Santa is coming! Ok, we have a few weeks yet but I am definitely starting to get organised and my attention has turned to Christmas presents for the family. For the past few weeks, I have been researching some of the newest and best STEM gifts that your children would like to receive under the STEM Christmas tree this year!
We want our Christmas gifts to work pretty hard, they need to be wanted, versatile and have plenty of play power and longevity. I don’t want to buy Christmas gifts that fail to deliver once the wrapping is ripped and the tree put away. These days, when buying for children I search out STEM gifts that inspire and challenge children to think creatively and problem solve. My ten year old is past the toys stage but I still want her to have Christmas gifts that excite and challenge her. She wants clothes a plenty but I still want her to open STEM gifts that will fire her imagination.
I have put together a STEM gift guide and included where the stem gifts can be bought and currently how much they are selling for. Of course, prices may change over the next few weeks especially if stores run promotions.
3 Doodler Starter Essential Pen Set
First up is the 3Doodler Start Essential Pen Set which costs £44.95. The 3Doodler is the world’s leading maker of 3D printing pens. Compact and easy to use, the 3Doodler extrudes heated plastic that cools almost instantly into a solid, stable structure, enabling anyone to start creating in 3D within minutes. The 3Doodler Start Essential Pen Set is a fun and educational STEM gift that both parents and kids will love. The award-winning product allows kids to bring any, and all, ideas to life in 3D. This 3D printing pen and its creations are not hot to touch and use biodegradable Eco-Plastic, making it completely safe for kids to use. The 3Doodler Start inspires creativity, design, planning, building and spatial understanding. This looks a great gift and I am sure my 10-year-old will have plenty of fun with it. Available from Amazon by clicking this link.
Boomtrix
BoomTrix is an extreme marble track with a launch tower, trampolines, and stunt platforms. You can make your own course and use gravity to do as many tricks as possible. This enables children to us their imagination. It is a STEM product offering endless fun combined with educational value. This retails for around £20 and is available on Amazon.
Science in Wonderland
Explore science in a magical fairy garden with Science in Wonderland. This set is ideal for those aged 5 plus and retails at £24.99 Consisting of no chemicals, just science fun in your very own magical fairy garden playset which teaches early STEM principles.
With 5 magical experiments; make a kaleidoscope in a tree stump, make a ladybird’s wings flap with solar energy, make a fairy dance, make flowers bloom in seconds and create magic colourful butterfly wings the set is sure to capture the imagination of your young enquirer. This set makes a great STEM gift.
BrightMinds
I have also partnered up with BrightMinds, an award-winning home shopping company that sell educational toys, gifts, games and children’s books for ages 0 to 14+ years. BrightMinds specialise in STEM toys, arts & crafts, and other toys and games that are fun to use but also encourage learning and development. They’ve won multiple national mail order awards, including Best Internet Business, and are one of the UK’s Top 10 mail order companies as named by The Daily Telegraph. I picked out a couple of my favourites from the website that will be a great Stem Christmas present to find under the tree.
The Cambridge Brainbox Primary Plus 2 Kit
I often see science kits but was thrilled to spot an electronics set on the BrightMinds website. Brainbox is a simple ‘Plug and Play’ electronics set with all parts designed for quick and easy assembly. The Cambridge Brainbox Primary Plus 2 Kit is three kits in one. It includes all parts from the original Primary Plus kit with the addition of the parts from the Primary 2 kit and the Sensors and Alarms. The set is ideal for use at home and comes with a manual for parents to help.
It covers the requirements of the Science National Curriculum which many children wish they had more time for in school. Now they can indulge and challenge themselves at home too.
The Brainbox set retails at £34.99 from BrightMinds
Best Year Ever
I adored this Best Year Ever journal as soon as I spotted it. My ten year old is all about being a VSCO girl right now and she also loves writing. As a blogger and diary writer this is something I wish her to develop! The journal is a completely customisable calendar and gratitude journal. Every month features activities and ideas to help you remember to be thankful, practice kindness, and find what makes you happy all year long. Erin has a great growth mindset and I want her to further develop these interpersonal skills. This a is great price at just £10.99
Learning Resources Mental Blox Critical Thinking Game
Erin is preparing for the 11+ this year and it has an emphasis on non verbal reasoning and problem-solving. Therefore this game is ideal for developing that skill set.
This game promises to give your brain a boost with Mental Blox, a sure way to sharpen your mind! Mental Blox contains 20 colourful plastic blocks in 4 different shapes and 10 different designs, together with 20 double-sided cards showing different things to build or replicate with the blocks. Each player or team has 10 blocks, 1 of each design. The aim of the game is to replicate the image on a card, using the different blocks, but beware – some cards are harder than others!
STEM gifts are a good choice as they encourage children to think differently and they promote problem solving and critical thinking as well as giving practical experience to are young learners. Modern society requires us to be enquiring and we already know that many careers and jobs require children with an interest in science, tech and maths and therefore it is wise to start preparing them for this at an early age.
