Holiday Gift Ideas: Ages 5-7 Years

By Jenny D., Charlotte Smarty Pants

Ok, so here are the Smarty reco's for 5 to 7 year olds.


Boys:
Quadrilla marble sets. This thing is awesome, check it out.

Legos Legos and more Legos! Tracy's Jake loves the little kits where he can follow the directions and put them together on his own.

StarWars action figures, or anything StarWars for that matter are a hit! Superheroes as well.

Girls:
It's time to get the real deal American Girl doll whether it's
Kitt Kitredge or Chrissa, Girl of the Year. We got the bitty baby a couple of years ago, and Zoe is now ready for the doll. We plan to have some fun with accessories for the American Girl. Check out ebay or etsy for handcrafted things first, usually cheaper and more unique.

We love arts and crafts gift. Consider gifts from Alex such as the sewing machine, knitting scarves, decorate flip flops, etc. Another hit are the mosaic crafts - make your own tiara or fairies...

Both:
Playmobil also had great stuff for both boys and girls – there are tons of themes including pirates.

Nintendo DSi - definitely a good age to invest in this gaming system.

Vsmile motion- it sort of like an educational wii for kids. And it comes in boy and girl colors.

Bean Bag – PotterybarnKids has them. This is a great gift when kids get too big for the floor chair. The Company Store has themed ones as well and you can get them personalized with his or her name on it at both places.

Puzzles – the 100 or even 200 piece are good.

Educational toys are also hit for both. Check out our previous article for some fun games. Also consider Pears in Pairs.

Board games are also great. You can start a new family tradition with game night and play games such as Sorry!, Blokus, Go Fish, memory game, and Zingo.

Any product from lit'l Desi9s
We love the long sleeve waffle tees, note cards, super duper soft bamboo pillowcases, and duffel bags! 8x10 framed prints are also gifts that last a lifetime!

Another fun game is Bull’s-eye Ball SUPER fun game – kind of like miniature skee-ball.

Oh – and this is really cool too – a live Butterfly Garden. You get the kit and then there is a certificate enclosed to send away for your live caterpillars (so you can plan for when you’ll be home to witness the full cycle). When they arrive, you feed them and watch them get fat, then they for their cocoons and emerge as butterflies!! WAY cool for the whole family! Tracy S. got this for Jake and they actually let a couple of the butterflies out so they could fly around Jake’s room.

High Five magazine subscription - its the younger version of Highlights - GREAT magazine for this age! Short stories, fun little activities, some education things, Hidden Picture page!! LOVE it! And it's totally geared toward the younger crew.

My First Weather Station – Rachel keeps this in her son’s room and when he wakes up in the mornings he not only sees the outside and inside temperature, but there is a picture to show him how he should dress! In the winter the little boy has on a scarf and hat and on hot days he will just be wearing his swimtrunks. It is so fun for her son and also helpful to mom when you are getting your children dressed in the mornings!

Hens and Chicks – This was called Mikado, but it has changed its name. This is a simple, fun family game. Rachel just played it the other night with her fam, and somehow her six year old beat everyone! It is similar to the game “Perfection” we played when we were younger.

Zhu Zhu
Apparently, the hottest toy this 2009 holiday season is the Zhu Zhu faux hamster and all the accessories that go with it. For those of you not familiar, Zhu Zhu Pets are interactive, plush, and artificially intelligent hamsters that talk and move around in their own playsets. Zhu Zhu Pets include two play modes: nurturing mode where the hamsters coo and purr, and adventure mode where the hamsters explore their habitat with intelligent audio and mechanical responses to various habitat stimuli. Over a dozen add-ons can be purchased to build an ever-evolving hamsterworld for your hamsters to play in and explore. Click here to read Jen P's blog about this toy.

And for that ultimate holiday gift, you should consider an outdoor playset designed by Triad-based Perfect Playspaces. You may remember our blog about them, and how Perfect Playspaces will custom build your child’s dream castle, playset or fantasy treehouse to match your child’s favorite storybook, movie or toy. All you have to do is dream it, and they will build it!

Whew, that's enough to wear this elf out, but I am sure you smarties have other thoughts so please share!

Posted by Triad Smarty Pants at 5:00 AM