Six-year-olds feel the slow, sweet wait for Christmas more than almost anyone, and a new craft or game makes the winter break fly by.
Pediatricians say toys don't need to walk or talk to be worth playing with. Simple gifts that let her make and pretend fill the list below.
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Arts and craftsOur proven pick for this list
Should the girl on your list mark every lunchbox and folder as hers, Fashion Angels stickers hand her plenty to claim them.
Her taste changes week to week, and peel-and-press art lets her restyle a folder without paint, markers or cleanup. The leftover designs wait in her desk drawer for the next plain cover.
Games and puzzles
American brand
A girl who plays doctor to every stuffed animal she owns can bring her bedside routine to Hasbro Operation.
Her checkups on teddy bears call for gentle fingers, and this patient asks for the same light touch each round. The board can wait beside her toy stethoscope until a visiting friend asks for a turn as surgeon.
Building setsAges 4 to 10
Danish brand
When a friend comes over, a girl who invents her own games can pour out LEGO Classic bricks to share.
Open-ended pieces match the way her pretend play jumps from idea to idea. They can each make an animal for a shared zoo, then trade before her friend heads home.
Arts and crafts
American brand
A girl who makes a homemade card for every family birthday can give her next design a sprayed Crayola finish.
She has outgrown coloring books, and a spray of marker ink lets her frame each greeting her own way.
Games and puzzlesAges 6+
100 pieces (Ravensburger)
German brand
A Super Mario jigsaw fits a girl who cheers for her favorite characters every time the family game console switches on.
Now those same heroes come together in her hands, as she sets each familiar face where it belongs. Once it is complete, she can glue it onto a board and hang it above her bed.
American brand
Melissa & Doug turns a bedroom corner into a salon for a girl who redoes her dolls' ponytails before every game.
Copying a stylist is her favorite game, and these props let her lead it; batteries are not included. The set waits on her dresser between customers.
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This light-up tracing board lets a young artist copy the cartoon animals she admires.
She traces the outline first, then fills in colors and backgrounds however she likes. Over winter break, a reindeer from a holiday card could end up on the fridge.
Ages 3+
American brand
Each press of the bunny stamper sets a fresh picture down wherever a six-year-old girl decides it belongs on the page.
She likes arranging her own scenes, and choosing each spot herself matches how she plays with everything else. Its finished spreads stay bound together, so she can flip back through every picture she placed.
Every December, the six-year-old who trails behind the grown-ups hanging ornaments wants a decoration she made herself to put up.
Her small fingers press each gem into a Christmas picture, and the finished piece goes up beside the family's own trimmings.
American brand
Play-Doh in a whole spread of shades turns the kitchen table into a sculpting studio for a six-year-old with big ideas.
Her pretend games need props of her own making, and blending tints lets her invent shades no crayon box offers. Its range of colors leaves room for a visiting friend to sculpt beside her.
PlayMonster's Fashion Plates set hands a six-year-old who restyles her dolls every morning a way to design the clothes herself.
Her pretend play centers on swapping wardrobes, and putting them on paper lets her invent combinations no doll arrives wearing. The kit sits on her desk with a growing pile of her own outfit pages beside it.
American brand
Midway through a coloring book, a six-year-old who fills every page edge to edge can uncap Crayola Broad Line markers.
Solid shading is how she likes her art, and a set of her own keeps up with every sweeping stroke. Her finished pages end up stapled together as a homemade storybook on her nightstand.
This acrylic paint set suits a 6-year-old who wants to paint on real surfaces instead of paper.
She can pick colors from the big range and mix her own. Backyard rocks become painted gifts for family.
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In a trial with 7- to 12-year-olds, playing board and card games improved self-control, flexible thinking and attention.
A study from kindergarten to second grade linked board games with these skills later on.
French brand
Spot It! gives a six-year-old who finds every hidden cat in picture books a race she can win.
She shuffles the deck at the kitchen table and calls each match before her uncle can point.
Rat‑A‑Tat Cat works for the kid who always knows where you left your keys.
On a snowy afternoon she deals for the family and keeps a straight face behind her cards.
The Slamwich card game fits the kid who shouts snap at matching socks while you fold laundry.
Between loads she deals a round on the couch and slaps the pile first when the right card lands.
American brand
While dinner simmers, a new reader who sounds out every cereal box can bring this Learning Resources game to the counter.
Decoding labels is her favorite puzzle right now, and each round hands her fresh words to crack beside a parent.
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A girl who flips over garden stones to see what scurries out needs a Hape jar of her own for each discovery.
She wants to follow every wiggle of a pill bug, and this keeps it out of her cupped hands. Her list of every critter she names ends up pinned beside her bedroom door.
American brand
On Christmas afternoon, a girl who loves cracking a problem on her own can curl up with the Learning Resources pixel puzzle.
She enjoys spotting where each color belongs, and every finished row shows whether her eye was right.
Ages 5 to 10
German brand
This HABA magnifier turns a fallen log into a close-up show for a girl who sketches every critter she spots.
Her drawings call for real detail, like the ridges on a snail shell, and now she can see them clearly. Crouched by the log, she can hold it over a caterpillar and copy each stripe onto her page.
American brand
MathLink Builders link up into a giraffe for a six-year-old who invents animals, then pull apart when she wants a dragon.
Imaginary creatures fill her stories, and building them by hand turns each idea into a figure she can hold. Her herd of invented beasts ends up parading across the bookshelf.
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Doll play may give children a way to rehearse social situations, even when they play alone.
Across studies of children aged 3 to 8, pretend play goes with stronger social skills.
Ages 3+
At a sleepover, a girl who loves Minecraft can unroll her sleeping bag with Dennis the Wolf tucked under her arm.
A plush companion still goes wherever she goes, and this character belongs to the game world she adores. The pillow fort she builds around Dennis becomes the night's hideout.
Choose this megalodon egg for a six-year-old on your list who loves sea monsters and always peeks at wrapped boxes.
Deep-water giants fill her picture books, and here the predator stays out of sight until hatching time comes. The shark then stands guard on her shelf beside those books between games.
Stuck between another sweet stuffed animal and something sillier, choose Fuggler Fart Face for a six-year-old who giggles at gross jokes.
Bathroom humor sends her into fits, and a creature named for a rude noise puts that laugh in her arms. Her grossest new friend ends up at the front of her doll lineup, glaring at the princesses.
Keroppi brings a soft new face to the Sanrio crowd of a six-year-old who knows each character by name.
She arranges her character erasers into little scenes, and something huggable gives that cast a member to squeeze. Her lineup ends up along the windowsill, with the newcomer set in the middle.
Your list may hold a Wicked fan who replays favorite moments around the living room; this Glinda doll becomes her costar.
Dolls run most of her pretend games, so the heroine she quotes all day now has a figure she can hold. Her finished performance leaves the character propped on her bookshelf until the next one.
The Calico Critters Ice Cream Van gives a six-year-old collector a treat truck for her animal families.
Her pretend towns always need a shopkeeper, so her figures take turns selling scoops. After dinner, she can park the van beside her other sets as the stop every figure visits.
Ages 5+
40 pieces (Playmobil) · set 71374
German brand
Playmobil Color's fashion set lets a six-year-old budding designer color outfits for a runway model.
Sketching dresses is her favorite pastime, and 40 pieces let her plan each look before the show. Once the show ends, she can set the model on her dresser beside her drawing pad.
German brand
Theo Klein's Braun set turns a kitchen chair into a stylist's station for a youngster who braids every doll she owns.
She studies how grown-ups get ready each morning, and this play gear lets her copy each step.
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A KidKraft desk and chair give a six-year-old practicing her letters a homework spot.
Her school folder now brings home worksheets, and here she can sit down to finish them. Over winter break, she can print her thank-you notes there, letter by letter.
These glow-in-the-dark ceiling planets and stars give a space-loving 6-year-old her own night sky.
She decides where each shape goes, so the bedroom ceiling becomes a map of her favorite worlds. After lights-out, she can lie back and point them out.
Snuggled into a beanbag by her bookcase, a six-year-old who laughs through every Shrek film can lean against this plush pillow.
Those movies are her go-to giggles, and this squashy star puts the hero she cheers for in her arms. Her stuffed-animal shelf gains a new character standing guard at the end of the row.
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Building setsAges 5+
161 pieces · set 42679
Danish brand
LEGO Friends' bunny hotel suits an animal-crazy girl whose make-believe always seems to need a rabbit to feed.
She keeps begging for a pet, and assembling lodgings for long-eared visitors lets her run the place. Her finished getaway ends up on her dresser, guests shuffled between rooms after every game.
Outdoor and sports
Any six-year-old who swings a wrapping-paper tube like a knight's blade can trade it for Franklin Sports Nerf swords.
Her pretend battles need someone to face, and these play blades let a friend join the bout on even terms. The sofa-cushion castle she builds becomes the arena for every rematch.
Outdoor and sports
Out on the driveway on Saturday, a six-year-old who counts everything aloud can tally her hops on a Flybar pogo stick.
Counting is her favorite game right now, and every spring off the ground gives her a fresh number to call out. Her highest tally gets chalked on the concrete by the garage door.
Electronics
Whoever reads to a six-year-old each night can give her a projector that spreads the pages of a tale across her wall.
She studies every illustration in her books, and images stretched that wide give her fresh details to point out. Her crayon copy of a favorite scene ends up taped beside her pillow.
Vehicles
This ride-on UTV suits a 6-year-old who wants to drive instead of just ride along.
She can run errands across the backyard, haul her toys to a far corner and park it by the porch.
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Set the Hape bug-catching jar and the HABA bug magnifier side by side: with the jar she scoops up a beetle, watches it for a while and lets it go, while with the magnifier she leans in close over whatever is crawling along the path. For a girl who wants to hold her finds, the jar; for a girl who would rather look than catch, the magnifier.
A girl who holds her breath before a careful move has her match in the Operation board game; players take turns easing pieces out with the tweezers and passing them on, so it comes out for family rounds as readily as for play with a friend.
The Minecraft stuffed wolf, a cuddly version of Dennis, goes to a girl who knows the game's blocky animals and wants a soft companion for the shelf or the sofa.
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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
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