Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Jingle bells are rockin’ around the tree, Santa Claus is comin’ to town and working moms are trying to figure out how to squeeze in all those extra tasks and errands on their to-do lists.

Not to spoil the magic of the season, but let’s face it: Christmas can be stressful for us. This year, Working Moms Against Guilt is here to help — starting with your gift list. We teamed up and combed the web for Christmas gift ideas for kids.

Everything we’re suggesting can be purchased online. If you don’t have to battle the crowds and traffic of the mall, that saves you time, gas and headaches. (Unless of course you have some idyllic small-town main street of mom and pop shops in your neck of the woods. By all means, go for it if you truly enjoy a more traditional shopping experience.)

But for those of us who have to do our gift-buying during lunch hour at work, or late at night while catching up on The Daily Show, this online gift guide can help you knock out your whole list quickly and painlessly. That leaves more time for what you really enjoy about the season.

One more thing: If you really want to make things easy on yourself, first buy yourself the gift of Amazon Prime. The annual membership fee is $79, but it’s totally worth it — especially if you buy and ship all your gifts on Amazon. Unlimited free two-day shipping on just about anything you could want. Not to mention you and the fam can watch lots of streaming movies and TV shows free on Amazon Instant Video and download free Kindle e-books, too.

Stocking Stuffers

Small enough to fit? Check. That’s about the only requirement a stocking stuffer has to meet. Whether it’s fun or functional, silly or sweet, the gifts inside their stockings are entirely up to you, based on family traditions and personal preferences. Here are a few thought-starters, just in case …

• Travel-sized toiletries
• Hanukkah gelt (gold-wrapped chocolate coins)
• Lego mini-figures
• Fun themed Band-Aids (Casey likes the ones that look like strips of bacon)
• Fake moustaches
• Finger puppets
• Crazy socks
• Marabou pens
• Magnetic clips
• Mini books
• Travel-sized games (great for holiday travel, too)

Gifts for Kids (by Age)

You know what your kiddo likes better than anyone. But what about your nephews, nieces, kid cousins, etc.? Or maybe you’re just looking for some new ideas to add to your own child’s list. Either way, get inspired with these cool gift ideas for kids — organized by age.

Gift ideas for babies up to 12 months

Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Soothe and Glow Seahorse ($17): The Ocean Wonders Soothe & Glow Seahorse is great for play or sleep, with 8 lullabies, soft music and soothing sounds of the ocean to comfort baby. A soft glowing light and long-play music are sure to calm baby and help create a peaceful environment perfect for bedtime. For children up to 3 years old.

 

Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Stack & Roll Cups ($12): Baby can learn so much through basic play, and these stackable, nestable, fit-together-and-roll-around cups offer endless versatility for lots of enriching discoveries. Includes 10 colorful cups to grasp, stack or nest, with grooved surfaces for a snug fit and easy stacking. Different colors, sizes and numbers help build early identification skills. A smiling jingle ball nests inside any cup, or fits on top of a whole stack.

 

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Stride-to-Ride Puppy ($50): Whether your baby is sitting, walking, or riding, the Stride-to-Ride Puppy is full of rewarding music, lights, and playtime excitement. This ride-on pup offers more than 50 songs, tunes, and phrases that teach your baby all about letters, numbers, colors, shapes, greetings, manners, and opposites.

Gift ideas for 12 – 24 months

Radio Flyer Retro Rocket ($209): The Radio Flyer Retro Rocket features retro styling and Radio Flyer dependability. The classic red steel body is safe and durable. Kids love the astronaut and space sounds, vibrating motor action, clicking nose cone, and light up panel and after burner. Comfortable no-slip seat and covered front wheels make this car safe and sturdy.

My Very First Library ($21): Here is the perfect gift for young children learning their colors, shapes, and numbers. All four of Eric Carle’s popular new split-page board books are now packaged together in a slipcased library. Collected here are My Very First Book of Colors, My Very First Book of Shapes, My Very First Book of Numbers, and My Very First Book of Words. Irresistible fun for young hands and minds!

 

 

Hohner Kids Glockenspiel ($17): Parents and children love the combination of a safe, durable, and quality musical experience our toddler glockenspiel provides. Featuring 8 accurately tuned multi-colored bars in the C major scale, it’s the perfect foundation for music play every day. Includes specially designed child safe mallet and resonator box which prevents individual bars from being removed.

 

Gift ideas for 2-year-olds

Green Toys ($8 to $33): Trucks, boats, airplanes, space rockets, kitchen sets, shape sorters — you really can’t go wrong with anything from Green Toys. These super-durable, made-in-the-USA toys made from recycled plastic are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to encourage imagination. – Susan

 

Step2 LifeStyle Custom Kitchen ($100): Let your little chef cook up hours of fun with this kid-sized kitchen. Electronic sounds include a phone, microwave, and a special frying pan and boiling pot that make electronic frying and boiling sounds when the lid is placed on them. The upscale, granite-look counter tops and “stainless steel” oven, microwave and refrigerator make this kitchen unique and realistic. The Custom Kitchen also features a recycle bin, pull out drawer, decorative plate rack, storage shelf, and a sink with a faucet.

Gift ideas for 3- to 4-year-olds

SunnyKid Hand Kite Silky Streamer Play ($7.95): There’s something about this simple handmade streamer kite that has the hippie in me dreaming of sunny days and childhood. TV and character specific toys don’t lead to much imagination. The possibilities are endless. – Casey   Flashlight Friends ($20): Flashlight Friends are soft, plush, cuddly animals with built-in flashlights. They’re great for nighttime games, storytime, sleepovers and other after-dark activities, and handy to use for nighttime trips to the bathroom and kitchen. Simply tap to turn the flashlight on and off (it turns off automatically after 10 minutes). My 4-year-old wants this for bedtime. – Sara   Lalaloopsy Babies ($17): Lalaloopsy is introducing new (and cuddly) friends to the roster of colorful and fun dolls – Lalaloopsy Babies. Meet the newest additions and rediscover the original characters – Crumbs Sugar Cookie™, Pillow Featherbed™, Jewel Sparkles™ and Mittens Fluff ‘N’ Stuff™ – as soft, adorable babies.

Gift ideas for 5- to 7-year-olds

Crayola Melt ‘N Mold Factory ($29): With the Melt ‘N Mold Factory, you can use Crayola crayons to create custom swirled crayons and molded toys. This kit includes everything you need to melt, mold, and create: 24 full-size Crayola crayons in four different colors, two molds, and a mold holder. This actually looks like a lot of fun, and goodness knows we have a lot of old, broken crayons lying around! – Sara   Zoom Pets Zoomer Dalmatian ($102): Zoomer the robot dog is playful, funny and he’ll steal your heart in an instant. Just like a real dog, you’ll need to teach him everything a puppy needs to know. Call his name, teach him lots tricks and watch how excited he gets when you reward him with a real good belly scratch. Kids can run play and laugh as Zoomer excitedly wags his tail and responds to their commands. Zoomer is smart as a whip and can understand English, Spanish and French.

Gift ideas for 8- to 11-year-olds

Uniden 16-Mile 22 Channel Rechargable FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio Pair ($30): Forget cheap, crappy “made for kids” walkie-talkies. Get your spy-in-training some professional-grade equipment that really works. With a range of up to 16 miles, these radios feature 22 channels (7 FRS / 5 GMRS), auto-squelch to reduce interference, channel scan and monitor features, and other convenient two-way basics like call tones and a roger beep.

Nerf Rebelle Heartbreaker Bow Phoenix ($34): My little Katniss circled this Nerf Rebelle bow in the toy catalogs that showed up in the mail. Apparently, it fires five foam darts up to 75 feet–looks like fun. – Sara   Rainbow Loom Kit ($17): By Christmas, most kids will probably already have a Rainbow Loom, but the bands would make great stocking stuffers. ALEX® Toys – Craft Sew Fun ($60): The Alex Sew Fun allows children to discover the delights of sewing with this easy to operate sewing machine that’s just their size. It comes with everything you need to start sewing right away, and includes adjustable stitch lengths, easy drop-in bobbin and two speeds that allow a safe and easy introduction to young sewers. Presser foot is designed so little hands can’t slip under. My daughter saw a commercial for this and expressed interest. I always wished I’d learned to sew, so this could be fun! – Sara

New Moon Girls Magazine Subscription ($41): I’ve been a fan of New Moon Girls magazine since before I had a girl of my own. This bi-monthly magazine is 100% advertising-free, high-quality content for girls age 8 and up. No diet advice or popularity contest BS — just great content to help girls discover and honor their true selves, engage in meaningful pursuits and dialogue, and express their voices in ways that matter. – Susan

Gift ideas for 12- to 14-year-olds

Karaoke USA Karaoke System ($160): This karaoke player has a sleek design matched by no other player you’ll ever find. It’s features will keep any karaoke enthusiast busy. A color screen that’s gorgeous and easy to read far away. Comes with 300 MP3G songs on disc, but will play any normal karaoke CDG, DVD Karaoke or watch a DVD movie. Keeping in tune with the digital age, it will accept auxilary input from most any personal player and gaming console. Even has a handy cradle to rest your MP3 player in for charging or watching your screen in an upright position.

OTK Socks from Sock Dreams ($10+): These adorable over-the-knee socks let tween girls make a fashion statement and stay cozy and comfortable while they do it. Lots of fun styles to choose from. – Susan

Gift ideas for big kids

NVIDIA Shield ($300) – The new NVIDIA Shield is like a handheld video game controller and tablet all in one. Your big kid can take on the latest console-quality Android games with true HD 720p graphics, booming stereo sound, and the precise, familiar performance of a console-grade game controller. Stream PC games over Wi-Fi to play anywhere in the house. The Shield puts a complete multimedia theater in the palm of your hand, so your big kid can watch movies, listen to music, or read e-books with a stunning 5” retinal-quality multi-touch display and custom tuned bass reflex audio. Watch Hulu, surf the web, check email, even update your Facebook status.