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Chanukah Gift Suggestions

The temperatures have gotten cooler.  The leaves have changed colors and have fallen to the ground.  The sun is setting earlier and winter is in the air.  As much as you may not want to think about it, Chanukah is on the horizon.  Some folks love the excitement of finding the perfect gift for their little one, but others struggle with purchasing toys for the child in their life who they feel has everything (and who usually prefers to play with the box the gift came in!!).

Help is to the rescue – being an early childhood center director with many years of experience, I have a good idea of what they might be interested in playing with (and even learning from).  Here are my top 10 gift suggestions for your child (ages 2-6), grandchild, niece/nephew, friend, etc…

1.      Construction Transport Truck with 4 Pack Small Pull Back Construction Vehicles – because who doesn’t love trucks?

2.     Magnetic Color and Number Maze Puzzle – perfect to not only practice one’s colors and numbers, but this puzzle will also help to sharpen hand-eye coordination as well.

3.     Orsen LCD Writing Tablet Doodle Board – sort of like having your own “big kid tablet” but this allows you to still be creative, use your imagination and not be glued to a real screen.

4.     DMOIU Magnetic Building Blocks – these allow the child to create a different structure every single time they play with them.

5.     Kidwill Tool Kit For Kids – work with your grown up to “fix” items around the house.

6.      JOCHA Color Sorting and Counting Dinosaur Toy – learn those colors and sharpen your sorting skills and…who doesn’t love dinosaurs?

7.      Toddler Puzzle-Wooden Jigsaw Animal Puzzle – one can never have too many puzzles.  These puzzles are a great way to practice the names of the animals while also practicing spatial awareness.

8.      J-Hong Matching Egg 12 Piece Set – I have never met a child who doesn’t LOVE these.  These eggs help to teach matching skills as well as colors and spatial awareness.  And of course they can also be used in a pretend kitchen.

9.      Hey Kiddo-Montessori Search and Find Books for Toddlers – our students love the search and find pages in the Highlights Magazine (thank you Stuart Gaerlick).  This item is just like the magazine but each page has a different theme.

10.  Viahart Brain Flakes 500 Piece Interlocking Plastic Disc Set – allows the children to create their own structure by using their imagination.   Each time they play with these, they can create something new.  Also allows them to sharpen their find motor control while sliding the pieces into one another.