Gift Guide for the Creative and High Energy Kid – Part 4

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The Ultimate Kid Gift Guide for creative kids who love to move and explore the world.  Kid tested and mom approved!

Oh, how I love writing the “gifts for kids” gift guide every year!

I love searching out products that will not only be fun for my kids, but also nurture their creative, energetic souls.

If you have kids with wild imaginations and too much energy for their own good, you're gonna love this gift guide!

We've done our research, broken a few toys, and suffered a few minor head wounds, all to bring you some seriously amazing products that I believe will make some very happy kiddos this holiday season.  This is our official:

GIFT GUIDE FOR CREATIVE AND HIGH ENERGY KIDS – PART 4

Be sure and check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 from years past.  They've got lots of goodies on them as well.

Quick note to say: many of these gift ideas are affiliate links, but rest assured, I only promote products I've tried, tested, and love enough to make them a permanent part of my day-to-day life.  If it makes it to my gift guide, you know it's a winner!

Let's play!

1)  Craft Station/Sewing Desk:  This is the best space saving sewing/crafting station desk ever!  My daughter has it opened when she's working on a project, then puts the sewing machine inside and closes it up when she's done.  It's great quality and keeps her room looking tidy.  

2)  Sewing School – 20 Projects Kids Will Love to Make + Sewing School Fashion Design – Make Your Own Wardrobe:  These books are loaded with sewing machine projects that my daughter rocked through even with minimal experience.  They're simple, cute, and don't take a ton of time to complete.  I highly recommend them!  

3)  8X8 or 10X10 Fabric Squares:  One more sewing treasure – these precut squares of material.  My daughter's imagination went wild with these!  It's been so fun to see the things she's turned them into.  Pillows, blankets, purses, etc.  There is a huge variety of colors and patterns too.

4)  Lucky Bums Snow Sport Helmet:  My kids are not gentle players, so this winter helmet was a great find for me last year.  They still look brand new despite some pretty serious skiing and sledding adventures (yes, I make my kids wear helmets when they sled because they take everything to the extreme).  These helmets are soft and warm, and my kids love them! 

5)   Beanie with Headlight:  For kids who aren't about to stop playing just because it's pitch dark outside, these headlight beanies are THE BEST!  My kids will build snowmen, play tag, and even ride their bikes in the dark with these beanies on.  They're awesome.    

6)  Folding Buckets:  If I had a penny for every bucket broken around here . . . These ones, however, are made of silicone, so they take a beating without a problem and fold up flat for easy storage.  We use these year-round, but they're awesome for snowball fights and snow castles. 

7)  Rainbow Loom + Refill Kit:  My son requested this for Christmas last year and I was skeptical because I thought it would be a one-month wonder kind of toy.  Almost a year later, all of my kids are still making bracelets, key chains, etc. for friends and family.  It's a great project for quiet, calm entertainment.  The refill kit was a must after 2 weeks, so I suggest getting it from the get-go.  

8) Lego Storage Bags:  Praise the name of whoever invented this system!  This keeps all of the Legos on a playing pad. Then, when it's time to clean them up, you just grab the edges and dump them back into the bag.  LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!  There are different sizes.  I had to order the biggest one for my Lego fanatic, but the smaller one worked great for my other kid. 

9)  Karaoke Microphone:  I bought 3 different brands of karaoke microphones, and this one is hands down the best.  I never thought we'd have so much fun with a mic around the house, but it's been great for impromptu singing parties and my son's new beatboxing talent.  

10)  Specdrums:  These “drums” are so fun!  With the use of 2 rings and a colored fabric board, you create music and beats.  I've been surprised how much we've loved this product.  It sparks creativity and LOTS of sick dance moves that leave my kids shocked that I'm their mother — in a good way . . . mostly.  The sounds played are triggered by the colors they touch, so you can tap on objects around the room to make music as well — hard to explain, actually — but it's really fun.

11)  Bean Bag Storage Chair:  Who are the smart people that come up with stuff like this?!  This is the best way to store stuffed animals ever!  A cluttered room is cleared in seconds and then they have a fun place to sit too.  I have one for my daughter and I'll be getting two more this Christmas for my boys.  

12)  Suspend Family Game: This game came recommended by one of you and we have loved it!  We are not the type that will sit and play a game for an hour, so a game like this that is quick to set up and play multiple times is right up our alley.  Play it for 10 minutes or an hour, it's whatever you feel like doing — love that!   

13)  Fitbit for Kids: My daughter bought this for herself after I insisted it wasn't a necessity so I wasn't going to help buy it.  Well, I've got to say, it's been a great watch.  I love that it's made her more conscious and purposeful about her movement and sleep.  Bonus is that she keeps track of time better, so I rarely have to remind her to get ready for anything anymore.  Had I known, I probably would have bought her one 🙂

14)  Pinwheel Phone for Kids:  Yep, I'm plugging the Pinwheel phone again because I love it like crazy.  It's a smartphone for kids minus internet and social media.  I put the apps on the phone that I'm okay with my daughter having, and I can monitor her texts and usage from my Parent Dashboard if I need to.  Love it more than words — I think this should be every kids' first phone.  Use the code TIDBITS10 to get 10% off your order. 

15)  No-Tie Shoelaces:  No-tie shoelaces forever!  My kids can tie their shoes, but they love to be able to slip on a pair of shoes and run just like I do.  These no-tie laces stretch enough to allow them to easily slip their foot in and then they are snug enough to keep them on securely.  In fact, I've been tempted to put them on my own shoes. 

16)  Russian Piping Tip Set:  If you've got a budding baker in the family like I do, this set is super fun!  It has a large variety of piping tools and even comes with a case to put them all in.  My daughter has loved this set and proudly uses it often. 

17)  Heel Wheels:  I swore I'd never buy Heelies, so when I saw these strap-on heel wheels that will attach to about any shoe, I was so excited.  My kids love these so much.  They strap them on to play outside all the time, but we also take them on vacations, to parks, etc.  I bought myself a pair after seeing how much fun they were but after about an hour of trying to learn how to skate on them, I decided I was going to end up breaking something. #notcoordinated

18) Shape Shifting Box:  Busy kids need things to keep their hands busy when they need to sit still and this box is perfect for that.  It twists and turns into all kinds of shapes and is even somewhat calming and mesmorizable to the brain.  Bonus: it's also quiet. 

19)  KiwiCo Subscription Boxes:  You know I love and adore our Kiwi boxes (been getting them for 5+ years).  My kids are ages 11, 9, and 9 and we currently get the Atlas, Tinker, and Maker line.  They recently launched a Yummy line that's all about the science of food and from what I've seen so far, they've killed this!  Quite possibly my favorite kids cooking subscription box to date.

20)  Rough Enough Kids Wallets:  These wallets are the best I've ever bought for my boys.  They have all the fun zippers and pockets to keep things from dumping out, but they can also get thrown around and run over by a car (yep, run over) and still stay 100% intact.  There are lots of colors to pick from too.  

21)  Greenlight Debit Card: When I bought my boys the Rough Enough wallets, I had one of these Greenlight Debit cards inside.  These are debit cards for kids that let me pay them and be paid all through an app.  Right now their money is categorized into Fun Money, Savings, and Giving.  I love it so much — I could never go back to dealing with cash and kids.  It's also been a great teaching tool for all things money management.  This product gets all my approval stars! 

22)  Face Scrubber:  After my beloved face scrubber company closed their business (Why, Clarisonic!?  Why?), my daughter's broke and had to be replaced with something else.  I literally ordered 6 different brushes to finally settle on this one.  My daughter LOVES it and says it's better than the Clarisonic.  Plus, there are lots of cute colors to pick from.   

23)  Binoculars:  Another great product for the little adventurer: binoculars.  My kids have had a lot of fun with these and for the price, I'm very pleased with them.  For our little hiking adventures up the canyon, they've been a must-have to bring along (according to the kiddos). 

24)  Loopdeloop Friendship Bracelet Maker:  My daughter has had the traditional bracelet makers in the past (that take hours to finish), but we are now Loopdeloop fans to the core.  She can crank one of these bracelets out in less than 10 minutes and the number of different looks are endless.  I think they're so cute that I was actually begging her to make me cute anklets all summer.   

25)  Big Life Journal:   I'll praise Big Life Journals' mission for days if you let me.  They are an amazing company with kids wellbeing as their #1 mission.  I adore the Big Life Journals and all of my kids have completed one.  They are priceless treasures full of thoughts, reflections, hopes, fears, etc.  These journals would make a great gift for kids, grandkids, neighbor kids, ALL THE KIDS!    

26)  Light Up Tracing Pad:  This tracing pad has gotten A TON of usage at my house.  My boys like to trace pictures of jeeps and dirtbikes, then add their own branding details after it's done.  It's a wonderfully quiet activity that will chill out an irritable kiddo in seconds.  I actually bought this knowing it could be a great “calming activity” for intense emotions, but my kids have loved using it a lot more often than I had expected. 

27)  Snuggle Puppy:  Can I throw in a toy for the puppies since I'm officially a dog mom now?  One of my readers suggested I buy this for kennel training and I AM SO HAPPY I LISTENED!  I used it from the get-go, so I don't know what life would have been like without it, but my puppy settled happily into the kennel on her very first night and hasn't made a peep since.   

28)  Dot-to-Dot:  Another goodie for when fun needs to be quiet — my kids are obsessed with dot-to-dot books right now!  And not the quickie simple ones, but these more advanced ones that have over 10,000 dots throughout the entire book.  Great for reinforcing counting skills too! 

29)  100 Things to Know Books:  In an attempt to bring everyone together at bedtime, we started reading these “100 Things to Know” books.  These are so fun to read!  They're quick, fascinating, and educational, which is a great way to end the day and get everyone settled down for bed.   I highly recommend the body one I'm linking to.  We're currently working through the food one and we are loving it as well. 

30)  Foldology Challenges:  Apparently I was in desperate need for quiet activities this year, because here is yet another one.  These folding challenges make my brain hurt but my kids and husband love them.  Church, car rides, rainy days — these are great.  My husband even took a few on a flight to Turkey, haha!

31)  Personalized Key Chain:  If you have a name that is NEVER found on anything at gas stations and gift shops, these cute key chains are for you.  I made one for each of my kids and they've had them on their backpacks for 2 school years now.  There's just something about having a key chain with your name on it, ya know.  

32)  Uno Flip:  Another game we adore because it's fast and simple, except this FLIP version mixes up Uno just enough to make it extra exciting.  If you love the traditional Uno, you'll love this one!

33)  Glow Sticks:  I really love a cheap product that my kids can have fun with and eventually discard so it no longer clutters my house.  We've played so many indoor and outdoor games with glow sticks — they are one of my favorite things to have on standby for easy fun.  We're excited to see what we can do with them in the snow this year (since last year's snowfall was a bit bleak).

Well, that was fun to write!

Did you find some goodies on the list for the kiddos in your life?  I truly hope this was helpful and saves you some time this holiday season. 

I simply love finding products for kiddos that will enrich their lives in some shape or form, so I get super excited every year to knock out this gift guide.

Now it's your turn!  I'm running low on ideas for my kids this year, and 2 out of 3 have requested that I just surprise them.  No pressure, right?  

Happy shopping! Please share this list with anyone you think might be interested, or have your kids take a look and see if anything speaks to them.

I'll be back tomorrow with another guide for women — stay tuned!

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