First words out of hubby’s mouth this morning. 
“If the kids don’t get on their Christmas lists, they’re gonna get cans of corn for Christmas.”

Me: “And they’d be blessed!”

Christmas is always a zoo at the Sayler home.

A big happy zoo full of my own personal band of monkeys.

The boys pull names out of a hat and then they are responsible for the three gifts that land under the tree for that person.
This year?

Back in the early days of homeschooling, I took FULL advantage of Christmas sales to stock up on goodies for school.

Pencils, erasers, paper, books, great games, and even a good microscope  were always on the list.

But experiences always made the biggest splash.

This year, I expect the holidays to be crazier than usual.

So I am refining our Gift Ideas.

Clutter-Free Gift Ideas!

Over 150 Education Gift Ideas Your Kids will LOVE

Top Game Pick

Related: Yes, they may still play with the box, but they’ll love what’s inside as well!

Your free Cardboard CONQUEST Kit

Just don’t tell them they’re educational toys! If you’re looking for recommendations for fine motor skills, gross motor development, STEM, games, outdoor activities, and of course, books, you’re in the right place!

• Characters you love – enjoy fun pictures of all your favorite Disney, including Mickey Mouse, Belle, Tigger, Tinker Bell, Buzz Lightyear, Alice, Woodie, Elsa and many more.
• Great for kids and families – Eye Found It not just a great game for kids, but is also perfect for adults to join in on the fun. It takes just 15 minutes to play, and less than 5 minutes to teach!

Subscription Boxes for Kids

Homeschool subscription boxes are chosen to meet a specific need, want, or interest. Throw in the fact that you don’t need to look for duct tape, buttons, or instructions for how to whip together something cool and BOOM. Your kids will think you’re the coolest mom on the planet.

Not sure which boxes will best fit your family? That’s exactly why I asked a few dozen of my homeschooling friends.

CHECK OUT ALL THE AMAZING SUBSCRIPTION BOXES OTHER HOMESCHOOL MOMS LOVE.

Fine Motor Toys

TINKER TOYS BUILDING SETS: The “SNAP & LOCK” design has been proven to have significant cognitive and academic benefits for children of all ages. Stimulate and encourage brain development with these kids connector toys. Prepare kids for school, sports and life = THE BEST BUILDING BLOCKS OF SUCCESS.

Related: The Importance of Fine Motor Skill Development

Learning Resources Mini Muffin Match Up 

• Develop math skills, color recognition, matching, sorting, counting, and early math skills
• Squeezy Tweezers increase fine motor skills and hone skills needed for writing

     

Mini Explorer Light-up Terrarium Kit for Kids with LED

• It is a miniature garden within a container that simulates a natural environment
• Beneath the lid, there is a built-in innovative LED light that transforms the experience into something magical.
• It’s not often that a science project can be fun and engaging, but this terrarium kit achieves both! It fascinates children as soon as they pull it out of the box.

Looking for a weird gift? {click here}

Related: Why is STEM so Important?

Scientific Explorer My First Mind Blowing Science Kit

• 20 piece kit allows your young scientist to explore and learn the basics of science from chemical reactions to the use of science tools

GAMES

Our new family favorite!! Ticket to Ride

• A fast-paced, award-winning board game
• Connect iconic North American cities and build your train routes to earn points
• Players must compete to grab the best train cards and routes before their opponents
• Ticket cards challenge you to plan ahead and connect two faraway cities for additional points

ThinkFun Gravity Maze Marble Run Logic Game and STEM Toy 

• Gravity Maze is a combination logic game, marble run, and STEM toy for boys and girls.
• Easy to learn with a clear, high quality instructions.
• Playing your way through the challenges builds spatial reasoning and planning skills, and provides a great stealth learning experience for young players.

Related: the BEST game for active kids! {read more}

Sleeping Queens

• Wake up the Queens form their royal slumbers!
• Play a Knight to steal a Queen or take a chance on a juggling Jester
• Watch out for potions and dastardly Dragons!

Mattel Games UNO Card Game

• The classic card game of matching colors and numbers
• Players take turns matching one of their cards with the color or number card shown on the top of the deck

Related: 8 Surprising Benefits of Board Games

Settlers of Catan

• Picture yourself in the era of discoveries: After a long voyage of great deprivation, your ships have finally reached the coast of an uncharted island. But you are not the only discoverer.
• Other fearless seafarers have also landed on the shores of Catan: The race to settle the island has begin!

Cranium Cadoo

• With a variety of hilarious activities, the Cranium Cadoo game gets kids thinking, creating and giggling as they play.
• Let’s play: play “combo” or go “solo” to compete in challenges from sculpting a clay object, solving a picture puzzle, and acting out a clue, sketching a target word or answering a trivia question
• Team play: players guess what you are doing. If a player shouts it out, you share the same spot on the board. Be the first to get four tokens in a row and win! but you can only win on a solo card

Lattice

• Perfect for adults, small parties, kids (ages 6+) or families, fun for everyone!
• Simple rules that combine into surprisingly deep strategies as you learn the game. 3 minutes to learn, 20 minutes to play, a lifetime to master.
• Develops cognitive, spatial recognition, planning and interpersonal skills with no language, age or gender barriers, color-blind accessible through patterns on the tiles.

Supplies to make the challenge more educational

• Scissors (with supervision)
• Something to poke holes (with supervision)

• Stickers
• Glue
• Yarn
• Twinkly lights
• Mini toys
• Crepe streamers
• Toilet paper rolls
• Broken keyboards
• Pillows
• Curtains
• Stuffed animals
• Books!!!
• Paint
• Plants 
• Tie wraps (With supervision)
• Snacks
• Glow in the dark stars
• Flashlight
• Old light switches, buttons, buckles, latches, snaps

26 Creative Ideas

• Build a tower and knock it down
• Create a puppet theater
• Make a mini house
• Tie a rope on it and haul things
• Make street signs
• Make a store stand
• Create mail and a mailbox
• Make a bean bag toss target
• Jump over, in or out of the box
• Read a book inside it
• Make a playhouse for dolls/mini-figures
• Hide inside
• Balance your box on your head
• Draw all over the box
• Make a costume out of the box
• Stand inside and pretend you’re in jail
• Stand inside and pretend to be a king in a castle
• Stand inside and pretend to be a princess
• Stomp on the box
• Poke holes in the box (parent job) and then lace through the holes with yarn
• Plant a plant in the box
• Create a time machine
• Make an invention
• Create an activity that you need the box
• Cut the box into giant playing cards
• Create a musical instrument

Don’t Make Me Laugh

• Perform hilarious scenarios and acts. FOR KIDS 5+.
• ANNOUNCE YOUR ACT AND THEN PERFORM! Go Solo, With Partner, or For Everyone.
• ALL PLAYERS EARN AWARDS like “Silliest Performance” or “Bravest Performance.”

For Moms

For Your Chin Hair Friends
by HomeschoolMagic

“If you’re ever in a coma, I pinky swear to love your kids and sneak into your room and pluck your chin hairs for you!”

Ladies Heart t-shirt
by HomeschoolMagic

Books! Books! Books!

Naomi Home Kids Toy Sling Book Rack

• Product dimensions 24 wide x 10 25 depth x 24 inches height
• The innovative design allows books to be displayed by the front or back to make them easier to identify by kids

Best collections of book recommendations

36 All-Time Best Picture Books Most Loved by Kids And Parents ~ Kelly Holmes

Make Reading Irresistible

Kids Pod Swing Child Hanging Chair Indoor Kid Hammock Seat Pod Nook

• THE FAVORITE SPOT, our pod swing provides a fun and cozy spot for kids to read, play, daydream, and relax with their friends and toys

Durable Teepee for Kids

• Made of 100% cotton canvas and chosen pine.
• The costly pine has hardwood, looking very straight.
• The tent strap adopts professional nylon rope, which passes the strength test. You can use it for a long time!

This is the BEST list of Delightful Books for Preschoolers (and their parents) ~Bekki Sayler

While being engaged in fun activities, your children will be practicing important age-appropriate skills such as visual discrimination, sequencing, small muscle coordination, following directions, reading, and critical and creative thinking.

The activities in The Never-Bored Kid Book, Ages 6 and 7 are organized around 17 age-appropriate themes, including:

• pandas
• pigs
• banks
• up a tree
• shoes
• happy birthday
• wild animals
• vegetables
• moon and stars
• kittens
• merry-go-rounds
• snails
• ice cream
• tracks
• trains
• a hole in the ground
• scaly creatures

120 Classic Books for you and your children~ Bekki Sayler

Creative QT Extra Large Stuff ‘n Sit – Stuffed Animal Storage Bean Bag Chair

• Our stylish stuffed animal storage organizers help you take control of your entire stuffed animal collection, wrapping up to 90 toys in one comfy pouf ottoman to instantly clean up the room.
• Simply fill and zip to create a plush, stuffed animal bean bag chair in a matter of minutes.

A Year of Picture books ~ Sarah MacKenzie

Outdoor Fun!

Life Best Kids Frisbee Rings 

• The World’s Easiest Frisbees To Throw & Catch! Perfect for young children!
• Our unique design flies straight and can be caught in the smallest of hands, on your wrist or even your foot!

Triumph 2-in-1 Three-Hole Bags and Washer Toss Combo

• Two sturdy, classic outdoor lawn games are combined for an incredible value: 3 -hole bean bag toss or 3-hole washer toss
• Includes two 26″ L x 10″ W game platforms featuring on-board scoring, with detachable legs for support

Capture the Flag REDUX a Nighttime Outdoor Game

• Play Capture the Flag in the dark using futuristic lights — with 33 light up game pieces, 12-24+ hours of batteries, game variations, and ALL NEW games
• Exciting nighttime activity — without TVs, computers or tablets. Physical exercise becomes part of the fun as players run, hide and chase each other to win!
• Bring people of all ages together — kids, teens & adults will all enjoy this awesome icebreaker and activity that develops teamwork, group bonding, comradery and strategy
• Playable anywhere with space to run