Best Gifts for Preschoolers
Choosing a gift is one of the most challenging decisions to make whether you are gifting something to your siblings, friends, beloved, and especially children. That’s because children’s interests can be hard to predict but to see them happily play is a rewarding experience in itself. As preschoolers, children love to explore gaming opportunities and can follow simple instructions easily.
It can be overwhelming to enter a play store when you don’t know what to do or where to go. From pretend play sets to legos to digital drawing pads, there is a plethora of options to choose from. To make your decision process easier, we have prepared a guide on some of the best gifts for preschoolers.
7 Best Gifts for Preschoolers
We have made seven of our best picks based on the type of play, the level of interest, and the benefits they offer. Let’s explore these options.
1. Hape’s Dollhouse Staging
If your 4-year-old is particularly fond of pretend play, they are going to have a blast with Hape’s furniture sets and accessories. Hape offers dollhouse staging toys in multiple arenas and settings, including:
- Children's room set, which comprises bunk beds, a play table, a toy shelf, and even a rocket.
- Patio set, which includes a cute umbrella table, shish kebabs, a BBQ grill, chairs, and flower pots.
- Baby’s room set comprising a playmat, stroller, changing table, and a bassinet.
These toys promote kinesthetic training and role playing amongst children. The variety of sets encourage creativity and boost innovation as kids try to think of scenarios in a world with endless possibilities. Dollhouses give them the opportunity to act as the stage manager of the stories that they are in complete control of.
Since dollhouses usually reflect the real world, it pushes children to experience different social roles and strengthen their people skills. It also teaches them to care for the things they own as a dollhouse requires adequate maintenance.
So if you want your child to have a real world experience, a dollhouse is the best way to do it.
2. Scratch and Sketch Infinity Pad
Imagine having a blank canvas at your disposal at all times that you can reuse without having to deal with the mess left behind. This LCD tablet offers an opportunity to draw and write with the stylus included in the package. The black screen might appear ordinary at first, but once you begin doodling on the blank canvas, it erupts into a burst of neon colors.
While there is a stylus to write from, you can easily use your fingers too if you want. Once you are done with the sketch and wish to restart, just press the button at the base of the screen and start afresh.
Scratch and sketch infinity pad has many attributes and among them the most important is that it is portable, lightweight, user-friendly, and affordable. It will surely encourage a child to engage in writing and drawing without the need of disposable paper. Keep it on top of your list if you want to give a sustainable gift that helps reduce the carbon footprint.
3. 100-Piece Deluxe Building Set
Exciting even as an adult, the Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! Building Set is an excellent gift for preschoolers who love engineering games. Inside this building, the set is exactly what you would imagine - 100 colorful gears, axles, and extenders that are meant to be arranged together in a way that they could move smoothly without getting jammed.
The open-ended design allows a lot more building options and takes the child into a world of construction play as they come up with unique combinations of gears. It cultivates critical thinking and problem solving skills in preschoolers who are about to begin the tough journey of formal education.
This versatile STEM toy fosters imagination and allows the kid to experiment with simple mechanics and science. The best part is that the construction is different every time you play with it, so the chances of getting bored are slim!
4. KidKraft Wooden Storage Easel
Painting weaves a bundle of benefits that shape young minds, from nurturing motor skills to refining emotional expression. It is a way for children to explore colors, engage in sensory play, stimulate creativity, and improve eye-hand coordination. So what is a better way to celebrate turning four than getting the infamous KidKraft wooden storage easel?
The KidKraft easel comes with an attached roll of art paper and a built-in storage basket underneath to comfortably keep the art supplies. You will have to assemble it first but once you do, it is durable and will last despite the clumsiness of its user.
Painting is a sensory experience that helps a child explore the world around them. This toy will help them understand cause-and-effect, build their self-esteem, and teach them to make their own decisions by picking colors, controlling strokes, and mixing palette.
5. Magna-Tiles Classic 100-Piece Set
If there is one sure way of brightening up a preschooler, it is to give them a collection of colorful magnetic tiles and let them build their own little world to their heart’s content.
Magnetic tiles offer an open-ended platform for children to construct structures according to their own understanding of design and assembly. It encourages them to experiment with different shapes, colors, and patterns and create something entirely new from a bunch of individual pieces.
One of the most important cognitive skills that this STEM toy teaches is spatial reasoning as it requires kids to think about symmetry, shapes, and balance. It also pushes children to count, measure, and predict the outcome of their assemblage.
Magna-Tiles Classic 100-piece set includes 100 translucent geometric shapes in 6 different colors and remains consistently amongst the best gifts for preschoolers.
6. Briarpatch I Spy Dig In Game
While it is vital for children to be able to play by themselves, it is equally important to teach them how to play in a group and work as a team. Briarpatch I Spy Dig In is a multiplayer game that involves a group of friends or a family since it requires at least four players, which makes it an ideal choice for game nights.
In this game, players race against time as they dive in and dig away. You have to dig out six objects and place them on your card. When each player has gone all in, match the images on the cards with objects from the bowl to win the game.
This great game of frantic finding results in heaps of laughter, encourages strategic matching, polishes social skills, and sharpens your senses by working against the clock. Moreover, the thrill of competition and the suspense of the winner induces an atmosphere of anticipation that is equally enjoyed by children and adults.
7. Melissa and Doug Get Well Doctor’s Kit Play Set
Children gain a great deal from roleplaying as it brings them closer to real world experiences and lets them take on leading roles in every walk of life. It is a fun way for kids to learn about different professions and everyday circumstances by using themed props and equipment.
One such toy is Melissa and Doug Doctor’s Play Set which comprises 25 pieces including a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, scissors, syringe, reflex hammer, tongue depressor, thermometer, tweezer, and medicine bottles.
Preschoolers will enjoy acting out as a doctor wearing a stethoscope, prescribing medicines, and treating other children who are acting as their patients. They can take turns playing the doctor and come up with different ailments that they will cure and creative ways to treat them.
FAQs
How do you pick a gift for a preschooler?
Preschoolers love to assert their independence in a game so try gifting them something that encourages innovation such as magnetic tiles or a doctor’s set. Get meaningful toys that promote math skills, scientific reasoning, and encourage muscle coordination. You can find out their interests and gifts according to them. For example, if a child is more interested in pretend play than construction, you can gift them dollhouses instead of magnatiles.
Can preschoolers play board games?
Preschoolers can play easy board games whose instructions are easy to follow. Games such as Bunny Brunch, Color Go Fish!, I Spy: Dig In, and Operation are great options for board games for 4 year olds. Board games are a great way for preschoolers to learn to interact with different people and work as a team.
Do preschoolers like books as gifts?
Preschoolers are energetic individuals who love to explore new things, and it is hard for them to stay in one place. While books are a great option for learning, 4-year-olds prefer to have hands-on experience by indulging in construction or pretend play. However, many preschoolers love to read board books and small storybooks. It varies from kid to kid.
