However devoted a Mum you are (and we all are), every parent knows the unique frustration of wracking their brain trying to think of unique and memorable gifts for their kids. If you’ve ever had that feeling of “What? Another birthday?!? I could swear they had one of those last year!” the good news is that you are not alone! What’s more, keeping on top of what your kids want can be a full time job.
The simple fact is that kids grow up incredibly fast and their tastes are as changeable as the seasons. The thing they’re pestering you for non-stop one week can be the next week’s cruel joke. Since there are so many bright and shiny fad products clamouring for their attention, it can be difficult to think outside the box, beyond the fads and trends.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some gifts out there that they could be awed and inspired by upon unwrapping, but without relegating them to the phantom zone beneath the bed within forty eight hours? Perhaps they could be purchased without having to max out a credit card? And maybe they could get just a little something educational out of them as well? And maybe… Just maybe you could get something out of them too. That’d be nice wouldn’t it?
Worry not, stressed parent, for here are some of the coolest toys and gadgets on the market that not only will the kids enjoy… You might just have some fun with them too! It’s okay, we won’t tell anybody.
Code Gamer
When we were at school, IT literacy was something that we were told would probably be pretty important some day. Today, most toddlers are proficient in the use of tablets. When your child grows up and enters the workplace, they’ll probably be expected to know how to code. And it’s never too early to get them started!
Code Gamer from Thames and Kosmos teaches kids to code while solving puzzles and overcoming challenges just like in any other video game. By playing along with them, you might just have fun and learn something, too. And you won’t have to worry about the content being age appropriate. Bonus!
Electric Scooters
There’s never a bad time for kids to start becoming road aware and razor electric scooters are a fun and environmentally friendly way of getting your kid used to handling and being aware of motorised vehicles in a fun and safe way. They’re fast enough for your child to have fun but not so fast that they’ll cause you undue worry. They can also be tailored to your child’s age and personal tastes and they’re fun to ride for children and parents alike.
Pretty cool, no?
Lego… Obviously!
There’s a reason why Lego is the world’s hottest toy company. Those little plastic bricks (while an absolute nightmare when stood on) are, unlike most kids’ toys, a pretty solid investment even when the kits start to get pricey. If kids get into Lego at a young age, they tend to stick with it as they mature. There’s even a growing subculture of adults who’ve never let go of their Lego obsession.
The beauty of Lego is in its versatility, giving your kids free expression to mix and match characters, vehicles and locations from all of their favourite franchises from Marvel Superheroes to Star Wars and pretty much everything in between. Your kids can dedicate hours and hours to building a Batcave or a Millennium Falcon or they can go completely off-book and make a unique creation hybridised from bits of both.
The educational benefits of playing with Lego have also been pretty well established. It teaches kids creative problem solving, lateral thinking and increases motor development. Working with your kids on a Lego project as a family is also a wonderful way to bond.
But… And I can’t stress this enough… Try not to step on any of it.
ARTrageous
It’s a uniquely wonderful experience to see your child develop their artistic skills. It’s also great fun working collaboratively with them on arts and crafts projects. ARTrageous allows you to do exactly that, providing instructions, hints, tips and resources to help your children make a wide range of painting, drawing and mixed media projects that will help them to express themselves creatively while bonding with you.
Tesla Kit
Kids have curious and inquisitive minds and are keen to know just how pretty much everything works. Electricity is a wondrous prospect for an inquisitive young mind, as it imbues lifeless and inert objects with light, noise and movement. But if they’re dismantling their desk lamp and giving themselves nasty electric shocks in the process, that’s probably not the best outlet for them (pun semi-intended).
The Tesla kit is a great tool for teaching your children how technology works in a safe and fun way. They might just let you help them with their projects too… Maybe.
Virtual Reality Maze Builder
This innovative toy won the Tagie Awards last year for best digital toy or game design and it’s not very hard to see why. Designing and navigating mazes is a game that children have enjoyed for centuries but this cool gadget allows kids to not only design their maze but to go into and navigate it using virtual reality.
You (or your child if they insist in joining in on your fun) place walls on the grid and insert the start and end point as well as laying traps here and there… because we wouldn’t want this to get too easy would we?
Then, using the free app available on Android and iOS you can scan your maze and walk around it virtually. You can even transform the maze into an ancient ruin, a spaceship or a medieval castle. But wait, there’s more. You can even throw in riddles, as well as your own images and sounds.
You and your child can have hours of fun designing and navigating mazes for each other to navigate. Now doesn’t that sound like quality time?
