Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Amazing Mess: Preschool Gift Guide (Part 1)


With Christmas fast-approaching, I wanted to share a “Gift Guide” of sorts with you!  There are so many options, and I find it rather overwhelming sometimes.  I wanted to focus in on several categories of gifts, so I will spread this guide out over a few days.


Books:

All children need a home full of good books (see my post on reading with your preschoolers)!



 

If you don't have a lot of space for books, The 20th-Century Children’s Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud includes lots of books in one convenient volume!


Some more of our favorites include:


If you need a guide to aid you in choosing books, my personal favorite is Read for the Heart: Whole Books for WholeHearted Families.


Building Materials & Construction:

I love these kind of toys — they allow for open-ended play and are great for sparking creativity!


 

Unfortunately, the price has risen on these Melissa & Doug 60-Piece Standard Unit Blocks, but for natural, wooden blocks they are still a pretty good value.  We have two sets to allow for larger creations and expanded play.


Some of our other favorites:


Imaginative Play:

Obviously, you don’t even need to spend money on items for imaginative play (boxes, utensils, recycled materials, etc. work quite well), but sometimes a nice toy can provide hours of fun.  The girls have especially enjoyed the kitchen they have!


 


We have a plastic kitchen, but the Kid Kraft Suite Elite Kitchen has great ratings (and it's currently marked down by $65).


Here are a few more ideas:


What are some of your favorites?  Any I need to add to my list?!!


To be continued…

2 Comments:

Anonymous Terri H said...

Bubby is getting these graduated stacking cups for Christmas: http://www.amazon.com/MEASURE-UP-Cups-Discovery-Toys/dp/B005GAPCSO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1321577374&sr=8-6 I plan to use them with Goober for fun math practice, too!

November 17, 2011 at 4:50 PM  
Blogger JenA :) said...

Here's what we made for our kids for "Christmas" (we couldn't wait that long so we gave it to them in October!)... Anyway... Super fun project for the couple who loves building & creating! I love how it turned out!

November 17, 2011 at 7:26 PM  

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