Filed under: — Holiday Picks,Must Haves
Written by: Dom and Ash at 8:30 AM
It’s that time of year again. The holidays are coming and you aren’t sure what to buy your kids. We’re starting out gift guide with a list of imaginative, learning based toys and books that you are definitely going to want to consider for your children, grandchildren or those special little ones in your life.
Famous Figures of Ancient Times: Movable Paper Figures: Nothing inspires children more than making their learning time fun. A great way to introduce historical figures to kids between the ages of 6 and 12 is with movable paper figures. Kids slightly older and younger will still want to play with these figures and cutting them out and putting them together is a great project for younger and older children to do together. The book also contains a selection of facts about all 20 of these amazing figures from history.
In our house, favorite figures included Hannibal (who comes with his elephant), Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, though these are just a few of the figures your child will be able to play with and learn about. The book retails for $19.95. You can find out more about the Famous Figures Book at http://www.figuresinmotion.com, and don’t forget to check out our full length review.
Holiday Recommendation Rating: 
Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Seeing is Believing: This is the 2010 Annual release of fun, weird, wacky, and hard to believe facts and stories by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! We have a child in our house who loves to read about the unbelievable. If you have any relative (of any age) that likes to read about weird, unbelievable, and amazing feats, stories, and events then this book is bound to make the perfect holiday gift. Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Seeing is Believing features 256 pages full of out of this world storytelling.
What’s more is that this is the first edition by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! that offers links to the Ripley’s website. These links take the reader to a selection of videos that feature accompanying stories about some of the amazing people and stories brought to the public by Ripley’s. The entire family is able to enjoy this great book, and it makes a great, semi-educational addition this holiday season. For more on Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Seeing is Believing, check out our full length review on this book.
Holiday Recommendation Rating:
My Heritage Book: As your children age and grow, it is the personal gifts they are going to cherish the most. While all the hip fad toys will fade away, it is those personal presents that have meaning that they’ll hold onto. This holiday, consider buying your child My Heritage Book for this very reason. The book is individually designed for your child’s unique heritage. It discusses a specific culture based on the parents’ individual family history, which is also the child’s family history.
There are many nationalities you can choose to include in the book. There is even something offered for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians. You can add up to four different heritage types for the book and it is even personalized with your child’s name and a greeting from whoever orders the book for the child. My Heritage book can be purchased for more than one child or it can be personalized further for one child with middle name and birth date included. Our heritage book features French, German, Native American and Polish. The book contains excellent information and will make an amazing holiday gift for any child. For more information, check out our full length review of My Heritage Book.
Holiday Recommendation Rating:
When Santa Turned Green: Being parents, we’ve tried to be conscious of the issues affecting the world around us and have tried to instill this in our children. One of those issues pertains to the environment. We live in this world, so we need to take care of it. While our oldest is more conscientious of this, our five year old nephew, Lil B, is just beginning to learn about the environment. To help him, we gave him When Santa Turned Green.
This book takes two concepts young children are bound to get excited about; Santa Claus and helping the environment. The story points out that everyone, including Santa, has to worry about the environment and the effects our actions have when we decide not to go green. This book is absolutely adorable with colorful illustrations and a great story to go along with it. For those looking to teach their children about going green, this is a must buy book this holiday season. For more on When Santa Turned Green, check out our full length review.
Name Your Tune personalized CD: What’s better than a selection of songs that features your child? Younger kids get very excited when they are included in songs and other creative projects, so the Name Your Tune personalized CD is bound to be a hit in your house. We had one made for our nephew, Lil B, and he won’t stop listening to it! This is an innovative gift your child is going to be surprised to get as a holiday present.
The songs included on the Name Your Tune personalized CD go from standard classics like “Old MacDonald” (your child is the farmer) and “Wheels on the Bus” to newly created songs like “Boom Boom, Ain’t It Great To Be YOU!” and “Hello, How are You?” No matter what song is sung, these personalized songs will delight your child and provide them with a unique gift this year. To learn more about the Name Your Tune personalized CD visit their website and read our review.
Alex Beard Popup Puzzles: Alex Beard is an exceptionally talented artist. Before we reviewed the puzzles he designed, we’d never heard of Alex Beard. The pop up puzzles were something the teen and the 5 year old did together. While Lil B wanted to see the popup puzzle, the teen had to put it together for him. This is recommended for ages 10 and up most likely for this reason. If you have an older child and younger child, we recommend they play with the popup puzzles together because the younger kids are definitely going to be fascinated by them. We wouldn’t recommend a young child under the age of 5 put this together, though.
The Alex Beard popup puzzles have a jungle theme. We were sent the giraffe and the elephant. These popup puzzles are extremely affordable, look excellent and are very well constructed. We highly recommend the Alex Beard popup puzzles as a gift for your children this holiday season. For more information on Alex Beard visit his website and check out our full review on these puzzle sets.
Crayola Crayon Town – My House: Crayola has always been a trusted name in our house, so we were thrilled to receive the Crayola Crayon Town – My House set. This is a set your child can not only color and design, but he or she can then construct their very own Crayon Town, 3D My House environment. The playset is more than just a coloring activity though. It comes with the playmat, vehicles, accessories, and figures. Old crayons can even be used to help construct trees.
Lil B is very artistic. There was no doubt he’d be the recipient of the toy. He played with it with his best friend, Lil E. The boys loved coloring the playset and then once it was colored, they spent hours playing in the town they created. If your kids like Crayola and are between the ages of 4-6 (the boys are both 5) then this is a perfect holiday present. For more on the Crayola Crayon Town – My House Playset, read our review.
Uberstix Pirate Ship: We’ve had a budding pirate in the family for the past few years. Lil B loves anything pirate related. So, when we had the chance to review the Uberstix Pirate Ship, we jumped at it. The awesome thing about the Uberstix Pirate Ship is that it is made completely of recycled materials. Your child will use the recycled materials to build a real, floating pirate ship. This is a great way to get the kids into going green.
We can’t tell you how neat this pirate ship is. It looks so intricately designed and yet you are using things like plastic cups and paper clips for the design of the ship. This toy is economical, fun and will last a long time, so your child will enjoy playing with their pirate ship more than just the one time after they put it together. This is a building project parents can enjoy with their children and is one of our top toy picks/holiday must haves this season. For more on the Uberstix Pirate Ship check out our review.
Would You Cahootie: We designed the paper version of the toy Cahootie is making, back in elementary school. A group of us would predict our futures. Who would we marry? Would we be rich? What kind of job would we have? It was all so dazzling back in those days. Now, a new generation of kids can experience the wonder of the paper game in many different ways thanks to the various products by Cahootie. While the teen thought it was kind of lame, though he got into it when nobody was looking, the five year old was certain the Would You Cahootie was magic.
The Would You Cahootie asks ‘would you rather’ type questions and kids get to decide between the answers. While this isn’t going to be something the older kids will want to get into and adults will think they are pointless, except for nostalgic purpose, the younger crowd really seems to like the Would You Cahootie. For more on all the products available by Cahootie, visit the Would You Cahootie website.
Eye Can Art (Sumi-e): Children who are interested in art projects will love the art kits by Eye Can Art. We can only speak for the Sumi-e, because that is the kit that we received for Lil B. B is a very creative child, so he was ready to get painting right away. This kit is great for younger children as it teaches them a easier, structured way of painting. The kit contains black watercolor paint, sponges, sumi-e paper, a bamboo brush, other items to help with the creative process and an instruction guide.
After going through the instructions with him more than once, Lil B went to town and had a ball painting with the Eye Can Art (Sumi-e) Kit. If you have a budding artist or a child who just likes to express themselves artistically, Eye Can has other kits, too. These kits aren’t just for the younger crowd. Older children will enjoy them, as well. For more on the various Eye Can Art kits, visit the Eye Can website, and don’t forget to check out our review.
Color Me Tables: What’s better than a table that’s functional? How about a table you can color on? Color me tables are a unique new idea for birthday parties, slumber parties, or any kid’s event. Your children can even color them on their own! The table is constructed of a very sturdy cardboard material that can be colored on with crayons and markers. We got the birthday theme for Lil B and he took it to his friend’s birthday party. All of the kids there had a blast coloring.
Color Me Tables also are available in Teatime and Underwater Aquarium themes. This is one of those toys that is creative, but remains functional long after the project portion of the playtime is over. Once the tables are designed, kids can sit at them and use them as they would any other kid’s sized table. The only difference is kids actually design the table and chairs themselves, which makes them even more excited about this playset. For more information on Color Me Tables, visit the Color Me website and check out our review.
Technorati Tags: Color Me Tables, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Seeing is Believing, Alex Beard, Crayola, Crayon Town, Uberstix, Pirate Ship, Would You Cahootie, Eye Can Art, Famous Figures of Ancient Times, Movable Paper Figures, Holiday Gift Guide, Learning Presents, My Heiritage Book
Written by Dom & Ash Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick and Ashtyn have been together since 2002. Together, they live in Michigan, work together as pro bloggers, and homeschool and raise their 15 year old son, CT. Their interests are diverse. Ashtyn loves to write, listen to music, shop and enjoy the finer things in life. Dominick enjoys playing wheelchair sports, watching sports, acting, singing, playing video games and making movies.
