With Christmas just around the corner and B’s 5th birthday only at the weekend just gone. I thought I would share my favourite gift ideas for 5 – 7 year olds. I will also be sharing gift ideas for 0 – 2 year olds and 3 – 5 year olds this month.
You may be familiar with the four gift rule for Christmas presents: want, need, wear, read. This year I decided to extend the rule to birthday presents as well. They will receive something they want, something they need, something for play and something to read.
Here are my top 4 recommendations for 2019:
Want: Board Games
We love playing board games in our family, B in particular loves playing bingo. Combining his love of dogs (future dog trainer apparently) and his love of bingo, he was gifted the Dog Bingo game for his birthday. It’s actually a great game for dog enthusiasts and comes with a little booklet about the different dog breeds. The boys enjoyed laughing at me stumbling over the pronunciation for about 70% of them!
Need: Education
You’re probably wondering why I’m saying something educational comes under need. If you’re new to the blog and don’t already know. We are essentially a flexischooling, unschooling, worldschooling family. Welcome. Nearly everything we do here is educational. But just because it’s educational, doesn’t mean it’s boring. Now this gift comes under NEED, because I NEED my Little Londoners to stop experimenting with my bubble bath and makeup to create their ‘potions’. But I don’t want them to stop altogether. This is where a science kit like Frightful First Experiments from Horrible Science comes in. If you have a budding scientist on your hands then you can follow the link here to buy the kit from Amazon, but be aware of the age and adult supervision requriments.
Play: LEGO
LEGO is a classic gift for any child. We can never get enough of LEGO in our family – I think B received a total of 5 LEGO sets for his birthday from family and friends. I’d highly recommend any of the 3-in-1 Creator Sets aimed at children aged 7+. The instructions are fairly easy to follow and children can feel a great sense of pride with their finished creation. Our favourite LEGO set this year has to be the 3-in-1 Deep Sea Creatures Creator Set, we turned the creations into fact-finding inspiration for mini presentations on each deep sea creature.
Read: Books
Saving the best for last: books. You can never go wrong with a good book. After the blast we had being back in London for the summer holidays and seeing The Lion King on stage. I’ve decided to encourage a love for musical theatre by gifting the book When I Grow Up by Tim Minchin. This song is featured in Matilda: The Musical, one that I hope to take the boys to see one day (when they’re old enough to appreciate it). For now, this book will have to do, and it’s a great conversation starter about what is the difference between adults and children?
Or…
If you’re unsure about these gift ideas. You can gift money instead.
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