Birthdays and Christmas are always exciting times for children. However if you are like me you are always trying to think of things to buy that aren’t going to be lost and forgotten by the following week.
Grandparents and family members are always asking for ideas on what to buy our children since they live overseas and don’t get to see them very often. It always is much harder giving advice on what to buy when it is someone else’s money. You want their money to be well spent!
So here I give you my ultimate gift guide for homeschoolers. These are gifts that will last, are educational, and will be great additions to any homeschool.
Memberships
This is a great gift form grandparents to give I think. A membership at our zoo for a family is around $100 a year and that gives us access to lots three zoo’s in our city as well as numerous zoo’s around the country.
You can also get memberships for theme parks, aquariums, museums and science centres. If it is a grandparent gift perhaps they could switch it up each year.
Membership passes to different places opens up lots of “free” field trip options which is such a blessing. I have found that with our zoo memberships I don’t feel so rushed each time we go trying to get my money’s worth. If they kids want to spend the whole day playing in the dress up area then by all means do that.
Subscriptions
These are a bit like memberships I mentioned above but you can get all different types of subscriptions. My personal favourite is from Kiwi Crate. Each month they send you out an age appropriate box with an incredible activity to do. Some times it’s engineering or sometimes it could be science. What is great is that everything that you need is included! No more rushing around trying to find all the bits and pieces.
My kids really want to get the taste around the world subscription box. Each month they send you a box full of snacks from a different country. This is a really cool way to make geography come alive! Plus snacks and kids? how can you go wrong there?!
Magazine subscriptions are also a brilliant idea. We have done the Junior National Geographic one year which was a total hit.
Children love mail and they love it even more when it is addressed to them. Subscriptions are just the gift that keeps on giving.
Magnet Tiles
I could go on and on about these all day because my children love them so much. They have bit a winner from my one year old all they way up to my teenage brothers and husband. My three year old is the one that loves these the most though. They can keep him busy for a good hour which is fantastic while I am teaching the older children.
Magnet tiles are great for the brain too. They encourage thinking, planning, creativity and execution. They are a great engineering tool. What makes me love these more than LEGO (which I think is great too) is that the pieces are larger which makes it easier to handle for little hands. They also don’t make you want to scream every bad word in the dictionary when you stand on them. Easy clean up is a huge plus for me too.
There are lots of different sets you can buy but I personally really like this one. Magna Tiles are a well known brand and have high quality products. They are pricy but they will quite often come on sale although even at full price they are totally worth every cent.
Snap Circuits
These are the perfect gift for your science loving kid. Your child an create different electrical circuits easily without any soldering or danger. The simply snap the circuit into place.
These types of toys are great for the child that learns by doing. You could read to them over and over about how circuits work but it wont fully sink in until they are able to put into practice what you have taught them.
The kits come with a number of different circuits to make but you can also create you own the more experienced you become.
I love this kit here because you can buy addition extension packs to do more with at a future date. The sky is the limit here!
Big Life Journal
Oh my word these are new on the scene of parenting and children but if you could ever do something to invest in your children’s belief in themselves then this is it.
There is a Big Life Journal for children and one for Teens. We have the original children’s one and it has blessed my kids life more that anything I have done.
The concept behind these journals is to enhance what is called a growth mindset. It goes on the premise that if you work hard at something you can accomplish it. It talks about the power of “yet”. So instead of saying “I can’t do that” you would rephrase it to “I can’t do that YET”.
The journals last for 26 weeks. Each week you cover one person who has made a difference in the world and the challenges they have had to overcome to get there. It then give the children different journalling tasks to complete and activities to do.
Their website also offers lots of different printables to purchase. We have just completed a 7 Day Gratitude Challenge which was just what my kids needed.
I can not say enough good about this company and the wonderful things they are doing for children around the world with their products. Even if you just buy a journal just for a special gift I can promise you, you will see amazing changes in your children and yourself!
Microscope
Getting out the microscopes at school was one of the highlights of science for me. I loved it with a passion, especially making up the slides. It is incredibly fascinating to see what things look like right up close.
Microscopes are splendid addition to your homeschool because they will last for multiple years and can be enjoyed by different ages. Everyone will enjoy a microscope. They tend to become a more vital piece of equipment as you head into high school level science.
I really like this one here. I think it is a reasonable price. It is not super expensive but also not so cheap that it is going to be such low quality it can’t be used appropriately. A bonus is that it can be plugged in at the wall or you can use batteries.
Art Set
I received one of these types of art sets when I was 10 years old. It is still to this day the best gift I remember getting as a child. It was the epitome of cool.
I love how this art set comes in a wooden box. It kind of makes it feel way more authentic, plus durable. It contains everything you need to be an artist (minus the paper). There are pastels, paint, markers, pencils etc. Everything is well organised so that things don’t get spread all over the table or easily lost under the couch.
I would purchase one for each of my children that they could get out at art time. I can’t imagine sharing going down too well. They look like they are easily stackable too which would be perfect if you were short on storage space.
Meccano and K’nex
I grouped these two together because they are quite similar. These are also the types of toys that use a lot of brain power. I love making my kids use their brains without them realising it.
We have a big set of K’nex which all the children (and husband) enjoy. It is creative, engaging and the possibilities are endless in what you can make.
Meccano is a bit more advanced and I will likely be investing in some this year. I am looking at this set here for my oldest who is really interested in robots and robotics at the moment. He has recently proven to me that he is able to look after his current lego sets so I feel comfortable purchasing this more expensive set with the knowledge that it will be cared for appropriately.
LEGO
Can you ever go wrong with LEGO?! I think not. We recently watched the documentary on how LEGO came to be. If you haven’t seen it you can find it on YouTube. It is a great short documentary for kids and gave mine a much greater appreciation for their LEGO, it really is and incredible story.
Any age appropriate LEGO set is an ideal gift. Kids really love the creativity boxes too, which are just boxes of assorted LEGO.
Next year for my son’s birthday I am going to break the bank a little and invest in LEGO We Do set. LEGO WeDo is a tool that allows children to bring their creations to life through the magic of programming. Auron has had some wonderful experiences with this at homeschool robotics classes and I feel purchasing one for him to use at home is a great investment as this is something that he is truely passionate about. He spends hours upon hours with his LEGO, so to be able to take that the next step further is going to be something pretty incredible for him.
Going along side a LEGO WeDo is this awesome robot! I love this so much that I will probably suggest it as a gift for grandparents to purchase or go halves with us in.
I hope that has helped you a little! There are so many wonderful resources out there for kids that can really stretch their mind and imaginations. Let me know if you have any other great gift ideas for kids.
