Looking for great gifts this holiday season that are fun and educational?

Here are 10 gifts that we love at our house.

These gifts top our list of best gifts that we have been able to enjoy over and over again. My kids love these gifts for the entertainment they provide and I love these gifts for the fun plus the academic and problem solving practice they provide. I also love that many of these gifts are things we can enjoy together.

Make sure to share some of your favorites as we are always looking for new ideas!

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1. Peaceable Kingdom Games ($-$$)

We have many of the Peaceable Kingdom Games which are played often at out house. These games encourage cooperation while players strategically work together to win the game. We have many competitive games at our house so the Peaceable Kingdom games provide nice opportunities for us to work together to accomplish a goal. These games are fun, challenging, and well made. Some of our favorites include The Fairy Game, Mermaid Island, Feed the Woozle, Hoot Owl Hoot, Snug as a Bug in a Rug, and Fish Stix. (As you can see we love Peaceable Kingdom Games at our house). Each of these games requires players to work together to accomplish a task before time runs out. Most of these games can be played in a short amount of time and are easy to set up. This year we will be adding Alphabet Go Fish, Say the Word, and Stack Up! to our collection. Alphabet Go Fish is a twist on the classic Go Fish Game giving my first grader a fun way to practice letter sounds and spelling simple words. Stack Up! has three levels of play (similar to Feed the Woozle) so the game can grow with your child. In Stack Up! players work together to stack 12 blocks before the Block Smasher comes and topples the tower. This game will be a great gift for our pre-schooler because it helps reinforce color matching and hand-eye coordination with no reading required. Say the Word encourages families to work together, support each other, listen and share. In Say the Word, players choose from 19 zany characters, 200 silly words and 16 interesting challenges to create a story one phrase or sentence at a time. Family members help each other out to repeat the story start to finish. We will also be adding Dinosaur Escape for my little one who loves dinosaurs!

2. Osmo ($$-$$$$)

The Osmo Genius Kit has one of my daughter’s favorite gifts ever! This is an awesome item that has been used throughout the year over and over again. Every time we get it out, she is so excited to play and challenge her reading and numeracy skills. We will add additional games this year to encourage reading, math, and problem solving skills.

Osmo is a game-system that works with iPads. We use ours with an iPad mini and it works really well. The Genius Kit includes 5 different games: Masterpiece, Numbers, Tangram, Words, and Newton. My daughter loves the Numbers game that she uses number tiles to add and multiply to free fish from bubbles. She also loves the Tangram games, which requires her to arrange Tangram (shapes) pieces to match an on-screen puzzle. One of the things that I love about this system is it is an independent activity that gives automatic feedback to the player. If the player needs assistance, the system will provide hints. I also love that as my daughter plays, she is physically moving objects to accomplish goals and move to the next level. We love that each game challenges your child in a different way and encourages problem solving in a variety of ways.

We have also added the Osmo Pizza Co. Game to our collection. This fast paced game provides practice with money and fractions as your child runs their own pizza shop. (This game requires you to have the Osmo base which is a separate purchase or comes with the Osmo Genius Kit). Each of the games has been a hit so we are thinking about what to add next!

This year we are adding Osmo Super Studio Disney Mickey Mouse & Friends: Learn to Draw Your Clubhouse Favorites and Watch Them Come to Life! and the Osmo Coding Awbie Game. Since my son is so into cars, we will add the Osmo Hot Wheels MindRacers Game when he gets a little older.

I am super excited to see the Osmo -Little Genius Starter Kit this year! This set includes 4 Hands-on Learning games that encourage problem solving, letter learning, and story telling creativity. I can’t wait to check this one out with my son.

3. Make Your Own Puzzle Machine and Refill Pack by MindWare ($$)

Our kids love puzzles. Each year, my kids receive a variety of puzzles. There are so many fantastic puzzles on the market from alphabet puzzles to name puzzles to transportation puzzles. One that we have given as a gift several times is the Make Your Own Puzzles by MindWare. This kit allows you to make your own jigsaw puzzles from photos, invitations, artwork or other works of art. This kit allows your child to create many uniquely designed puzzles for friends and family.

Other craft kits have also been a huge hit at our house. Some favorites have been the Klutz Mini Bake Shop and the Clay Dinosaurs Kit.

4. eeboo’s Puzzle Pairs (Alphabet and Numbers, Simple Words, Rhyme) ($-$$)– Both of my kids love the Rhyming Words Puzzle by eeboo. Each of the puzzle pieces has a colorful illustration and the corresponding word. The pairs have the same color background making the matching supportive enough for my three year old to participate.

This year we plan to expand our eeboo collection by adding the Alphabet and Numbers Game and the Simple Words Game. Both games have great visuals and built in supports so both of my children can have fun matching the puzzle pieces. We also love the eeboo Spelling Puzzles and Counting Puzzles that have three puzzle pieces to connect to complete each small puzzle. As with the Puzzle Pairs Collection, the illustrations are great and the colors and shapes help connect the correct pieces.

5. Lulu Jr.’s Illustory Book Making Kit ($$)

My daughter received her first kit as a gift two Christmases and she had such a great experience with it that she continues to ask for another kit each year. To read more about our experience visit this post. The Illustory Book Making kit provided a book writing guide and all of the materials your child needs to create their own book. My daughter loved creating her book and was over-the-moon excited when she received the final product in the mail. The final book was so well done with a hard cover, glossy pages, an About the Author feature, and even the title and author on the spine of the book. We will be purchasing one of these kits at least once a year. Last year my daughter received the comic book version: My Comic Book Making Kit. This one was really fun for her since she has been really in to reading graphic novels recently.

6. Fisher Price’s Think and Learn Alpha Slide Writer ($)

My son loves this toy. It is easy to use and fun! This magnetic writing pad includes movable tiles so kids can practice letter recognition and make words. The low-mess magnetic screen encourages kids to practice their writing. I love that this has an easy-slide eraser to let kid’s practice again and again. Another nice feature is that the pen is designed to help your child learn a correct pencil grip and grow with your child.

If you think your child isn’t ready for the Alpha Slide writer or if your child might be more motivated to practice the alphabet with Alphabet Robots ($$) instead, we highly recommend these fun robots. My son loves manipulating each of the letters into little robot figures and back again. He will carry these around the house and he will often carry a few of these in the car with him to play with while we are out and about. We use these Alphabet Robots to talk about the uppercase letters, practice sounds, and make simple words and names.

7. Books ($-$$)

There are always books under our tree. There will be books on their favorite characters, Alphabet Books for Jack, Amelia Bediala and informational books on horses for Grace. Check out the reading level section to see recommendations by reading level/age.

My favorite gift to give to our nieces and nephews is a pajama set and a book. I try my best to match the pajamas to the book and given the time of year, we usually give a Christmas book and Christmas themed pajamas. If you want book-themed pjs, check out these pj sets from Basically Kids: Little Blue Truck PJ Set, Elephant and Piggie, Uni the Unicorn, Dragons Love Tacos, and other cute sets.

Another great option is books on CD and a CD player to encourage your child to read along with their favorite books. This was one of my daughter’s favorite gifts last year and my son will be getting one this year. They love to listen to stories that they would not be able to read on their own. There are so many benefits to hearing stories read aloud, check out this post on Read Alouds and this post on Improving Reading Fluency for more information.

8. Magazine Subscriptions ($-$$ depending on subscription)

Who doesn’t love getting a magazine in the mail? My kids love to see what comes in the mail each day. They often look through the catalogues and at the advertisements. It is even more exciting when there is something in there just for them. There are a number of magazines geared for children that would make a great gift. My kids love magazine subscriptions to Ranger Rick and Highlights. Both of these offer a range of levels to choose from so you can target the subscription to the age of your child.

9. Museum Memberships or visits ($$-$$$$ depending on selection)

Our local town has a plethora of museums most of them science oriented. Visits to these museums offer the kids opportunities to explore, imagine, create, and investigate beyond what we could naturally do at home. You can read about some of the great museums in the Southeast here.

10. Kit Subscriptions like Little Passports and Raddish Kids ($$$-$$$$ depending on subscription)

My daughter received a Little Passports subscription last year and loved receiving the package each month. Through her monthly package she learned about geography, other cultures and customs. Similar to the magazine subscriptions, Little Passports also has several levels so you can tailor the subscription to your child’s age. She loved listening to me read the letter that came with each package. The letter provided highlights of the geographical area in a fun and age appropriate way. The kit also included an activity connected to the information presented In the letter. My daughter loved making origami animals and chiseling away at an small sand pyramid to reveal a miniature statue. She also loved finding the location on the provided map and marking it with a sticker pin. With each month’s package, her “suitcase” and “passport” filled up to show all of the places she “visited.”

Raddish Kids is a meal kit subscription specifically designed for kids. Each kit includes recipe cards that are easy to read for kids with lots of visuals and clearly defined steps. The recipes are printed on sturdy laminated paper that can withstand spills that could occur. The monthly kit also includes a fun, kid-friendly kitchen tool and cards with thought-provoking questions that encourage conversations. My kids get so excited every time they see the Raddish Kids box. They love to plan, prep, and enjoy the recipes. They also love earning a badge on their apron each month. The iron-on badge shows their accomplishments.

You can check out our full review of Raddish Kids here.