Gift Guide2008
From toys that stand the test of time to board games that are anything but boring, we found the best products for each grade that will build your child's brain as well as being chock full of fun. Our list of loot is kid-tested, teacher approved, and full of options for any family, so get wrappin'!
Window Nest Box
Attach this simple birdhouse to a window and breathe some life into what your kid's learning in school. The solid wood house has a clear plastic panel at the back for easy viewing. A sure way to stoke a love for science and give your first grader a bird's eye view of the natural world!
Color-Your-Own Farmhouse
Encourage your kid to draw on the walls! At least the walls of this house... Large enough for friends to play inside, too, this easy-to-assemble cardboard farmhouse is like a hopped-up version of the playing-in-the-discarded-refrigerator-box idea.
Storytelling Game
Storytelling is an important activity for second graders, who are beginning to read more complex chapter books and write their own short stories. This fast-paced memory game is a great way to get the literary juices flowing!
Hush Little Dragon
This story traces a mama dragon's quest to find a tasty bedtime snack for her sleepless little dragon. The progression of princesses, knights, magicians, and others that get dropped on his plate, only to run away, is sure to bring on a set of the giggles, and the ending a big satisfied yawn.
Ranger Rick Magazine
Where do dolphins sleep? How do birds steer? Kids are bursting with curiosity and this magazine, courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation, is full of amazing facts, hands-on activities, and photography of the world and the creatures that call it home. Each month, they'll run for the mailbox!
When We Left Earth
A collaboration between the Discovery Channel and NASA, to celebrate 50 years of space exploration, this 4-DVD collection contains 12 hours of footage, much of it never before seen. This is much more than a cursory look at the history of the space program and a must for space lovers!
iPod Touch with Nike Plus iPod Sport Kit
What if your iPod could talk to your running shoes? Well sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, because guess what? It can. Thanks to a collaboration between Apple and Nike, all new iPod Touch and Nanos now come ready to step in as Personal Trainer.
Top Toss
This recreational family game is a fun and safe alternative to horse shoes. Players stand 25 feet from the Top Toss tower and take turns hurling their colored Bolo Balls in the hopes of scoring points. Get your swinging arm ready and aim for that top bar!
A Volunteer Vacation
This year, along with all the wrapped gifts you slip under the tree, consider gifting your child an experience that will shape the person she becomes. The Sierra Club offers outings that teach kids about environmental protection, ecology, and history in a fun, playful environment.
BuildImagination Blocks
These are not your grandpa's blocks. The Water Set, with its sealed windows filled with colored liquid, can be overlaid to show how colors mix. And the Twisted Blocks transform triangles into parallelograms, allowing kids to turn angles upside-down with a quick flip of the wrist.
Rapunzel's Revenge
For some middle schoolers, reading can go from a joy to a chore in a flash. Fortunately for parents, Newbery Award-winning author Shannon Hale has come up with an intelligent and original story featuring a butt-kicking heroine, wrapped up in an easily digestible graphic novel format.
Dado Cubes and Squares
Pick up a pack of these colorful creations and give your kid a lesson in structure, balance, patterning, and proportion. Whether she stacks them into vertical skyscrapers, nests them within each other, builds willy-nilly, horizontal, or cantilevered creations-- this is open-ended play at its best.
Play and Learn
This 3-layered box contains all the ammunition kids need to fight rainy day boredom. The first tier has a double-sided domino game, the middle has 12 lacing activities, and the bottom contains a 25-piece double-sided alphabet puzzle. Plus, it's as good for the earth as it is for your kid's noodle!
Grocery Store and Lemonade Stand
Looking for a hands-on way to get your kinder comfortable counting coins? Look no further! This wooden play center transforms the living room into a compact grocery store, perfect for pretend shopping. Plus, the reversible awning turns the store into a lemonade stand, when playmates get parched!
Marineland Eclipse System 12 Aquarium Kit
Learning how to take care of living things is an important part of growing up - both in terms of gaining a solid understanding of biology, and fostering a sense of responsibility. A fish aquarium is a fun way for kids to take on the task. This great starter aquarium is made to last!
Backseat Drawing
How do you draw a picture without knowing what you're drawing? By relying on your teammates directions to guide you, with hilarious results! But it's not just fun and games: directing an artist to draw "butter on toast" or "a pearl" takes high level communication skills and teamwork.
