One of the great things about kids is their limitless imaginations, and as parents, it’s important to do all you can to foster their creativity. One of the best ways to do this is through gifts you know they’ll enjoy: every kid loves presents, and if you can hit upon something that inspires as well as thrills them, you’re onto a winner.
In this article, you’ll discover ten great gift ideas to get your children’s creative juices flowing!
1. LEGO Classic Creative Brick Sets
LEGO has always been a staple for providing kids with the perfect blend of fun and creativity, allowing their imaginations to go wild as they build everything from medieval castles to intricate modern cities. The sorts of bricks available have improved massively since the first commercially available sets, with the company now offering the tools required to truly build anything.
LEGO has even released specific creative brick sets to help kids think outside the box with their inventions, so there is a great place to start.
Image Credit: LEGO
2. Play Kitchen Sets
Play kitchen sets are a surefire classic option. All kids love playing chef, and the process of them taking an order, cooking a pretend meal, and presenting it to you is always a fun time for both child and parent.
Activities like this allow kids to go off into a world of their own, with roleplay gifts representing some of the best you can possibly give. A kitchen set will provide hours of fun, and you can also add to it over time, with a basic kit growing into a large, extensive play space.
Image Credit: Smyths Toys3. STEM Kits
If you’re looking for something a little more advanced or a gift for older children, STEM kits (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) always go down a treat. Cool science experiments can be a big hit with inquisitive kids, and there are a ton of different types available. These kits are a great opportunity to bond with your kids over something that’s both fun and educational.
Just be sure to get a set that’s appropriate for your child’s age. The age range is always stipulated on the box – you don’t want to pick something that’s beyond their comprehension or that might be potentially dangerous.
Image Credit: BeAndge
4. Puppet Theatre
Puppet theater sets offer endless hours of fun, encouraging children to create their own stories with as wacky characters and non-sensical plots as their hearts desire. Kids love putting on performances, and these sets offer a cheap and effective way for them to do so.
The joy of creating characters, voices, and narratives transports kids into their own magical worlds. You can even make your own set with some basic materials – here’s a great video on how to do it!
Puppet theatre is another option where you get hours of fun for relatively little investment, so it’s definitely something anyone should give a go with their children.
5. Personalized Story Books
There’s nothing quite like a great story to switch on a child’s imagination, and personalized storybooks for toddlers take that sentiment much further. These sorts of services enable the gift giver to effectively insert the recipient into one of an assortment of great bedtime stories, giving them the opportunity to customize the names of characters and the appearance of the main protagonist.
The stories are specially written to teach important life lessons in a fun and engaging way, and the personalized aspect makes for a gift that’s resonant with the individual like no other.
Image Credit: magic story
6. Explorer’s Kits
In an increasingly digital age, anything you can do to get your kids off their screens and out of the house is always a good idea. Kids naturally have a sense of adventure, and there’s no better way to bring it out of them than the great outdoors.
Feeling like an explorer or adventurer is partly about having the right gear, so an explorer’s kit gives them the impetus they need to get into nature and experience it to the full. Going into nature – whether it’s a walk in the woods or a full-on camping trip – is also good for you, too; it’s a great way of spending some quality time with the kids in a setting conducive to calm and reflection.
Image Credit: GINMIC
7. Fancy Dress Costumes
While a great imagination doesn’t need any props, they can certainly help. Getting your kids an assortment of fancy dress costumes – be they astronauts' get-ups, nurses' outfits, police officers’ uniforms, or whatever else – is a brilliant way to encourage their fantasies.
Getting a range is the best way forward. That way, they can pick and choose each day what takes their fancy, and there are always other options for friends and siblings to partake.
Playing dress-up isn’t just something for fun, either. As well as taking your kids out of reality and into their own world for an hour or so, fancy dress enables your kids to envisage themselves in a role that might interest them, and may be the first semblance of a passion for a future career.
Image Credit: Mega Fancy Dress
8. Fort Building Kits
Everyone has enjoyed building a fort as kids, whether it’s out of sofa cushions, pieces of wood in the garden, or other odd bits that can be fashioned into the perfect hideaway. Fort building kits allow these creations to truly come alive: they typically comprise an assortment of poles, flags, and attachment points, which can be fashioned any which way you like to build the perfect fort.
The basic framework can then be customized with blankets, cushions, and more for an authentic experience. These sorts of kits allow your children’s creativity to run wild, as they’re not limited by the structure of items that don’t lend themselves to being secret hideouts!
Image Credit: PLAYVIBE
9. Musical Instruments
You won’t get much more ideal of a creative outlet than a musical instrument. Many of the world’s best musicians got their first start at playing music following a generous gift or donation, and there’s no reason why your child can’t follow in those same footsteps.
Learning a musical instrument is one of the most fulfilling and satisfying pursuits anyone can undertake, so whether you choose the piano, guitar, drums, violin, or anything else, you’re potentially gifting your children a journey they’ll spend a lifetime walking.
Just make sure to get appropriately sized instruments: adult-sized violins are quite different from the variants made for children, for example, so be sure to consult your local music store for advice.
10. Starter Pottery Wheel
Pottery making is great fun for all involved, and if there’s one thing kids love, it’s getting messy! A starter pottery wheel is a great way to get your kids to try something totally new: along with the wheel, sets typically also come with a wide assortment of pottery paints, enough clay for several attempts, and all the craving and marking instrumentation someone would need to make unique, intricate designs.
Who knows – you may well be receiving your own gifts shortly in the form of colorful cups and bowls!
Image Credit: ToyUnited
Wrapping Up
So there you have it – 10 great options for that special little someone in your life. There are a ton of other great gift ideas to inspire your kids, but hopefully, this list has given you some food for thought regarding what may resonate with your own children the best.