Angel Tree Gifts for 6 to 8 Year Olds: 27 Ideas

MAGNA-TILES Classic fits a kid who would rather invent a building than follow a booklet of steps.

Early grade-schoolers dream up whole cities, and the tiles click together and pull apart as fast as ideas change. The finished rocket stays standing on the bedroom dresser until a new plan takes its place.

A megalodon waiting inside an egg fits a kid who pores over shark books and draws giant jaws in the margins.

The shell hides that predator until small hands crack it open, and then it patrols the bedroom rug.

This interactive pup from Little Live Pets gives a child who keeps begging for a dog a companion to tend.

Early grade schoolers want an animal of their own, and this one gets attention with no walks or feeding. Patting it, carrying it around and settling it down for a rest become the child's own routine.

On Christmas morning, a kid wishing for a real puppy unwraps Nayla, a GUND cockapoo with her own name.

Early grade schoolers love caring for a make-believe pet, and a puppy with a name anchors that play. Nayla takes whatever role the next game hands out, from vet patient to show-ring champion.

This Zurg figure from Toy Story gives a grade-schooler with a Buzz Lightyear toy a villain to face.

Fans can pose him and stage a showdown across the living room floor. Any other interactive Toy Story figures on the shelf can join in.

On Christmas morning, a child who reaches for anything with Hello Kitty on it unwraps Keroppi to hug.

A soft Sanrio friend matches how kids this age keep a favorite character close by. The plush stays tucked under an arm while the rest of the gifts get opened.

This Melissa & Doug Seek & Find pad hands a sharp-eyed child busy animal scenes to search for hidden critters.

A kid who loves spotting games can keep at a hunt alone, with no adult pointing out answers. Each finished page, crowded with peeled-on finds, ends up taped to the fridge.

Street-mural style fits a kid who covers every spare sheet with rockets and dragons drawn in marker.

Lettering and murals spotted around town are what kids this age copy, and the spray gives their dragons that look. The sprayer lays a speckled haze behind each rocket so it stands out on the page.

These Play-Doh cans give a grade-schooler a shelf of jewel-bright dough for sculpting dragons, castles and tiny figures.

Sculptors that age pick out scales, windows and faces in contrasting shades, so each detail gets its own can.

Homemade comics pour out of a grade-schooler who fills notebook margins with heroes, and this marker set keeps up.

Stories at that stage arrive in pictures faster than words, so each new villain or sidekick lands on paper mid-plot.

For an angel tree tag naming a child who doodles on every napkin, Crayola Twistables crayons are something to open and use.

Grade-schoolers tell whole stories in pictures, so colors of their own let every new hero reach the page.

Kinetic Sand works for a grade-schooler whose hands are always busy squishing, rolling or flattening whatever is within reach.

Kids that age build things just to knock them down, and each lump can become a turtle, then a tower.

Sunday afternoon at the kitchen table, Fashion Plates gives a child who redraws every storybook outfit a wardrobe to invent.

Early grade schoolers notice what each cartoon hero wears, and drawing clothes by hand puts that eye on paper. The set keeps producing new pages until a homemade lookbook fills a whole folder.

Hasbro Trouble sets up a quick contest that a competitive grade-schooler follows from the opening move, without a grown-up refereeing.

Kids in early grade school want matches they can win fairly against adults, and a holiday gathering supplies plenty of rivals. The box goes back on the shelf only after everyone in the room has had a turn.

Brainometry sets a fresh head-scratcher in front of a kid who would rather crack a problem alone than ask for help.

Each round turns on spatial thinking, not speed, which fits a curious mind that likes to stare at a problem until it gives. A solved challenge stays laid out on the desk, ready to show a parent at dinner.

KerPlunk fits a grade-schooler who shares the kitchen table with brothers and sisters of different ages.

Steady fingers matter more than age, so the youngest sibling stands an even chance against the oldest.

At a sleepover, this game hands a child who loves beating friends at anything a head-to-head match on the bedroom floor.

Kids at that stage want a clear winner, and spotting a line before a friend does settles every round.

Spin Master Games Hedbanz turns a hidden picture into a round of clever questions for a chatty grade-schooler and the whole family.

Kids that age love quizzing grown-ups, and closing in on an answer gives the child an even shot at winning. The tally of correct answers, scribbled on a napkin, settles who goes first next time.

Fresh out of the tub, a kid who trades Pokémon cards at recess bundles up in Pikachu and pads off to get dressed.

A child that age carries a favorite character into every routine, so drying off turns into time in costume.

At lights-out, a child full of questions about the moon and planets gets a glowing sky to study from the pillow.

Early grade schoolers devour library books about space, and these shapes carry that interest past the final page. The pattern the child arranges stays up there, a private map of the sky to point at.

When the tag in your hand names a child who stares at the night sky, this Brainstorm Toys projector brings space indoors.

A stargazer that age loves explaining the sky, so steering each image around a dark room hands them the tour. The picture they pick lands on the closet door, ready for quizzing a friend.

Funny chapter books suit an Angel Tree reader, like Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo.

A caregiver reads it aloud at bedtime with plenty of voices. Then the child reads favorite parts back the next day.

Ocean fans in grade school can page through Ben Clanton's Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea on their own.

On a rainy weekend the child reads it alone and then picks it up again.

In the living room, a speed-loving grade-schooler drives the Air Hogs Zero Gravity car in laps around chair legs.

Kids that age want to run the action themselves, and the remote leaves every sharp turn to them. The racer then waits under the coffee table for a sibling's rematch.

This transforming remote-controlled car suits a grade-schooler who likes to steer.

One button press turns it from car to robot, so the driver can race it down the hallway, switch forms and send the robot exploring.