We all want to give the best gifts to young kids. Nothing is better than seeing their eyes light up as they open their presents. What if we can give a great gift that encourages reading but isn’t looked at as a boring gift. Then is this the list for you! With Christmas quickly approaching, it’s time to get going!
This page does contain affiliate links. I only recommend items that I have personally vetted or excitedly waiting for from Santa this year. I use these products, and if you buy them I’ll probably earn a small amount of money.
Gift Sets – Giving the gift of a book with a toy will not only get them excited to read the story but also ways to make connections with that story in a whole new way.
Will you be My Sunshine Gift Set
Dragons Love Tacos Book and Toy Set
Narwhal and Jelly Book 1 and Puppet Set
Magnet character play sets – These book theme magnet sets are a great way for kids to retell stories and reconnect with their favorite characters. I also love these for going to eat or traveling. They are compact, engaging, and store all their pieces making them great for travel.
Good Night, Good Night Construction Site
Puzzles – Puzzles offer a fun way to practice skills while encouraging independence. Puzzles also help kids with fine and gross motor skills. As kids work with puzzles they are developing strength in their fingers as they grasp and hold onto the pieces. This results in the ability to hold onto pencils and crayons.
Richard Scarry 36-Piece Jigsaw Floor Puzzle
Me Reader Electronic Reader – These are my kids favorites. They are a set of 8 books and a little remote. Kids can press the button to read each page of the book to them. I like to organize my sets with little dollar tree baskets. I put the 8 books into the large section, The remote in the medium section, and in the smallest section I like to put a toy that matches the theme of the books.
Great thing about the Me Readers is there are many different sets. So you are sure to find a topic that your kids like. I have posted which my kids have liked the most.
Techie learning to read toys – There are many of these out there now. My kids have loved vetch and leap frog toys but some of the new toys that integrate with tablets are so much fun. Now my 4 and 6 year are all about their Osmo sets and square panda. The Osmo sets can work with kindles or iPad but you have to but the correct set. They are not interchangeable. Where square panda can work with either device.
Osmo – Little Genius Starter Kit – Preschool Ages – Problem Solving, & Creativity
Osmo – Genius Starter Kit, Ages 6-10 – Math, Spelling, Creativity & More
Square Panda Multisensory Phonics Playset for Kids Learning to Read
Kids Audio Player – My kids love listening to audio books. We recently got the 4th Gen echo dots for our kids. They love all the books on Disney Stories, Disney Plot twists, and audible. I know the echo may not be for everyone. Perhaps you want to your kids to use something with without a microphone. Last Christmas we got a Tonie Box. And my boys love it. You only need to connect to the internet the first time you get a new tonie. But once its downloaded they work without wifi. The Toniebox has little figures that you place on top of the speaker and reads stories and some have songs too. I keep this for special things and it is amazing for traveling. My kids are usually so excited that they don’t want to sleep on vacation but the Tonie box helps them to relax before bed and I dont’ have to worry about internet. I have not personally tried the next but looks very similar to the Tonie box. Yoto Player has cards that they insert. Both have a nice size library of audiobooks but also have songs and other interesting features.
Yoto Player – Kids Audio Player & 7 Cards Starter Pack
Toniebox Audio Player Starter Set
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