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We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Some may have been sent as samples, but all opinions and reviews are our own. Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
1. A Taco vs. Burrito card game (actually created by a 7-year-old) to turn game night into a food fight by adding "disgusting but adorable ingredients" (via cards assigned point values) to your favorite Mexican meals.
2. A rechargeable kids' karaoke microphone with four voice effects (high pitch, low pitch, chipmunk, and echo) for young crooners to sing along with their favorite songs (via Bluetooth connecting with a music app) or to 30 included Motown hits (like “Superstition”!).
3. A "magical" CMY cube (cyan, magenta, yellow) that can be an easy anxiety reliever for kids (and adults) as they twist and turn the geometry to create new color combos.
4. A Moving Creations with K'nex building kit for young STEM enthusiasts who'd love nothing more than to build working rockets, catapults, and multiple science-based experiments (that won't result in any damage to the home).
Promising review: "We have been a big fan of Hand2mind kits. I was so excited when I saw they released a new one. I have a 5-year-old boy. This is rated for 8 and older but was still a ton of fun. He just needed help. It created a great bonding experience as we built the different models and tested them. I also like they include different facts throughout the book. It was a great way to introduce engineering as well as pneumatic and hydraulics." —Julie Wodzien
Get it from Amazon for $45.77
5. An 18-can pack of nonsticky Hey Clay Aliens Modeling air-dry clay that comes with an interactive instruction app to help kids mold all those cute and colorful extraterrestrial creatures.
6. An Educational Insights Circuit Explorer Rover for exploring the world of simple circuitry through buildable space-based vehicles and play sets. if your kid shows any interest in engineering or NASA then this is a must-get toy for them.
I had a chance to see this play set in all of its glory earlier this year at Toy Fair and I've been anxiously awaiting its release. It reminds me so much of space-related toys I grew up with like Robotix or Starcom. But these sets are next level and teach the very basics of building a circuit and, well, making things go! Can't wait until my son is old enough to play with these!
Get it from Amazon for $21.99.
7. A 50-sheet Little Biscuits Dress-Me Notepad with nine different and diverse illustrations so young fashion designers can hone their sartorial concept skills.
8. A two-pack of Pop Fidget llama sensory toys that kids will literally decompress in order to, well, decompress themselves if they're feeling stressed or anxious. Such a simple (and helpful) solution.
9. A Franklin Sports Grip-Rite junior rubber football for still-small hands to practice throwing all those tight spirals and making one-handed catches. Touchdown!
10. A glow-in-the-dark Crayola light-up tracing pad with 100+ traceable images so aspiring artists (and inkers) can hone their artistic skills via the medium of colored pencil.
11. A ThinkFun Gravity Maze falling marble logic game because kids love marbles and adults love when marbles are contained and aren't spilling out all over the floor.
12. An augmented reality interactive globe for exploring 1,000+ world facts (via an app) spread across categories like animals, cultures, monuments, inventions, maps, and cuisines of the world.
13. A ThinkFun Dog Crimes logic and brainteaser game with 40 canine-themed mysteries to solve, like "Who ate the homework" and "Who took a massive...," well, maybe not that one.
14. A 5,500-piece bucket of Perler beads — pieces of which you'll be finding around the house well into the kid's teen years — but hey, nothing combines arts and crafts with ironing quite like this.
15. An indoor/outdoor hanging seat hammock to give kids a peaceful place to escape to while enjoying the soothing swinging sensations from their own little above-ground nook.
16. A wear- and fade-resistant tramapoline, uh trampampoline, no, OK, a trampoline with a safety net so no one bounces out and takes a header into the backyard lawn. A 400-pound maximum load means the neighbor kids can join in too.
17. A National Geographic Mega Crystal Growing Lab that makes chemistry fun and colorful for the kiddies. Grow blue, pink, red, purple, green, orange, yellow, and teal crystals and make them glow with a night-light display.
Promising reviews: "My 6-year-old loved this. It's a great opportunity for hands-on science and teaching basic lab safety and techniques. We made one to two crystals at a time and improved our processes along the way. One batch we left for four weeks and they were a lot larger than the 7–10-day crystals so let some grow longer if your kids allow! Also, it comes with some sample gems and a small book on gems. My 6-year-old found it really interesting and brought the book and gems to school to share with her class. Great set. Highly recommend." —Sarah
Get it from Amazon for $39.99.
18. A multiplayer Super Mario Piranha Plant Escape! tabletop game where would-be plumbers roll the dice, move their character figures, and press the trigger button to see if Petey Piranha will randomly be eating some Italian for dinner.
19. A kids' origami kit that inlcudes 54 different paper projects (and luckily 55 pieces of paper) for nimble little fingers to learn the fine art of paper folding. Just be prepared for the migration of cranes that will soon be landing all over your home.
20. A vintage-style personalized initial cap with wool lettering because the kids are still young enough not to have the lifelong pain of your personal sports fandom fully inflicted on them just yet. "But daddddd, the Mets suck!"
21. A Popdarts suction cup throwing game to encourage players young and old to put down the screens and engage with some good old-fashioned family fun (and competition). There's no more satisfying sound than hearing on of these darts stick to a surface!
22. A pair of foldable, pop-up soccer nets with a carrying case so no matter the pitch, the kids will be able to practice or play some footie. Goallllll!
23. A five-pack 3D coloring puzzle set that's equals parts calming and chill (the coloring) and problem solving (the puzzling). And instead of putting the puzzle back into the box, kids can display their colorful works of art in their rooms.
24. An app-based Avengers Hero Inventor Kit so kids can go all Tony Stark (cause Iron Man was all about STEAM) and build their own wearable and programable gauntlet that emits lights and sounds, thus bringing new meaning to the phrase "Avengers, assemble!"
25. A Roblox Ninja Legends deluxe play set that puts the online gaming world of Roblox in the hands of lil' ninjas to build their favorite characters exactly how they want with an array of mix and match accessories.
26. A Whirly Board spinning balance board made from Canadian maple skateboard decks topped with grip tape for fun agility training (for kids and adults), especially for those future skaters of America!
27. A waterproof pair of walkie-talkies that includes two compass bracelets and 22 channels that work up to a 3-mile distance. This is a great "get-them-outdoors" type of prezzie. Over and out!
28. A Sabobatage bubble milk tea card game where kids act like a boba shop owner who's trying to make different drink sets of teas, flavors, and toppings. Just watch out for that health inspector card!
29. A durable, light-up-the-sky RC-controlled quadcopter drone with protective guards (no fingers getting sliced by the propellers) and one-click takeoff/landing so newbies can get a handle for flying/hovering right out of the box.
30. A Blackpink "Glow in the Hearts" lightstick that glows (in three different modes) to any song's (BP or otherwise) beat. K-Pop kids will love it, parents will pretend they know who Blackpink is.
31. A vinyl Organauts figurine to teach curious children about the organs of the human body with super fun (and kind of gross, but cute-gross) characters like Captain Aorta Hart (heart), Mr. Cortex (brain), Nom (stomach), and more!
32. A portable basketball hoop with a shatterproof backboard to defend against "Shaq attacks" that adjusts in increments of 6 inches from 7.5 to 10 feet to grow with the game and height of little hoopsters.
33. A soap and bath bomb making kit to save a trip to Bath & Body Works while teaching some chemistry to the kids. Mix citric acid, baking soda, Epsom salts, baby oil, coloring, and fragrances into molds to create some DIY bath time fun.
34. A Pokémon Carry 'N' Go volcano playset with an erupting volcano, winding whirlpool, and battle launchers that folds into a fashionable shoulder strapped carrying case complete with Poké Ball logo.
35. A KidKraft x Nerf Scout Geo Strike headquarters to create an actual base (or in this case, a geodesic dome) for all those backyard blaster battles. Potential bonus for parents: getting all those Nerf darts out of the house (for now).
36. An Uno "Nothin’ But Paper" card game made from fully recyclable materials (for the first time ever). Now kids can get as much enjoyment from helping Mother Earth as they do from dropping a Wild Draw Four card whenever they play.
Ages 7+
Promising review: "Soy-based inks, recycled content paper, no harmful chemicals and no plastic (well, except the Amazon envelope it came in — sadly). Exactly what we wanted for our family to play with!" —Borys & Lindsay
Get it from Amazon for $6.49.
37. A flying-off-the-shelves-faster-than-we-can type-this Squishmallows Food Squad plush stuffed toy that might become the modern-day version of Beanie Babies (so you can totally relate to a child's obsession with super-soft cuteness).
The reaction you'll when the kids open their gifts...
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Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.