Mints Holiday Gift Guide - Elementary Schoolers
It’s already the holiday season, and if you’re like our Moms in Tech team, this time of year means increased stress as we add magic to our family’s experiences while also balancing deadlines at work, travel to see family, and school events. We wanted to make the holidays a bit easier for our community this year, and decided to poll our moms for ideas on thoughtful, practical, and delightful gifts that they’ve loved giving or receiving. We were blown away by the wide range of responses we got and wanted to share them by compiling this Holiday Gift Guide in the hopes that we can help simplify at least one small thing on your list of to-dos.
This is the second installment of our series of four guides, focused on elementary school kids. Check out the recommendations below and take your pick from the many items that are tried and tested by our community of moms as must-haves! Don’t miss our previous guide for the youngest kids from newborn to Kindergarten, and check back in the coming weeks to read about our picks for the tweens, teens, and adults in your life.
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If you have an elementary schooler in your life, there’s no doubt you’ve seen their Rainbow Loom creations (or the little rubber bands used to create them). A hit with moms and kids alike, this kit gives your little one all the components needed for hours of crafting. When my daughter was younger, she’d sit quietly for hours making bracelets and keychains to trade with friends. Our moms highly recommended this set as an alternative to screen time, or something for kits to work on during long car or plane trips.
Mini Gem Painting
Another big hit for crafty kiddos, gem painting kits come in so many different themes and varieties and offer endless possibilities to unleash creativity and make sparkly tradable stickers and suncatchers to share with friends and family. One mom shared that this is a go-to gift for both holidays and birthdays - we’d recommend even buying a few to have on hand for those last minute birthday party invites! Also a great alternative to screen time, these kits are a hit (even with older kids and adults).
Paint by Sticker
Another screen-free, mess-free crafty gift option (are you sensing a theme here?) are these Paint by Sticker books that offer hours of creative play. Similar to the paint-by-number books of our youth, these books are a favorite of our moms as options to bust out on road trips when the inevitable “I’m booooored” starts emanating from the back seats. Available in tons of different themes, grab one (or two) for your little one as a pre-holiday gift in preparation for upcoming travel.
Tin Can Phone
Lauded by our community of moms as an incredible way for kids to be in touch with their friends, Tin Can phones are wi-fi enabled phones made for kids that give parents the peace of mind of a safer experience than smart phones. Using the app, parents can approve contacts and ensure that only known callers can get through. Kids will delight in the autonomy that comes with their very own phone, and moms will feel those flashbacks of our childhoods when we spent far too much time chatting with friends on our family landlines (until someone tried to use a dial-up modem, that is!).
Timmi Tobbson Books
Recommended by some of our bookworm moms as a super fun series for their kids, the Timmi Tobbson books are a fantastic way to get reluctant readers excited about books. With over 30 mysteries to solve in each book, this series will capture the imagination of kids who’d typically prefer to be playing video games, and keep them engaged from start to finish. Best for ages seven and up, these books are a great addition to your holiday shopping list.
Crunch Lab Subscription Boxes
What child doesn’t love getting their very own mail? And what’s better than mail with hours of fun and learning included? Our Moms in Tech community spoke highly of the Crunch Lab subscription boxes as a wonderful gift for curious kids. With options to build creativity or even introduce kids to engineering skills, these subscription boxes are a hit with kids of all ages. Take your pick from the category that best suits your little one, and they’ll be treated to months of fun delivered directly to their doorstep.
Nintendo Lab Builder
Another must-have for engineering-minded kids is this awesome Nintendo Lab Builder. Recommended as a perfect gift for the video game-obsessed kids in your life, part of the benefit of this gift is the time you’ll spend with your little one putting together an operational Nintendo Switch console holder. Sparking curiosity, and acting as an excellent complement to gaming, this kit is a huge hit and something kids will want to open and start building right away. Check out the other kit options available too!
Pastel Kit
There’s something so special about brand new art supplies. This pastel kit is a great addition to your creative kid’s art kit, and feels fancy compared to the typical crayons and markers. Give your budding artist new tools to help unleash their creativity, and look forward to more masterpieces than you could possibly fit on the front of your fridge!
Brain Quest
So many of our moms recommended the Brain Quest series as a way to sneak in some fun learning into your holiday gifts this year. With grade-level flash cards and workbooks, Brain Quest makes a great gift to help support your child’s learning throughout the year, or as an enriching way to take a break from screens. Engaging and fun, there’s an option for any level of elementary school to help keep your kids learning through the holiday break time.
Fraction War Game
Learning doesn’t always have to involve workbooks and flash cards! This Fraction War game comes highly recommended by our founder, Darci Groves, who plays this as a part of her homeschooling curriculum with her 9-year old. A great stocking stuffer for kids learning fractions, this game is engaging and fun without feeling too much like schoolwork.
Highlights Hidden Pictures
These Highlights Hidden Pictures books offered hours of screen-free entertainment for me and my daughter during her elementary school years. We loved grabbing a book and completing a page or two before dinner time, and it was so fun watching her check off each picture as she found them. A favorite routine of ours, I’d highly recommend these as a little gift to help you spend some quiet quality time with your little one during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
Potion Making Kit
Highly recommended by our community of moms, this Fairy Magic Potion kit is a fantastic way to add some magic into your child’s holiday. With twelve unique, mystical recipes, your little one will quickly be dreaming up their own creations and bringing their imagination to life. The kit includes everything they’ll need to get started, including the cutest mini vials, crystals, beads, a fairy wand, and more. Grab this mystical magical kit for the imaginative children in your life, and see what they can create!
Hope we’ve helped you find something for the elementary school kid in your life, and that you’ll stay tuned for the upcoming gift guide of mom-recommended gifts for tweens and teens!