It’s always tricky wondering what gift ideas will be well received by your children at Christmas. I have included a few suggestions below to inspire you! If you missed my gift ideas for adults do go back and have a read.

Educational Toys

Wicked Uncle

This site has lots of educational toys to discover. I like to give gifts that can benefit my children’s learning but it’s important they are still fun at the same time. Otherwise, you do end up with some Christmas grumbles. A few Wicked Uncle gift ideas I particularly liked I have included below. Each of these should be appealing for children whilst still educating them.

Roller Coaster Engineering (£49.95)

This set helps children learn more about mass and velocity as they try out different track combinations. The theme is very interesting for children. Most children love the excitement of the fast rides at the theme parks, so they can learn doing something they enjoy!

6 in 1 Solar Recycler (£16.95)

I love how this set uses the recyclable items in your house for children to create moving models. Children learn more about solar power technology but in a fascinating way! Plus, it helps them realize how items can be reused and not just thrown away!

Magnetic Science STEM Experiment Kit (£26.95)

This set helps teach children about the power of magnetism. It includes lots of different magnets, a compass and iron filings.

Science Mad

This company has lots of educational sets to inspire children to develop or further an interest in Science. I picked out the 5 in 1 Weather Station (RRP £17.99) where you can measure wind speed, temperature and rainfall.

I also picked the Planetarium Star Globe (£32.99) to be able to see the constellations. We loved how it helps your children be more curious about the world around them, inquisitive minds eager to learn should be encouraged with these types of gift ideas at Christmas.

Science Mad also have a Crystal Growing Lab, Chemistry Lab, Rock Tumbler and Circuit Lab so it’s a good site to check out for suitable gift ideas for budding scientists. They also have products that encourage children to spend more time outdoors, metal detecting or star gazing.

Soft Toys

Living Nature

This company which have been making soft toys since 1974 have lots of choices to pick from. Everything from dogs and dinosaurs to reindeer and rabbits. Each of these soft toys have been carefully crafted, they are so soft to touch and completely adorable. How can you resist that face?

Children (and adults) will fall in love with these realistic looking toys. Some of the soft toys even have sound, to make them even more authentic like the highland cow. Plus, everyone will appreciate all the little details like the pet passport and carry case which come free with your order.

I think these toys really do help children develop a love for animals and nature, that sense of compassion comes from caring for their new soft toy friend. Soft toys also give children a lot of comfort so what better gift idea at Christmas. Some of the toys can even be supersized when you go extra-large in the options which makes them even better for cuddles!

Living Nature are eco-friendly as they use Naturli recycled plastic filling for their toys. It’s good you can buy more sustainable soft toys these days.

Wooden Toys

Bright Minds

If you are looking for lots of lovely toys ideal for imaginary play, then Bright Minds is a wonderful place to start your search. They have durable wooden toys built to last, like the Bigjigs Wooden Transporter Lorry (£22.99). Natural materials are also meant to be more calming for children so are well worth buying.

Additionally, wooden toys without all the loud noise and flashing lights often associated with plastic toys help children play with more focus and concentration.

The Bigjigs Junior Carpenter Tool Set (£29.99) lets children imagine they are a carpenter. They can work on their fine motor skills and start to learn valuable life skills.

Tidlo Cutting Fruits (£19.99) helps children understand the importance of eating healthy. Chopping up the fruit helps them learn about household chores preparing food.

Board Games

Confident?

This is an entertaining party game for children aged 11+. The aim is to guess-a-range most accurately to win, which is quite a novel change as you don’t have to be exactly right. You get three points if your correct range is a smaller size than the other players. However the other players can still get a point if they are within the correct range. The first team to get to 15 points wins the game.

Up to 30 people can play Confident? so its great for those big family get together’s at Christmas. It is easy to dive straight in and play, no complicated set up to worry about. What I like best is that this game is a good way to brush up child’s general knowledge and learn some quirky facts at the same time. You have questions like “what’s the biggest litter (of puppies) ever born?”, “how many countries does it (equator) pass through?” and “how many (Gregg’s pork sausage rolls) are sold each week in the UK?”.

Another reason to buy this game is that the company are the first certified carbon neutral board game on Amazon. I think many of us want to make more eco-friendly purchases this Christmas. With every game you buy from them they plant a tree and the game cardboard is either recycled or from sustainable forests.

You can even get a Welsh copy if you prefer.

IDEAL

There are lots of fantastic board games on the John Adam’s website. If you are looking for a board game with a bit more excitement Ghost Castle (£19.99) is an excellent option. You play the role of paranormal investigators who need to escape Count Spooksalot before you become trapped in the castle forever! Not only is the theme quite thrilling, but the game itself involves lots of traps and even includes a glow in the dark ghost for that spooky atmosphere. It will also make you feel nostalgic if you had the original version of the game. It is great when you can introduce your children to a game you used to enjoy playing.

Go For Broke (£24.99) involves a fun challenge where players have to spend a million pounds faster than everyone else so they can claim their uncle’s billion pound fortune. It’s quite a novelty being in a position where you squander money recklessly to win! It will definitely appeal to children who seem to love spending their parents money the faster the better.

Goliath Games

Fireball Island (RRP £39.99) from Goliath Games has very engaging game play. The aim is to collect treasures around the board and then leave via the helipad.

You have to launch a ember marble using your finger depending on what you draw on the cards. You want to attempt to knock players over so you can steal their treasure. This adds to the challenge. Then you have fire marbles you add to Vul-Kar which throws them out one by one knocking down things in its path, whether its the bridges or the players.

Rascals

If you want a festive game for the children this Christmas The Very Merry Christmas Game (RRP £20) definitely ticks all the boxes. It covers all the Christmas essentials, you have your presents, your festive songs and even your sprouts. The sprout cards can have a negative impact on your game play, so watch out for those pesky sprouts. I do try and avoid them in real life as much as possible too!

Available to buy from Amazon it offers all the fun of Christmas in one box. Expect to do some singing, but it does get you into the party spirit.