Tried and True Gift Ideas for Kids ages 2 to 13+
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With Christmas only a few weeks away, hopefully, you’ve gotten a head start on your holiday shopping. But if not, I’ve got an awesome list of tried and true gift ideas for kids, broken down by age plus my secret for saving even more money on all your Holiday Shopping!
This post is sponsored by Ibotta, all opinions are mine!
It’s no secret, I enjoy shopping and finding the perfect gifts for kids, my family and friends. But, even more, I especially love saving money and finding good deals on those gifts. While everyone may not love the actual shopping experience, I know I am not alone with the saving money part!
Use The Ibotta App to save $$$
I’ve previously talked about my favorite money-saving shopping app in past posts, but since we’re all gearing up to do some holiday shopping, I wanted to make sure everyone knows all about the Ibotta app.
If you are not familiar, Ibotta is a cashback and rewards app that gives customers cashback on purchases made both in-store and online!
In addition to Walmart, Target, Amazon and Best Buy, Ibotta has hundreds of more online and in-store partners, so no matter if you do all your shopping online or in stores, you can save cash while checking off all your gift lists!
Find the app app ==>> here and get started.
Gift Ideas for Kids
Today’s post focuses on gift ideas for kids, but I have a couple other gift lists for coffee lovers, kitchen gadget lovers and a list of Oprah’s favorite things for those that are especially difficult to shop for.
For the kids list, the Gift Ideas list is broken down by ages: 2 to 4, 5 to 7, 8 to 10, 11 to 12 and 13+.
The 13+ category is a hard one to shop for as the older the kids get, they either want money or very specific items (usually $$$) based on their interests.
Almost all of the gifts I have highlighted have been well-loved by the children in our family and can be found at both in-store and online at Walmart, Target, Best Buy or online at Amazon.com.
Gift Ideas for Kids Ages 2 to 13+
Gifts for 2 to 4-year-olds
- LEGO DUPLO Classic Deluxe Brick Box found at Walmart (Walmart has tons of Duplo sets, I like this one because it has 85 pieces and can build several items.)
- Bath toys like the Green Toys Rescue Boat with Helicopter found on Amazon
- Interactive books, like the “Press Here” by Herve Tullet found on Amazon
- Ride-on toys. Self-powered: Radio Flyer Scoot-About found on Amazon or the battery-powered Peg Perego John Deere 6V Power Pull Tractor found at Target. (We had one of these tractors 12 years ago, it lasted forever and was so much fun!)
- LINCOLN LOGS – 100th Anniversary Tin found on Amazon
- Disney Frozen Elsa’s Ice Palace or the Fisher-Price Little People Launch & Loop Raceway Vehicle Playset, both by Little People and found at Walmart (toddlers love anything by Little People)
Gifts for 5 to 7-year-olds:
- Play-Doh Fun Factory
- Classic Board Games like Connect Four, Candy Land, ThinkFun Zingo Bingo or Jr Monopoly found at Target
- DIY Slime kits like Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty for Kids found on Amazon
- LEGO Classic Medium Creative Brick Box (484 pieces) Found on Amazon
- The Lego Ideas Book: Unlock Your Imagination found on Amazon – my son loved this one
- Marble Run Toys, 60 Pieces Wooden Classic Ramps Track Building Construction Set for Children found on Amazon
- Amazon Fire Kids Edition (found on Amazon) – yes this is an electronic device, but the kid’s edition comes with a 1-year break guarantee and fabulous parental controls. I found it indispensable for traveling.
Gifts Ideas for 8 to 10-year olds:
- Origami books and supplies Found on Amazon
- Magic Sets – Ideal Magic Spectacular Magic Suitcase. Loved this one (found on amazon) so much we bought it twice.
- Various Jewelry Making Craft kits found at Walmart or Amazon
- Beyblades – Any type, found at Walmart. (we had tons family “battles” with these.)
- Razor Turbo A Scooter found at Walmart
- FujiFilm Instax Mini found on Amazon or Best Buy
- Jokelopedia: The Biggest, Best, Silliest, Dumbest Joke Book Ever! Found on Amazon and great for all aged that can read – kids do love to tell jokes.
- Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!– Another great book series found on Amazon that kept my kid’s attention for several years.
Gifts for 11 to 12-year-olds.
- The Boys’ Book Of Survival (How To Survive Anything, Anywhere) or A Girl’s Guide to the Wild: Be an Adventure-Seeking Outdoor Explorer! Both found on Amazon
- Handheld Mini Walkie Talkies found on Amazon. (My kids would take these all around the neighborhood.)
- Singing Machine – Carpool Karaoke Wireless Dynamic Microphone found at Target and Syncs to your phone.
- Unicorn Bath Bomb Gift Set found on Amazon
- Echo dots and an Amazon music subscription (Alexa will also read books out loud – so perfect for cleaning time, lol)
- Good Headphones – We actually had great luck with the Sony – Noise-Canceling Wired On-Ear Headphones found at Best Buy. I recommend wired over wireless as they don’t have to charge.
- LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox 17101 Robot Building Set found on amazon – a bit pricey but a good starter kit when ready to move on from regular legos to robotics.
- Compound Student Microscope and slides. (found on Amazon) We had purchased one for my son’s 11th birthday. He really enjoyed the extra slides I included as well as looking at all sorts of bugs under the scope.
Gifts for teens aged 13+ and up:
This is where it gets really hard to shop. Most times they just want money, but if you just want to have a gift or two under the tree here are a couple of options
- Pop Socket PopGrips (phone holder – even I love these) found on Amazon
- Make Your Own Beauty Masks: 38 Simple, All-Natural Recipes for Healthy Skin found on Amazon
- ION Audio Block Rocker Plus (karaoke machine) We rented something similar over the thanksgiving break and a karaoke speaker and microphone set is on our list. This one is found on Amazon and you use a separate app for the music and lyrics
- HP® Sprocket Printer for your phone found at best buy (We have one of these, they are great for printing mobile images.
- Amazon Gift Cards
- Go Pro or similar HD camera that will take a good amount of abuse. If it is not waterproof, be sure to include a case- found on Amazon or Best Buy
- Ipad or other tablets found at Best Buy
- Hoodies Found just about everywhere. (I will say Nike hoodies are quite popular with my 15 yr old)
- Ear buds (so many to choose from) with a charging case. (Samsung Galaxy Buds or Air pods for Apple fans.) I actually have a pair of the Galaxy buds – they’re pretty nice, and pair with my fitbit for walks.
That’s if for our tried and true gift list for kids. Of course, it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things kids want. If you have something else your kids loved, please suggest it in the comments below