Are you looking for Christmas gifts for kids this year? There are so many different things that you can buy kids, but we thought we would share with you some of our favorite toys, games, puzzles, and books that aren’t new this year. These items make great Christmas gifts for kids because they’re fun and unique.
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Christmas Gifts for Kids — Games
There are lots of great kids games available.
There are games that have been around for a while like Candy Land, Hi-Ho Cherry-O, and Trouble, but we are going to suggest a few less well-known games.
Stay Alive
This game is suitable for kids ages 8+
This is a marble game where you try to drop your opponent’s marbles without dropping your own by sliding levers.
It’s a lot of fun and easy to play.
You can purchase this game on Amazon and Ebay.
Mr. Mouth
This game is suitable for kids ages 5+
To play this game, you try to flip chips into a revolving mouth that opens and closes.
The newer version of this game looks like a frog, but both versions are played the same.
You can purchase this game on Amazon or Ebay.
Crackers in My Bed
This game is suitable for kids ages 4+
This is a memory game where you find a match and then feed it to the boy (or bear depending on which version you get) in the bed.
You can purchase this game on Amazon and Ebay.
Headache
This game is suitable for kids ages 8+
This is a pop-o-matic game (you never lose the dice) that is similar to Trouble but uses cones for playing pieces.
You can land on and capture your opponent’s cones, which makes it different than the game of Trouble.
You can purchase this game on Ebay.
Older Versions of Popular Games
When buying games that are well-known but have been around for a while, consider buying the vintage version instead of the newer version.
Many new games such as Cootie, Mouse Trap, Guess Who, Don’t Break the Ice, and Bed Bugs have been scaled back over the years.
New versions have less pieces or have been made smaller and less detailed.
You can buy old versions of games on Amazon and Ebay for a lot less money than buying new games at the store.
Christmas Gifts for Kids — Puzzles
You can find great puzzles for kids of all ages.
Wooden Puzzles
Wooden puzzles are great for younger children.
Older puzzles from the 1950’s and 1960’s actually cut around the shape of the objects in the puzzles.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s they began to cut the puzzles in square or rectangular pieces.
Starting in the 1990’s, wooden puzzles began to be pieced together so that a layer of laminate is glued to the wood. These puzzles seem to wear out faster, unfortunately.
We suggest buying older wooden puzzles because they are made better than newer ones, and they really aren’t that expensive.
You can buy lots of different kinds of wooden puzzles on Ebay.
Plastic Puzzles
Besides the normal jigsaw puzzle for an older child, consider a puzzle that will take more thought to put together.
Vintage puzzles like Hexed, Kwazy Quilt
, and Gridlock
are good choices.
Brainteasers
Brainteasers are great for older kids because they take more effort to figure out how to take them apart and put them back together.
You can find tons of different brainteaser puzzles on Amazon and Ebay.
Christmas Gifts for Kids — Toys
There are toys from the past that are still readily available and are a lot of fun for kids to play with.
Paper Dolls
You can find vintage uncut paper dolls relatively cheap.
They don’t take up much room, and are easy to take on vacation.
Paper dolls are a lot of fun to play with, and you can get so many different types such as ones from different time periods, TV and movie characters, and historical ones.
See some of the different kinds you can get on Amazon and Ebay.
Colorforms
Colorforms (especially older ones that were made better) are a great toy for imagination.
If you don’t know what colorforms are, they are kind of like stickers, but you can move them around and play with them again and again. You can get ones from lots of different TV shows and movies.
You can change the scene since most of them have a background.
There is a large variety to choose from.
You can buy them on Amazon and Ebay.
Playsets
Although there are many playsets available at the store, sometimes it can be cheaper to buy vintage ones online.
Sometimes they will even have their original boxes. Here are some of my kids’ favorites from the past:
Playskool Flat Folks
These are flat people with clothes that snap on and off.
You can buy Flat Folks City and Flat Folks Farm on Ebay.
Fisher Price Little People
These sets have the small skinny people from the 1970’s and 1980’s and the chunky people after that.
There are many different sets—a zoo, house, barn, hospital, A-frame, camper, nativity, airport, and more!
You can purchase the newer sets with chunky people on Amazon and Ebay. You can buy the vintage playsets on Ebay
.
Playskool Familiar Places
Most of these sets are similar to the Fisher Price sets but have square people.
These sets include a garage, McDonalds, Holiday Inn, and a forest ranger set.
You can buy these sets on Ebay.
Weebles
Weebles sets from the 1970’s and 1980’s included the Mickey Mouse Club, a marina, a tree house, and a circus. The Weebles after that were larger with different sets.
Weebles are egg-shaped people that wobble back and forth.
You can purchase Weebles on Ebay.
Playmobil
Playmobil has been around since the 1970’s.
They tend to be a little expensive, but they really have a lot of cool playsets.
Some of the older sets can be found online for much cheaper than they were originally.
You can buy Playmobil on Amazon and Ebay.
Christmas Gifts for Kids — Books
There are lots of books that you can get for children of all ages.
We’re going to mention some of our favorites.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
These books are about an old lady who has cures for children that are selfish, tattletales, picky eaters, and poor listeners to name a few.
They are a lot of fun to read and are great for teaching kids life lessons.
You can purchase them on Amazon and Ebay. You can also purchase these books on Thrift Books. If you use our link, you can get 15% off your first purchase!
Encyclopedia Brown
These are great books for kids who don’t like to read a lot. Each chapter is a separate mystery that you are supposed to guess “who did it” or “how did Encyclopedia (nickname of the main character) know someone was lying?”
The chapters are short but interesting.
You can purchase these books on Amazon and Ebay. You will also find these on Thrift Books for pretty cheap. If you use our link, you can get 15% off your first order 🙂
Ladd Family Adventures
This is a Christian book series that takes place in Hawaii and later in Alaska.
These are exciting books about a pair of best friends in middle school.
You can read our full review of these books in this post: Exciting Christian Kids Books
You can purchase these books on Amazon and Ebay. These books are also available on Thrift Books. If you use our link, you can save 15% on your first order.
Richard Scarry
Richard Scarry books, especially the ones with a lot of pictures, are just fun to read and look at.
There is a lot going on in the pictures beside the story or the individual words.
They also have a lot of information in them. For example, the book on transportation names a lot of vehicles.
These books are very affordable.
You can purchase these books on Amazon and Ebay. Purchase these books from Thrift Books using our link to get 15% off your first order.
The Picture Bible
This is a great Bible for kids.
It is written in comic book style.
My kids loved it because it is easy to read and because of the cool pictures.
You can buy this Bible on Amazon and Ebay. This Bible is also available for purchase from Thrift Books. Use our link for 15% off your first order 🙂
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What are your favorite Christmas gifts for kids?
Comment down below some of your favorite presents you received as a kid or your own kids’ favorite presents from over the years!
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