Check out our favorite kids gift ideas! Every gift on this page is a tried and true favorite of our kids at The Treehouse – toys and games that the kids beg to play with week after week!
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Every year around this time, we spend time brainstorming fun and creative gift guide ideas. From fine motor gifts to the best gifts for kids who love to move – we’ve done them all!
This year, we decided to consult with the experts to compile a list of our most-played-with toys of the year. You can’t go wrong with these kids gift ideas, because they were chosen by the kids themselves!
Every one of these toys and games is something that we pull off of our shelves at The Treehouse on a weekly basis because – most importantly – the kids love them, but also because we know that they pack a ton of development-boosting punch! Your kids have played with them at The Treehouse, now it’s time for you to grab some of these essentials for your playroom at home!
Again, these are purchases that you can feel good about because they’re more than just fun – they’re also hand-picked by our team of pediatric therapists to support healthy childhood development! Whether you’re looking for a Christmas gift, a birthday gift, or a present for another holiday – we’ve got you covered!
Have grandparents or other relatives who are asking what to get the kids this holiday season? Send them the link to this post!
Our Favorite Kids Gift Ideas – Top Picks from The Treehouse
*CLICK ON EACH OF THE NUMBERED ITEMS TO SEE THE PRODUCT LISTING*
These wax covered strings are the perfect gift for inspiring creativity in kids! This is one of our big kids’ favorite toys because they can be used in so many different ways to create one-of-a-kind masterpieces. And they can be played with again and again! Check out our favorite ways to play with Wikki Stix.
These cool gifts are perfect for hands-on kids! These are weighted balls that are fun to squeeze and touch because of their unique tactile texture.
We love this high-quality toy because they can be used in tons of different ways to promote movement, strength, and overall development! Check out our favorite ways to play with Squigz!
Stretchy bands make great gifts for kids of all ages! Great for group games and movement activities, this fabric-covered band can be used to inspire movement of all kinds!
By far one of our most-used materials at The Treehouse, BAM! Tape comes in tons of different colors and will make our list of the best gifts for kids every year! Check out our favorite ways to play with tape!
These plastic stepping stones make their way into almost every one of our obstacle courses and are perfect for promoting balance and coordination.
We couldn’t leave this classic toy off of the list! The kids at The Treehouse request play dough time just about every week – and we always say yes because of the many developmental benefits it can provide! Check out our favorite play dough ideas!
No play dough session would be complete without some fun props and tools to inspire creativity! We love this set from Melissa and Doug!
Many of our younger kids at The Treehouse are learning how to cut with scissors. One of the best ways to practice? Using spring scissors! Check out our other ideas for helping kids learn how to use scissors.
Our Treehouse kids love our sensory bins and their favorite is probably the simplest one of all – a bin filled with water! We love these droppers to encourage grasping skills and hand strength.
Another great sensory bin upgrade is a few pairs of tweezers and tongs for kids to use to pick up and sort small objects like pompoms and mini erasers! Check out our top ideas for ways to play with tongs!
This is a newer discovery for our Treehouse friends! They love using the stick to scratch off the paper, revealing the beautiful colors underneath! Also great for grasping skills, prewriting skills, and building hand strength!
Adding some spray bottles to a sensory bin is another great opportunity for building hand strength and coordination!
You’ll definitely want to add these to your list of kids’ gifts this year. They are such a fun toy for encouraging bilateral hand skills, hand strength, AND they make an awesome noise, which is why kids keep coming back to play with them again and again!
If your child attends The Treehouse, and you ask them what their favorite Treehouse toy is…chances are they’ll say SCOOTERS! These simple toys are perfect for promoting balance, core strength, leg strength, arm strength, coordination, and more! Check out our favorite ways to play with scooters!
If you have a kiddo who likes to fidget or needs to keep their hands busy – these toys are perfect. From toddlers up to school-agers – pop its are a fun option for kids to play with during wait times, car rides, and more!
We’re excited about our latest partnership with Lovevery and our Treehouse kids have been reaping the benefits with a whole box of brand new toys! Lovevery’s toys and play kits are an amazing gift for kids of any age. Our Treehouse toddlers and preschoolers are loving The Companion Play Kit! Check out their subscription plan too!
We use these colorful dots to show kids where to sit or stand during our movement games. But they also make their way into obstacle courses and other activities because kids love to jump on them or over them, or step from spot to spot in a fun game of “floor is lava”!
19 || Gingerbread Interactive Movement Game
Our interactive movement games stole the show last year, when so many parents were looking for fun and easy ways to keep kids entertained and moving at home! These games are perfect for inspiring some movement by having kids click through the game to choose their own movement adventure!
20 || Pencil Grasp Development Coloring Pages
These pages are great for preschoolers who are just learning how to control their drawing and writing utensils.
Looking for gift ideas to support learning concepts through imaginative play? This is the book for you! We wrote this book awhile back and the pages are filled with pictures of our Treehouse kids!
Another Treehouse favorite! These have made it into many of our past gift guides too because there are so many fun ways to play with hula hoops!
If you’re looking for instant fun for kids of all ages – you’ll want to add these to your shopping list this holiday season! Kids love the challenge of popping the giant bubbles with different body parts and it’s also a great way to work on self-regulation…don’t pop the bubble until I say go! Find more fun bubble ideas here!
24 || See Through Letters & Numbers
There are so many ways to play with this fun toy! Have kids shine a flashlight through them to make the letter or number show up on the wall! Try tracing on them with dry erase marker! Or trace around them using regular markers on paper!
These are the coolest art supply ever! These marker/paint hybrids go on smooth and vibrant like oil pastels, but dry in just about a minute so there’s less mess, but still a beautiful finished product!
26 || Board Games to Turn into Handwriting Games
Do you have a kiddo at home who is working on handwriting? Forget the worksheets and try one of these fun games instead!
These are another all-time Treehouse crafting favorite! Younger kids love making colorful dots all over their paper. Older kids might like to make more complex designs or even use the markers to fill in a dot marker template. Check out our top ways to play with dot markers.
There are so many ways to play with this simple movement prop! We love using them to practice throwing and catching and more! Here are some fun ways to play with scarves.
Tap out a beat with these rhythm sticks and have kids repeat it back to you! Or try one of these fun ways to play!
Have you ever heard of a Boomwhacker? They’re a great way to inspire movement AND music! Each one makes the sound of a different note when tapped on a surface. There are so many ways to use them!
Add this one to your wish lists right away! Kids love zooming the ball back and forth. We therapists love this toy because it targets motor coordination in such a fun way! Check out our favorite ways to play with a Zoom Ball!
We added these fun magnatized gadgets to our toy collection this year and the kids went crazy for them! Kids will have tons of fun with these colorful building toys!
This was another new addition this year and again, the kids went wild when we pulled this toy out for the first time! This will easily keep kids’ attention for an hour at a time because of the visual appeal!
Work on balance and proprioception with this fun classic toy! Kids love launching the rocket into the sky and it’s a great option for indoors or outdoors!
You can’t go wrong with a set of these lightweight cardboard blocks. Kids love building toys because they get the chance to use their imaginations and bring their ideas to life! Great for a group of friends or siblings!
We can’t wait to hear which gift idea is your favorite! Happy Holidays!
