We hope you love our recommendations! Some may have been sent as samples, but all were independently selected by our editors. Just FYI, BuzzFeed and its publishing partners may collect a share of sales and/or other compensation from the links on this page.
1. Silly Poopy's Hide and Seek — which is pretty much exactly what you'd think it is. It's a rainbow-colored, light-up poop-shaped toy littles can take turns hiding throughout the house. It'll shout out clues and play a song when it's finally found!
What Do You Meme? is a small business that sells card games/toys, plushies, and pool floats.
Promising review: "This game is HILARIOUS. My kids love playing with it and taking turns hiding it (8, 6, and 3 years). They all think poop is funny and run around yelling 'Silly Poopy, where are you?' It keeps them busy for at least half an hour at a time and they leave me alone. Also? It's pretty durable. I found it outside in my garden in the 20-degree winter weather. I guess my 8-year-old left it out there for a few days. It also gets thrown down the stairs and Silly Poopy just keeps on giggling and having fun." —Adele
Get it from Amazon for $12.99.
2. Crayola Globbles, a fun lil' toy they can use to burn off some steam when they need a quick mental break from their homework. Don't worry, they won't leave residue on your walls.
Promising review: "If you wanna keep children busy for hours, get these. You can’t beat this price for that many and they are reusable and washable. Just rinse them and rub them under the water and they are like new again. Our 1- and 3-year-old love them. Highly recommend these products." —E2j2c4
Get a pack of six from Amazon for $9.97+ (also available in a pack of 16).
3. A splash-proof kids smartwatch with the ability to take videos, pictures, and selfies kids can customize with built-in funny filters. They won't be reaching for your watch anymore, now will they???
Promising review: "Super cute and easy to work for my 5-year-old. He loves that he can match mom now! It has games already installed, can take pictures, exercise, and lots more. Entertainment for HOURS!! And you can even change the watch face like an Apple Watch! So cool!" —Brittany
Get it from Amazon for $37.34+ (available in four colors).
4. An arts and crafts library chock full of everything and anything to inspire your little one to create something fantastic and totally hang-on-the-fridge-worthy.
The set includes fuzzy sticks, pom-poms, wood pieces, felt, craft sticks, sequins, wooden discs and beads, plastic beads, jewel stickers, googly eyes, thread, scissors, and glue for endless crafty combinations! Recommended for ages 8 and up.
Promising review: "My 5-year-old granddaughter absolutely loved this gift from her old grandpa. Thoroughly entertaining, this 'library' provides many hours/days of critical thinking skills and creativity. She loves it — it was an excellent decision." —Larry
Get it from Amazon for $34.99.
5. A color-your-own-castle playhouse you might think is an eyesore but won't care because your kids will have a blast going full-blown Picasso on it! Hand them some crayons or markers and let them them transform it into their own royal residence.
Don't forget the markers and crayons!
Promising review: "My girls (2, 5) have spent hours and hours playing pretend in this castle. They work on decorating it gradually but often stop to just play. Easy to set up. Great price." —ElaFree
Get it the haunted house version for $34.99 and the fairytale version for $34.99, both from Amazon.
6. A marble run set that'll help kiddos work on their problem-solving skills while also having an a-maze-ing time crafting endless structures for their marbles to race through.
7. A Melissa & Doug ice cream station to encourage kiddos to indulge in some imaginative play — they can stack up the flavors and toppings and offer sweet treats to everyone in the house...delish!
The wooden ice cream counter comes with eight ice cream scoops, six toppings, two cones, cup, scooper, tongs, wooden spoon, reusable menu card, and six pretend dollar bills.
Promising review: "My newly turned 3-year-old daughter instantly fell in love with this set! She loves seeing how high she can stack the ice cream cones and pretending to serve Mom and Dad her creations. She's been obsessed with climbing things around the house and we *desperately* needed a distraction to get her to stop, and this is working so far — she plays with this thing for HOURS!" —West Family
Get it from Amazon for $31.99.
8. A Craft-tastic "Make a Fox Friend" kit that'll teach budding designers the basics of sewing and help them create a wardrobe for their new stuffed pal. (And they also will craft it themselves!)
Each kit comes with six garments, eight accessories, kid-friendly plastic needle, thread, a fox, and easy-to-follow instructions. For ages 5+.
Craft-tastic is a woman-owned small business based in Michigan. All there products are focused on teaching kids new skills and limiting screen time.
Promising review: "This craft was a hit! The fox was very easy to put together and it turned out so cute! You have to make the tutu by tying a bunch of knots but other than that all of the clothes are ready to go and do not require sewing! The fox came with a little fabric bag to conveniently store it for travel. The materials in the craft are good quality and hopefully will last a while. My daughter loved this little cute fox!" —Olivia O.
Get it from Amazon for $19.99 (also available in mouse, bunny, and koala versions).
9. An affordable drone to take playtime to *~new heights~*. You might just find yourself reaching for the controller when your little tech-lover goes down for a nap.
10. A wooden puzzle that'll help jumpstart your tyke's brain and encourage them to problem solve without having their eyes glued to a screen.
Reviewers say this is a great toy for all ages — from 3–12.
Promising review: "Excellent for learning! Must-have! Such a wonderful toy/puzzle! Similar in some way to tangrams. Great for stimulating thinking and problem solving. My 3-year-old's teacher was blown away by her working the puzzle so easily." —tigerhax
Get it from Amazon for $9.99.
11. A set of Crayola Scribble Scrubbie pets little ones can use over and over — they can color the lil' creatures all shades of the rainbow, toss 'em in the toy tub for a good scrubbing, then do it all again!
12. A Bingo game that'll make teaching sight words to your kiddo a bit more fun-filled — they might even want to sit down and learn with you. (Can you imagine???)
13. A Dyson Ball toy vacuum with the ability to actually suck up the crackers your kiddo crushed into your carpet — it's about time they started helping around the house. 😉
14. A set of Lego French Bulldogs so next time your kids ask for a pet, you can give them these to build.
15. An LCD writing tablet that'll save you from constantly being asked "can you get me paper and markers?" Little ones can take this with them anywhere and create endless multicolored drawings that can be easily erased so they can draw something new whenever the mood strikes.
16. An activity pad to show little ones how to correctly use scissors — a skill we *all* could likely work on, TBH. It comes with safety scissors (obviously) and a book filled with mazes, puzzles, animal art, sequencing activities, and more!
Promising review: "Scissors skills are important both in and of themselves and because it strengthens the hand muscles to be used for learning to write. My 4-year-old LOVES this book. We received it this week and she has used it for a couple of hours each day. Many of the pages are cutting things out and putting them together (four-scoop ice cream cone, pizza with pepperonis, the components to build a house or a car, puzzles). We've used tape or glue to put the components together. This book is interesting enough to have caught the attention of my older children as well, although I make them let her do the cutting. :D Would make a great gift as it is so unique." —Mom of 7
Get it from Amazon for $7.99.
17. An InnyBin for tots with an endless amount of curiosity — it comes with chunky shapes for them to push through the elastic bands and into the cube. (We love fine motor skills!)
18. Otrio, a twist on the classic tic-tac-toe that'll quickly be added into your family's game night rotation. From your tyke to your teen, everyone will enjoy getting involved in this one.
19. A 100 Words Book from Leap Frog to teach kiddos exciting new words in both English and Spanish. They'll be chatting your ear off in no time at all.
20. A solar-powered DIY robot kit, you don't have to send your kiddo to a fancy STEM camp to get the *gears* in their head turning. This one kit will let them make 12 different robots!
21. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza — a card game they can play together as a family. Hope their little ones are ready for endless giggles!
22. A Disney princess necklace activity set tiny fashionistas will be so excited to get their hands on to create their own baubles — be prepared to give them your full attention when they're ready to show 'em off!
23. A flower-building activity set they can use to create a beautiful garden of their own even if it's absolutely dreary outside — and they can do it without going near any soil (a parenting win, TBH).
24. An interactive The Floor is Lava game that'll get you and your kiddos out of your seat and bouncin' around the house — in a good way!
25. A Lego set your kiddos can work together on while you pop in AirPods and watch episodes of The Crown on your tablet where they can't see. A lovely themed day for all!
26. A rainbow-colored saucer swing that'll quickly become your kid's favorite place to hang (literally).
28. A remote control stunt car with the ability to spin 360 degrees and zip across carpet, hardwood, grass, dirt, or gravel — your kiddo is going to be shocked when you present them with this fun activity.
29. Banzai Bump N' Bounce Body Bumpers you can count on to elicit full blown belly laughs — from both kids and adults. How could you not? You're gonna want to have your phone at-the-ready for this one.
30. A 360-degree-rotating three-in-one LED globe, constellation map, and night-light that'll leave little astrologists-in-the-making starry-eyed. Just wait 'til they see it glowing in the night.
31. A set of massive bubble wands so enchanting that even the angstiest of kids won't be able to resist giving them a go.
32. A geode-breaking activity from National Geographic that'll give you and your kids an excuse to pick up a hammer and smash rocks in half. The best part? The cracked-open rocks will reveal stunning crystal centers you can learn about together.
33. A construction-themed folding play set complete with kinetic sand, a dump truck, a working crane, a wrecking ball, and bucket attachments to keep kiddos entertained for houuuuurs — it even includes a carrying kit to contain the mess to one space (ideally).
34. A pack of Mega Bloks for wild toddlers who love nothing more than making towers and then knocking them down like they're a tiny King Kong terrorizing the city.
35. A castle tent with sheer drapes and starry lights to create an enchanting royal hideaway for the princess in your life.
36. A Magna-Tiles set that'll surely be a big hit with any budding architect. They can use it to build all kinds of cool 3D structures, then knock 'em down and start again the next day.
The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.