Hints are the last thing he wants when a puzzle gets hard, and IQ Puzzler Pro leaves the solving to him.
Each challenge asks where every piece goes, starting easy and climbing to expert, some flat and some built up in layers. It all packs into a travel case that can come along to his grandparents' house.
Rocket doodles crowd the margins of every worksheet he brings home.
With this LEGO Creator set, he can build a space shuttle out of bricks, and when a new idea strikes, the same pieces rebuild into another spaceship or an astronaut. Whichever model is standing, it can swoop around the living room.
Christmas morning starts with the build, and once the last piece clicks in, he has a blue LEGO City monster truck, its driver minifigure already at the wheel.
From there it is ready for floor stunts and races. When a hard landing knocks a piece loose, he knows exactly where it goes, because he put it together himself.
Transformers Heroic Optimus Prime robot action figure
Dolls and figures
Optimus Prime switches from robot to truck right in his hands, so the leader of his pretend battles can also drive to the rescue.
Optimus is a large figure, taller than most of the crew he commands. A mission can start with the truck racing in and end with the robot pulling a friend from the rubble.
Die-cast cars only go as far as his arm can push them, so a Hot Wheels Mustang he drives by remote is a real step up.
He can send it across the room, around a chair leg and back to his feet. When he lines up his collection, this is the one car that can leave the row on its own.
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Batmobile Tumbler toy truck
Vehicles
Next to his regular Hot Wheels, this oversized Batmobile Tumbler looks like the boss of the toy bin.
Batman's famous ride sits on monster truck wheels here, and it rolls over pillows, slippers and anything else he piles in its path. Every chase he stages can end with the Tumbler plowing through the villain's roadblock.
Wherever he ends up sitting, this Crayola case doubles as a lap desk and comes packed with art supplies.
He already doodles on any scrap of paper he finds, and this gives him a flat surface on his knees with every supply in one spot. On a long train ride, the towns rolling past the window become sketches that pack back into the case.
This tonies holiday songs figurine gives a six-year-old the job of starting the Christmas music at home.
He likes choosing what plays, so a figure he controls puts the holiday tunes in his hands. While the family decorates the tree, he can set the songs going and sing along.
Recess is where he trades Pokémon facts, and this puzzle ball turns those favorites into something he builds.
As each piece fits into place, the characters he talks about curve around into a sphere. Once it is done, he can turn it in his hands and name every face before the next recess.
Floor is Lava makes a game out of something he does anyway: leaping instead of walking.
Each hop from one safe spot to the next counts, and a sibling or grown-up can jump in to dare him across. It works outdoors too, so a stalled playdate can move to the backyard.
Learning Resources Noodle Knockout matching board game
A board game built around noodles is just the kind of silly food joke that cracks him up.
On each turn he spots the pieces that match and picks them up with careful fingers, so winning takes a steady hand as well as sharp eyes. For once, playing with his food is allowed.
Hasbro Gaming's Twister gets a wiggly six-year-old off the couch and into a family game on the floor.
He hates sitting still, so a game where every turn means reaching and stretching keeps him in the action. With relatives over for the holidays, he can pull a grandparent onto the rug and see who topples first.
Remote-control excavator for pretend building sites
The sandbox turns into a job site once this remote-control excavator arrives, and he decides where the arm digs and where the sand piles up beside his dump trucks.
Roadside work zones already stop him in his tracks. Now a digger takes its orders from him.
Every vehicle in his collection stays on the ground until this die-cast Delta Air Lines jet joins it.
With relatives flying in for the holidays, he can act out their trips, taxiing down a pretend runway and touching down on the coffee table. The Delta colors match the real planes he spots at the airport.
Refasy's toy ATM gives a proper home to the coins he keeps dumping on the floor to count again.
He has watched grown-ups at cash machines, and this one lets him play customer and banker at once. When grandma's card arrives with a bill tucked inside, he can make the deposit.
Video walkie-talkies turn a grade schooler's blanket fort into a command post where he sees who is calling.
A sibling takes the other handset, and they plan each raid face to face from separate hideouts. He likes calling the shots, and the screen lets him watch his teammate nod along.
His dinosaur sketches get crumpled whenever the legs come out wrong, and a glowing tracing pad on his desk solves that.
Copying a printed T-Rex gives him the shape he keeps missing, while the claws and spikes stay his own invention. Soon he can draw a whole herd to tape above his bed.
This play sand set gives a first grader a sandbox he can shape right at the table.
Road building is his favorite game, so the sand becomes ramps and tunnels for his toy cars. Once a race ends, he smooths the pile flat and lays out a new route.
Sticker-by-number activity books for quiet crafting
Sticker-by-number books suit a six-year-old boy who likes matching things up until a picture appears.
He reads each number, finds the sticker that goes with it and presses it into place. Over winter break, he can fill in a whole scene and hold it up for the family.
Ooly Rainbow Sparkle gel crayons give a six-year-old artist a fresh set for comics and holiday drawings.
He fills page after page with rockets and heroes, so new crayons keep his stories going. On Christmas afternoon, he can draw the new toys under the tree and sign each picture.
Toyk's water mat lets a six-year-old doodler draw on the floor with nothing but water.
He jumps from rockets to race cars, and each faded sketch makes room for his next idea. During a quiet hour after presents, he can spread it on the rug and sketch a dragon.
MAGNA-TILES Classic magnetic tiles let a grade schooler full of building ideas put up whatever he pictures.
Since he likes deciding every detail, the pieces snap together by magnet as fast as he plans. Over winter break, his action figures can move into a lookout tower he designed from the ground up.
This catching game hands a ball-crazy boy something to toss back and forth with a partner outdoors.
He already lobs anything within reach, so here every throw goes to someone ready to catch it. On Christmas afternoon, he can pull a parent onto the driveway and see how far apart they can stand.
Shrek lines get quoted all day by a kid who watches the movies on repeat and wants the hero close by.
He picks those films every time, so a soft cushion shaped like their star keeps that character within hugging range. The pillow waits on the couch, ready for whichever film he puts on next.
One alarm in early November, with this list’s newest picks.
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Questions and answers
What should you get a boy who cannot sit still through a long Christmas afternoon indoors?
The Goliath lava jumping game sends him hopping across the floor as if it were molten rock, while the Nerf Nerfoop hoop hangs on a bedroom door so he can shoot baskets without stepping outside.
Is there a pick for a boy who saves every coin he finds down the back of the couch?
Yes. The Refasy ATM piggy bank is for a boy who wants somewhere to drop the coins he collects and play bank teller with them, pretending to deposit and withdraw his savings.
2 more
What can you give a boy who draws in the back seat and at the restaurant table?
A boy who sketches wherever he sits gets a case built to travel with him in the Crayola drawing caddy, so his paper and drawing supplies move from the car to the booth without being left behind.
Is there something for a boy who sorts his Pokémon cards every evening?
For a boy who already knows the characters by heart, the Ravensburger Pokémon puzzle ball turns them into a jigsaw he pieces together into a sphere and sets on his shelf when it is done.
· We recheck every pick daily and swap out anything that’s no longer available.Rechecked daily
Chosen by our team from store data and what readers pick, not hands-on tests. Nothing is paid to be on this list. Recall notices checked . How we pick
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
