decor makes these and many other fun sayings. I LOVE their shop on Etsy- and she is a good friend of mine! 🙂  I get to give away one to a reader!

bike chalk

Get a bike chalk trail kit this keeps them active and they can draw at the same time!  This is a cool idea that I know my kids would have fun with.

 

Tech Gifts:

tiggly words

Tiggly Words (and the other Tiggly sets) are great fun for the kids. We love Tiggly in this house!! You will need an iPad to go along with them. See my post about Tiggly Words and enter the giveaway to win a set!

ubooly

The Ubooly is something I have posted about in the past, too. We LOVE this guy! You insert your iPhone and he comes to life.

dash & dot tech gifts for kids

The Dash & Dot robots were the TOP gift under our tree last Christmas. This year I am planning on getting my kids some of the accessory packs. We still play with them regularly. See my post about it.

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Stop Motion Animation Kit– This will be under our Christmas tree this year as well. I am SO excited about this gift. I am pretty certain my oldest son will be, too!

 

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45 Comments

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Comments

  1. Lexi says

    November 30, 2015 at 6:17 am

    My girls would love the scented pencils and my younger girls would love the sand. I think my son would enjoy the Bild Kit and the robot! I have never seen those before! They look so cool!

    Reply
  2. becky says

    November 30, 2015 at 6:31 am

    My son would love the how machines work book

    Reply
  3. Margarete says

    November 30, 2015 at 6:40 am

    My daughter would enjoy the Kwik Sticks. She loves to draw, color, paint, etc. Thank you for the chance to win. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Suzanne says

    November 30, 2015 at 7:24 am

    The tiggly words look so fun!

    Reply
  5. Shecki @ Greatly Blessed says

    November 30, 2015 at 8:50 am

    Oooh, I don’t know about the kids, but I’m excited at the idea of mess-less tempra paints! We love trying out new art supplies, and I haven’t seen these before. Our most recent acquisition was brush pens. 🙂

    Reply
    • Karyn Tripp says

      November 30, 2015 at 9:40 am

      They are great! I love art supplies that are not messy, too.

      Reply
  6. Jonathan says

    November 30, 2015 at 9:22 am

    The Dash & Dot robots! They look so fun I want to play with them too.

    Reply
    • Karyn Tripp says

      November 30, 2015 at 9:40 am

      I totally do play with them! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Beth says

    November 30, 2015 at 9:54 am

    The magnetic sand and putty and the smelly pencils would all be big hits here.

    Reply
  8. DANETTE BENOIT says

    November 30, 2015 at 10:12 am

    My daughter has been begging for some kinetic sand! So, I know she would love that! She also likes to paint our windows, so I know she’d use the paint markers, as well!

    Reply
  9. Shakara says

    November 30, 2015 at 10:26 am

    The kwik sticks paint would be awesome in our house for independent creative fun!

    Reply
  10. Samantha Pounds says

    November 30, 2015 at 11:06 am

    Such awesome and unique gifts! My kids and their cousins would love all of these!

    Reply
  11. becky says

    November 30, 2015 at 11:35 am

    These all look so fun

    Reply
  12. Clarissa says

    November 30, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    Any of the books !

    Reply
  13. Kayla Arrowood says

    November 30, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    We actually own a lot of the ones you listed! I think the oddest one that I saw was the chewy gem!

    Reply
  14. Laura says

    November 30, 2015 at 3:45 pm

    Love the subscription box ideas!!

    Reply
  15. Deirdre says

    November 30, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    My kids would like the Kwik Stix paint and the kinetic sand.

    Reply
  16. Tonya says

    November 30, 2015 at 8:20 pm

    All mine would love the stop motion animation guys.

    Reply
  17. Theresa says

    November 30, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    The magnetic putty would be a huge hit in our house!

    Reply
  18. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    November 30, 2015 at 11:49 pm

    Now that we have an iPad, I would love to try Tiggly out. I have heard lots of good things about it!

    Reply
  19. Lisa M says

    December 1, 2015 at 5:27 am

    The Kwik Sticks look awesome!

    Reply
  20. Tara H says

    December 1, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    I think my boys would love the Kwik Sticks!

    Reply
  21. Jennifer Fischer says

    December 1, 2015 at 4:59 pm

    The adventure books look like they’d be a lot of fun!

    Reply
  22. NT says

    December 1, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    Kwik Sticks for my kids who love to create art!

    Reply
  23. Jessica Medina says

    December 1, 2015 at 9:08 pm

    My daughter was just talking about how she wanted new paints!

    Reply
  24. Tami says

    December 1, 2015 at 11:36 pm

    Oh, I’ve had my eye on Dot and Dash
    I might have to go for it this Christmas now

    Reply
  25. Jennifer C. says

    December 2, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway. These items are great!

    Reply
  26. Melinda Roberts says

    December 2, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    The Kwik sticks are neat

    Reply
  27. jennifer mathesz says

    December 2, 2015 at 6:07 pm

    the robots

    Reply
  28. Deborah says

    December 2, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    Mine would probably love the paint sticks best!

    Reply
  29. susanna says

    December 2, 2015 at 11:15 pm

    Love all of these. Great ideas.

    Reply
  30. Holly B says

    December 3, 2015 at 11:26 am

    My son has been asking for Kinetic Sand, I know he would love it.

    Reply
  31. Molly Cash says

    December 3, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    The Tiggly Words would be a big hit with my five year old who is learning to read new words every day. 🙂

    Reply
  32. Deana says

    December 4, 2015 at 6:56 am

    I have looked at the Dash and Dot robots. So much fun.

    Reply
  33. Amy says

    December 5, 2015 at 4:11 pm

    Dash&Dot robots look really cool.

    Reply
  34. Anna A says

    December 5, 2015 at 11:43 pm

    My son would like the Stop Motion Animation kit and I like the vinyl designs!

    Reply
  35. Kristan says

    December 6, 2015 at 8:01 am

    My kids would love the Kwik Sticks.

    Reply
  36. Ericka Martin says

    December 7, 2015 at 9:10 am

    My 7 yr old is dying for a dash and dot robot.

    Reply
  37. Melissa says

    December 7, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    The Kwik Sticks sound amazing. My youngest daughter has been drawing with colored gluesticks because she likes the way they feel. The Kwik Sticks seem like a much better option for her!

    Reply
  38. Judith Martinez says

    December 7, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    I think my son would love the tiggly words system!

    Reply
  39. Tanya says

    December 7, 2015 at 10:46 pm

    The Kwik Sticks sound like fun!

    Reply
  40. Laurie A says

    December 8, 2015 at 10:25 am

    My girls have wanted Dash and Dot for months!!!

    Reply
  41. Kala says

    December 8, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    My kids would love the chalk trail, it looks so cool!

    Reply
  42. jeani b says

    December 10, 2015 at 6:33 am

    scented color pencils?? kinetic sand?? things that are hands-on & techy?? my daughter would love any and all of these. what an awesome list!

    Reply
  43. Nicole Bolthouse says

    December 11, 2015 at 10:48 am

    My son would love the light cup! Honestly, I might like it too =)

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Karyn.
I am a former teacher turned homeschool mom of four kids. I LOVE teaching! I believe learning should be enjoyable and engaging. My goal is to ease the burdens of educators by offering memorable learning activities.
Questions? Contact me here: karyn@teachbesideme.com
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