Gift Ideas for Children

In a doctor's waiting room, a toddler who invents little stories can open this case and begin a new one.

The Forest Friends set hands her a ready cast, and it all closes up again when her name is called. She can line the characters along the chair arm and let each one take a turn talking.

A Laugh & Learn activity chair fits a toddler boy who plops down and pops up all day.

That up-and-down routine is how he plays, and this seat gives every landing something to poke at. Parked near the bookshelf, it is ready whenever he wants to climb back in.

Infantino's Press & Stay blocks let a 2-year-old girl new to stacking push pieces into towers.

The maker labels them for 6 months and up, so a toddler her age is well inside that range. Once a tower gets tall, she tugs the pieces off and starts again on the rug.

Janod's wooden shape sorter gives a gap-posting toddler boy a box made for exactly that habit.

Janod rates it from 12 months, so the matching is well within his reach. A sorting round at the coffee table fills the wait before dinner.

A four-year-old girl who knows every Bluey episode gets her favorite character in a pop-up family game.

TOMY grades it for ages 4 and up, so she joins older siblings at the table rather than watching. After dinner, she can bring it to the living room floor and ask a grandparent for a round.

A boy who pins a paper badge to his shirt and hands out tickets can build a patrol bike for his rounds.

At four, he wants the officer's role for himself, and with 65 pieces the build he snaps together turns straight into his ride on duty. The finished bike parks beside his ticket book between shifts.

Pages in these Melissa & Doug books fill up with puffy pieces that a four-year-old places wherever she likes.

Telling tales about her toys is how she plays now, so each sheet becomes a stage for her next plot.

A BRIO World Christmas engine gives a four-year-old who builds railway loops a festive train to lead them.

He plans routes around the furniture, so a holiday engine heads each December trip he lays out. BRIO labels it for ages 3 and up, and it can stay on his track long after the holidays.

Pictionary Air drops the paper: the artist draws in midair with a light pen, and the sketch shows up on a phone or tablet screen.

This edition puts kids on one team and grown-ups on the other, which gives a quick guesser a whole living room of adults to beat.

This Klutz LEGO Race Cars kit lets a 7-year-old car fan build racers and then race them.

Klutz rates it for ages 7 and up, so it fits his age right now. He can mark a hallway finish line with tape and see which design gets there first.

Planting comes first in the Mini Garden from Creativity for Kids, then she arranges a mermaid scene around her new plantings.

Mermaids and muddy hands come in one small project, and keeping the terrarium watered afterward gives her something to look after.

Whistling through the air on every long pass, the Nerf Vortex makes a backyard throw sound like a big play.

The grip is shaped for easy catches, and a tail helps it fly farther, so the routes he draws up at recess work just as well at home.

These Micromallows bring a 10-year-old Squishmallows collector a fresh batch of characters for her growing set.

She picks which character comes along to a sleepover and which ones stay home with her collection.

A pindaloo is a juggling-style skill game with two balls to keep in play, and every catch adds to a count he can try to beat.

Hands that flip pencils all day get a goal here, and it rides in his backpack for a few rounds at the bus stop before school.

Not ready for a hamster?

A Tamagotchi Original puts a digital creature in her care, a good fit if she feeds the goldfish without being reminded. Its needs pop up through the day, so the pet rides along in her backpack for check-ins at recess.

Should the boy you have in mind turn spare parts into machines, this K'NEX set gives him a carnival attraction.

At his age, he sticks with a long project across several sittings, then strips it down for a fresh design. His finished carnival attraction claims a corner of the bedroom floor until the next version goes up.