Looking for some gifts to encourage creativity, family togetherness, and spiritual growth for your kids or grandkids this Christmas? Here are some recommendations from purchases I’ve personally made as well as online research. And hey, each is under $25!
Starting with toddlers and preschoolers. Want to help keep those active minds and bodies quietly engaged during worship services? Here are a couple of quiet activities that will help.
Scratch boards from Timberdoodle. These are more attractive than your dollar store version for only a little more out of your pocket.
Magnetic board This erasable drawing board includes magnetic shape “stamps” for artistic creativity.
And my favorite Bible story series, Tales that Tell the Truth, has some new board books available.
Early Grades: This Big Bible Timeline Puzzle looks cool (although I can’t find anything saying how many pieces it has). It would make a great tool to go alongside the Bible Infographics for Kids books.
And for fun on those winter days when you’re stuck inside, the game Out Foxed is like the classic Clue but cooperative, with everybody working together to defeat the game itself. The product description at FatBrain Toys reads: A cooperative game of whodunit! Mrs. Plumpert’s prized pot pie has gone missing and it’s now a chicken chase to crack the case. Move around the board to gather clues and then use the special evidence scanner to rule out suspects. You’ll have to work together quickly because the guilty fox is high-tailing it toward the exit! Will you and your fellow sleuths halt the hungry hooligan before they fly the coop…, or will you be Outfoxed?
Gifts for Tweens: Let’s start with two devotionals with a similar theme but entirely different looks. Unfolding Grace for Kids is a 40-day journey through the Bible “from the creation in Genesis to the restoration of all things in Revelation.” Across from a lovely engraved-style graphic, each day’s reading begins with a brief introduction about God’s plan of redemption that is followed by a passage of scripture (usually one or two chapters). This is a high-quality hardback, a beautiful no-frills reading of the Biblical narrative.
Then we have 30 Prophecies: One Story, How God’s Word Points to Jesus
Josiah Pettit
Director of Marketing, wtsbooks.com
For a stocking stuffer, how about this perpetual calendar with a scripture reference for each day.
And rounding out the list, try this game from Fat Brain Toys for some family fun for adults and kids together.
Whatever kind of gift-giving fits your family traditions, I pray that you will be able to focus on the reason we give in the first place: because God so loved the world that he gave his only Son for us that whoever believes on him will have everlasting life. May the soon arriving season of Advent be filled with joy for you all.
