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'!
World Traveler Magnetic Dress Up Doll
Konichiwa! Namaste! Guten Tag! Give your kindergartner a tour of the world, with this set of magnetic dress up dolls. Like paper dolls, but created in a much more robust format, each tin comes with a magnetic figure, four background scenes, and three pages of magnetic outfits from across the globe.
Chimalong
Tired of hearing your kindergartener practice his percussion skills on every surface in the house? Replace the ear-splitting banging with the dulcet tones of this sweet-sounding instrument, sure to bring out the musician in any child.
A Visitor for Bear
Bear does not like visitors. So when a bright-eyed mouse knocks on his door, wrangling for a cup of tea, bear tells him to go away. The problem is, the mouse keeps popping up again and again, and in the most unlikely places! A delightful slap-sticky saga.
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.
The Pencil
Once upon a time there was an extremely lonely pencil. Life was boring and sad until one day, the pencil quivered slightly and began to draw. He drew a boy, a dog, a cat... a whole world. Can your kindergartener predict what will happen next?
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.
Too Many Toys
At Spencer's house, toys spill out of every nook and cranny, and his mother is determined to see him put at least some of the robots, board games, and cars in the giveaway box, while Spencer is determined to keep them all. Kids will wait with bated breath as they flip through the negotiations.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
