It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

We love sharing the gifts we are giving our kids from some of our go-to companies and hopefully inspire you to do the same. Every year we love partnering with companies to showcase some gift ideas for our kids in whatever stage of life they are in and year after year we are delighted to give quality, useful, and engaging toys that are often also educational for our homeschooling families. We hope you find one or two things in this gift guide that will help with your list of kids you are buying for this year.

First up is Kane Miller Books, a favourite publishing company of ours that contains one of our boys’ favourite series: Bear Grylls. They have chapter books, stickers books, activity books, etc. They have a wide variety of award-winning books from around the world and there are so many titles that our kids really love. The Sticker Life Series is also so good as a child can discover some of the world’s most inspiring people in these sticker biography books.

The chapter book series by Bear Grylls from Kane Miller books offers a choose your own adventure vibe. Our kids love being able to make choices in the wild and try to survive certain challenges. There are also accompanying activity books that allow children to deepen their knowledge about animal characteristics.

Magna-Tiles are an amazing building tool for kids. Each piece has magnets inside which allows them to connect, build and stack the shapes in so many different ways. Our family has a few sets and our kids have built everything from houses, runways, airports, dinosaur caves and castles using Magna-Tiles. The Magna Tiles Space and Magna Tiles Castle DLX are two newer sets that allow children to build a space ship and a castle. The beauty of these pieces is you can re use them to create something new every time!

Kidamento is a new company to us and they carry adorable cameras that feature an instant print option while taking digital photos. I love the idea of an print option right from the camera on special paper as I know my kids would definitely put that to use - point and shoot and then add that photo to a journal or card for someone. My little girl has been asking for a camera so this will be sweet to give to her under the tree this year.

Our families play a lot of board games. At Christmas, we think it is fun to add a new family game as a gift for the whole family under the tree. Some of our newer favourites from Asmodee are Azul, Azul Summer Pavilion, Catan and the one we have played the most Ticket to Ride. Asmodee is offering some smaller, stocking stuffer games for the holidays that you could slip into any child’s stocking: Spot it - great for young kids because it is all about finding quick matches, Unlock - this looks intriguing for a small group as you need to download an app to play and it creates a mini escape adventure for all to enjoy, Piles - this looks like a fast paced game with no talking but a lot of laughs, perfect for all ages at a family gathering, Happy Salmon - this is an excellent ice breaker game for small or large groups.

MGA Entertainment this year has a few toys and activities we will be slipping into our children’s stockings this year. The Pixel Pets Dalmatian and Corgi are bringing us back to our childhood reminding us of the digital pets we had as kids. The pets respond to your voice and touch which I know our kids will love. If you have a child who loves crafts or has a dollhouse, MGA’s MiniVerse Make It Mini Lifestyle collection is full of adorable surprises. Each themed capsule is a DIY mini item your child can put together and use for imaginative play or even in their dollhouse. There are so many different themes to choose from including spa, holiday, home decor etc. You can find both of these items at Walmart.

Little Tikes Story Dream Machine also comes from MGA Entertainment and is perfect for watching, listening, and reading along to stories as they shine bright on the wall. There is an always expanding library of story collections that offers a big variety to choose from such as Berenstain Bears, 3 Little Golden Book Series, Axel the Truck, and many more. We can’t wait to do these at night before bedtime and listen along to the stories together as a family.

Bubblegum Kids is also new to us but we are pumped to find sugar-free gum that brings back the classic bubblegum flavour we all loved growing up. Our boys will be pumped to find out that NHL player Zach Hyman and his brother Oliver created this company! It is difficult to find sugar free gum that has delicious flavours so we are excited to try this brand. You can find them online here and also on amazon.

We want to introduce one more thing new to us which is the Hatchimals Alive Mystery Hatch that contains 1 or 2 Pufficorn or Draggle characters inside of an egg, each with unique details, sounds and lights. With so many exciting features, Mystery Hatch Hatchimals will spark imagination and endless storytelling. This could be a great item to take on a road trip or have a new toy to open at a home away from home this holiday season. These are available at retailers such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, etc.

The Chosen has come out with a new book series that would make a great gift for Christmas this year for little ones. They have these board books pictured above that talk about different themes of what God has made as well as a few stories from the bible. The illustrations are lovely and we love the board book style for little kids. You can find these at any book store as well as online at David C Cook. David C Cook also carries a wide variety of other books such as the two pictured above that teach kids in a childlike way about spiritual warfare and how we can fight with worship and speaking God’s truth.

Littlest Pet Shop is a favourite around here as our children would secretly love all the pets they could possible have while their parents give a decently firm no. Littlest Pet Shop allows our kids to pretend to take care of their pets, expand their pretend play, and set up their own pet shop. We love that there are also surprise boxes that would make a great stocking stuffer!

Finally, saving one of the best for last is one of our favourite companies, Djeco. Djeco is constantly creating fun, imaginative, and educational toys that our families have loved. We have used so many of their craft items, board games, dolls and accessories. This year we are adding a doll from their Lovely Collection under the tree as well as some doll accessories like this baby bag and Pomea Suitcase.
We are trying out this wooden game called Oscar & Canelle and a few art items such as Tales to Decorate and this Creative Activity Set along with a new game called Sologic.

These are gifts that we are actually giving our kids this year and so many of these inspire our kids to create, to read, or encourage their imaginative play. We hope this helps you find one or two ideas for the kids on your Christmas list this year.