GIFT GUIDE 2008
Kindergarten Gifts
Gifts for a 5-Year-Old or 6-Year-Old
From toys that stand the test of time to board games that are anything but boring, we found the best kindergarten products for a five-year-old or six-year-old. Our list of loot is kid-tested, teacher approved, and full of options for any family, so get wrappin'!
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!
Royal Rescue
Want to raise the next Frank Lloyd Wright? Get your budding architect off to an early start, by stretching her logic muscles with this beautiful wooden toy. Designed to bulk up spatial reasoning skills and hone logical thinking, this toy is part building fun, part brainteaser.
Butterfly Bungalow
This kit gives kids an up-close and personal encounter with nature. The adventure begins when 6-10 larvae arrive in the mail. Then it's time to get personal with metamorphosis, as the larvae progress from caterpillars, to chrysalises, to Painted Ladies.
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.
Mailbox and Mail Set
Adults may take the postal service for granted, but for young kids, the process of sending and receiving mail is a mysterious and incredibly interesting phenomenon. Let them go postal, with this hand-painted wooden play set.
Word Chase
In this literacy scavenger hunt of sorts, kids lap the board looking for words. In the process, they practice the top 25 building blocks of the English language.
Junior Genius: Blast of Color Science Kit
Kindergarteners are natural scientists: they love to experiment, they live to make a mess, and their favorite question of all time tends to be, "Why?" This kit gives them plenty of chances to flex some burgeoning science muscles, with 15 simple experiments.
Make Your Own Mask Kit
Unleash this little box on a roomful of kindergarteners and prepare for mayhem! The ten corrugated cardboard masks, elastic cord, and small pile of feathers, pom-poms, and fringed paper make for simple creative fun, leaving kids to growl their way around the living room.
The Super Scissors Book
Thirteen projects, two pairs of kid-friendly scissors (one straight, one jagged), and a craft book that's colorful and easy to use...what's not to like? Working with scissors is a key kindergarten skill. This book of kooky projects gives kids plenty of chances to wreak creative havoc.
Easy Bake Oven
Since 1963 this simple little toy has been wowing boys and girls alike with its plastic paddle and mysterious cook-by-lightbulb design. This year, the oven celebrates its 45th anniversary. A perfect way to get your kid excited about the prospect of putting on an apron.
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