Educational Christmas Gifts For Kids

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Now that Luke’s getting a bit older, it’s become apparent that toys that are created just for the sake of it aren’t always too popular anymore. As he grows and explores the world around him, we can tell that he’s looking for a challenge. If a toy or game involves building, using his hands and his brain in unison or learning more about the world through osmosis then it’s guaranteed to be a big hit. Oscar’s not too far behind either. He’s at that wonderful toddler stage where everything is absolutely fascinating and he’s always attempting to copy his brother. It seems like a great time to get them some educational Christmas gifts that will help them to learn more about the way things work.

If you’ve got children who are also showing signs that they’re interested in educational and STEM toys, then hopefully this educational Christmas gift guide will give you some great ideas. It features some new toys that we’ve been sent to try out and some old classics that we’ve been enjoying throughout the year, so I can tell you for a fact that they’ve been big hits with the kids. 

Personalised Shape Sorter Learning Clock

I’m a huge fan of personalised gifts, especially for the younger children. This personalised shape sorter clock from Funky Pigeon combines a charming personalised element with a fun, educational Christmas gift that will last for years. Wooden toys are absolutely gorgeous and, if I could, all the toys in my house would be made from wood! This clock teaches toddlers about shapes, colours and numbers, as well as introducing the concept of time. With moving clock hands and your child’s name printed in the middle of the clock face, this cute little gift will stand the test of time.  

The Natural History Puzzle Book

The Natural History Puzzle Book from Welbeck Publishing contains over 100 puzzles and quizzes and over 150 colourful pieces of artwork to accompany the amazing nuggets of knowledge that make up this book. The puzzle book guides you through the history of our world and is brimming with questions that are bound to amuse children and parents alike. The puzzles come in 3 levels of difficulty, from easy to hard, and contain classic problems such as mazes, spot the difference and word searches, as well as some more complex puzzles! This little gem is going to be great for my 6 year old who loves a good puzzle book – it also means that we can have a little time together to bond over the puzzles and facts as we try and complete the book together. All of this makes it a fabulous educational Christmas gift idea!

Meccano Junior Kits

We’re big fans of anything that goes in this house, so Meccano is always a go-to choice when it comes to filling a few hours with something fun. The kits come with instructions and tools that help you to build some great moving machines, but it’s also seriously cool to watch your kids get create and build their own vehicles. Even Oscar who’s 1.5 years old loves to help his brother out (under a careful grown up’s eye) and understands the concept of using screws to hold pieces of the kit together. Meccano* and Meccano Junior* are absolutely fabulous STEM toys for children as they encourage critical thinking and promote engineering, creativity, design work and architectural minds . 

Botley The Coding Robot

Earlier this year we reviewed Botley The Coding Robot* in honour of National Coding Week. Botley is one clever little guy and my 6 year old is still obsessed with him. After taking half an hour to go through and explain the basic concept of coding, Luke was able to produce a command list that made Botley do exactly what he wanted him to do. We’ve had hours of fun playing with Botley and if we hadn’t have reviewed him, I definitely would have ended up buying him. Botley encourages critical thinking and helps develop early programming and coding skills that are needed later on in life. For more information on Botley, check out my Botley The Coding Robot Review. 

Activity Cubes

We’ve bought Oscar an activity cube for Christmas and I know that he’s going to absolutely love it. There are so many amazing activity cubes* to choose from, we’ve gone from one that we picked up in Lidl but I have seen some truly stunning ones on the market! I also find that these things are irresistible, for babies, toddlers, children AND adults! There’s something about them that just makes you want to play. I know this will be a big hit with the kids and they encourage all sorts of skills, from problem solving to shape sorting. 

Clementoni 61302 “Explore the World!” The Interactive Globe 

Luke received this last Christmas as a joint gift from his step-daddy’s side of the family. For the last year, it’s been a massive hit with both kids. The smart globe is an interactive globe that uses a special pen to tell your child facts about the subject and country they’ve chosen.  The Clementoni Interactive Globe* includes information about languages, special foods, currency, geography and even their national anthem. The globe is extremely details and offers kids the chance to quiz themselves on the facts they’ve learnt.  As far as educational Christmas gifts go – this one is absolutely great and it’s good value for money too.

Personalised Encyclopedia

Like I mentioned previously, we’re big fans of all things personalised! This personalised children’s encyclopedia makes a great educational Christmas gift for those with a thirst for knowledge. It’s packed full of over 90 fun and educational facts, alongside beautifully drawn illustrations. Luke’s name features on every single page, including the last one, where he needs to find it himself within a massive word search. The personalised encyclopedia is available from The Gift Experience.

Hopefully this list of educational Christmas gifts has given you some inspiration when it comes to buying the kids something this year. As I mentioned before, we’re all big fans of educational toys and we’re always spending our weekends building or learning something new about the world around us. As a parent, I can’t recommend this type of toy enough as, not only is it great for the children, but it also teaches me the odd nugget and allows me to spend some really good quality time with the kids!