A variety of samples were provided for inclusion in this gift guide. Affiliate links are used below.
Christmas is nearly here and all the sales are gearing up for the holiday shopping. To help you find great gifts for the boys in your life this year, I’ve compiled some of my favorite gifts for 2013!
Let the boys get creative and show their imagination with one of the great gifts available from Crayola! The younger boys will love the My First Crayola Mess-Free Touch-Lites ($22) that lets them play with a finger-painting like surface without any of the mess! Choose from 6 colors that each have a different song. Take their creativity further with the Crayola Color Wonder gift sets like this Spiderman Gift Set ($20) that includes a coloring pad, drawing pad, color wonder markers, gel paints, and a paintbrush! If your child loves to create, destroy, and create it all over again they will love a themed Create 2 Destroy playset like the Dino Destruction Metropolitan Mayhem ($25) set that lets you create dinosaurs with a low mess, no crumbling dough and then smash or launch their creations and start over again. For even more fun with this Dino Playset, Crayola is hosting an Instagram contest! Just create a :15 second Instagram video of your family playing with any Create 2 Destroy set. Tag your video with #create2destroy and make sure your privacy settings are off. One winner will win a $1,000 gift card and their story featured on a 2014 product box!
The boys will love racing small cars in a big way with the Micro Chargers Hyper Dome ($35)! Two kids can play and launch their Micro Chargers car into the dome. Then, it becomes a battle in the dome until one of the cars falls from circling around the dome. This set can be added on to other Micro Chargers set and adds a fun new element the kids love! Look for the Micro Chargers Light Racers ($50) set as a great additional set to get your child started and give them variety. My boys tried out the Micro Chargers line for the first time last Christmas and they were a big hit. They loved the tiny cars and watching how fast they would zoom through their tracks. They are a really fun and unique race track set that the kids really enjoy!
I have yet to met a boy that doesn’t love the NERF line of guns! Even my husband asks for them for Christmas! In fact, we got him his own NERF gun for his last birthday and he protects it and hides it away from the kids so they don’t loose his darts. The kids always laugh when dad comes out from his office to play with them shooting his darts as they run and hide. Now, NERF has a new cool gun that shoots discs and can launch a constant stream of your discs up to 65 feet away! The NERF VORTEX REVONIX360 Blaster ($40) is the farthest firing of all the Vortex blasters with it’s extra long range discs.
Get the kids a game based on their favorite characters that is built for fun with the games by Wonder Forge! Go on an adventure with Jake and the Never Land Pirates in their new game Shipwrecked Beach Treasure Game where you try to decode clues, find matches, and win the treasure! If you want a game that will be different every time you play, you’ll love the flip over slides in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Surprise Slides Game ($12). Your older boys will love the super hero theme of Justice League Axis of Villains Game ($25, exclusively at Target). Pick your favorite hero and then team up against the dangerous villains of the universe who challenge you in this game of strategy.
Introduce your son to a new holiday tradition with The Sparkle Box ($15), a touching story about Sam who wonders what is inside one sparkly box left on the mantle. This book teaches that we should take the time out to spread kindness and service this holiday. We can teach our children how to do good to others as a gift for Jesus this year. This book is a sweet way to remember the meaning of Christmas through the holidays and focus on giving rather than receiving. It is a beautiful book that will be a great addition to your other holiday books collection. The hardcover book comes with a sparkly box to help you get started with your own family tradition this year.
Bring back a bit of nostalgia in a whole new way with one of the classic toys by Fisher-Price that have been reinvented into a game for even more fun and play! Check out the Fisher-Price Chatter Phone Talking Game that rewards preschoolers with voice and sounds as they play. It even features a barcode reader for more interactive fun. Or have fun with the new twist on the Fisher-Price Corn Popper Game! Watch as the balls pop and play along with a play mat, cards, and characters that brings this toy to life for a whole new way to play. Finally, in Fisher-Price Barn Yard Bingo Game kids can work on their sharing, cooperation, fine motor skills, and more. Insert in coins and play along to match animal names and/or colors! Look for these and other great Fisher-Price toys and games manufactured by TCG, tcgtoys.com. You can find them in toys at Target or Toys ‘R Us.
One of the hottest video games for this Christmas is the latest addition to the Skylanders craze – Swap Force! This introduces an all new game disc and the ability to swap the tops and bottoms of your characters to create your own unique Skylanders with fun and interesting characteristics based on what you combine. This gives you the ability to really create your own Skylanders that are unique and feature your favorite abilities. Skylanders Swap Force is available for Nintendo Wii, Wii U, DS3, as well as on Playstation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One! It retails for $74.99 as a starter kit with game, launch pad, and three Skylander Swap Froce characters.
If your child is always asking for video games, Nintendo has released two new less expensive options in time for the holidays! Their new Wii Mini Console ($100) will let you play all the Wii games and is compatible with Wii accessories. The Wii Mini doesn’t include the wifi connected abilities such as movie streaming, game downloading, or internet browser, but you’ll save about 25% off the classic Wii! Also, look for their value line games starting at $20. If you child has been dying to try the Nintendo 3DS, you can swap for the budget friendly Nintendo 2DS that lets them play all the latest games in 2D which is easier for younger kids. You’ll also save $40 off the 3DS price!
Keep the kids learning all through winter break with a game that will disguise learning as fun! Appletters ($12.99) is a game the whole family can enjoy together. Just clear off the table, pull out the apple and you’ll start an addictive game for early readers where everyone works together to build a “word worm” by adding letters on to the head or tail. Everyone races to use up all their letters to win the game. You can find Appletters in stores locally at Staples!