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. A Craft-tastic "Make a Fox Friend" kit if your child wants to learn the basics of sewing while putting together a full wardrobe of clothes and accessories for this fantastic (and fabulous) little fox stuffie. No special tools or additional supplies are needed so this makes a great all-in-one gift!
2. A 75-piece, lenticular "Cats Big and Small" puzzle where the image transforms from cute house cats to even cuter big kitties of the Panthera genus.
3. A wooden block jigsaw puzzle because your Gameboy hasn't worked in decades and this could be the most hands-on way to teach the kids how to play Tetris.
4. A kids' origami kit that includes 54 different 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.
5. A wooden painting project where they can glue the frame together and choose exactly where they place the included pieces. Then after it dries, it's time to get painting!
6. A 100-piece domino creations game set to teach kids the patient (and time-consuming) art of building complex domino arrangments like a pro.
7. A 12-sided fidget toy (aka a Dodecagon) with gears, buttons, a joystick, switch, stress balls, and more for keeping fingers (and more importantly the mind operating those fingers) unstressed and focused.
8. A 60-piece pack of rainbow scratch paper to scratch that creative itch (in a truly colorful way) while keeping the (front of) the refrigerator well stocked with kiddo's latest artistic endeavor.
9. A totally Cretaceous,150-piece Triceratops dinosaur jigsaw puzzle that's just a bit more challenging than your regular rectangular-shaped puzzles.
10. A magic bean garden kit to make it super easy for kids to earn their green thumb — either from painting the pot or planting the seeds that reveal a "secret" message. Give them the gift of horticulture!
11. A "Silly Poopy's Hide & Seek" game (from the makers of What Do You Meme?) that actually involves hiding a fake plastic poo that talks and gives clues to its whereabouts.
John Mihaly / BuzzFeed
You know when your brain tells you, "This might be a bad idea!" but your gut tells you "Nah, this is going to be hilarious! Maybe." Luckily, my gut was right this time. Silly Poopy is beyond silly and not poopy at all. It is indeed a poop-ton of fun for the whole family thanks to its infectious song that sounds like it was taken straight from a '70s game show. Best of all, my kid loves it and hopefully, this is the only poop he tries to hide around the house.
Get it from Amazon for $12.99.
12. A personalized ABC bead set boasting 1,000+ tiny beads and charms so creative kids can make their own bracelets, beaded braids, and even a beaded alphabet keychain. You can't "bead" that for the price!
13. A "Make a Mosaic Letter" craft kit for creating some truly colorful, unique, and personal(ized) artwork sure to hang in their room for many years to come.
14. A 5,500-piece bucket of Perler beads that you'll be finding around the house well into the kid's teen years — but hey, nothing combines arts, crafts, and ironing quite like this.
15. A Grouch Couch game for teaching children the importance of never losing the remote control! But seriously, they're going to love this seat. (Get it, loveseat?)
16. A just-the-right-size 100-piece glow-in-the-dark unicorn puzzle that's double the fun because once it's fully put together, it's time to hit the lights for an added treat.
17. A five-pack 3D coloring puzzle set, which is equal parts calming (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.
18. A Jenga wooden block stacking game that comes in a handy tube-shaped package (for easy storage and portability) for one player (or many more). You can just hear the sound of those wooden blocks falling over, can't you?
19. A build-and-paint birdhouse and wind chime kit to create some colorful new real estate opportunities for the aviary community in your backyard. Precut and slotted wooden boards make assembly easy for your crafty kiddos.
20. A handmade rainbow unicorn craft kit that gets right to the point when it comes to colorful and creative fun for the whole family. This is one of those crafts that they'll want to keep forever!
21. A 2-in-1 wooden dinosaur puzzle and stacking toy for developing some of that oh-so-important hand-to-eye coordination. It also comes with a storage bag (these Montessori toys think of everything).
22. 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 food for dinner.
23. A make-your-own kit of four pet suncatchers to let the light shine on their latest artistic endeavor (and this one doesn't have to go on an already packed refrigerator door).
24. A colorful, 50-piece Educational Insights "Design & Drill Patterns & Shapes" set for really drilling home those fine motor skills and introducing the kiddos to the world of home repair. Also very relaxing!
25. 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.
26. A D&D "Dragons of Stormwreck" Isle starter set introducing future members of the Hellfire Club to the classic fantasy roleplaying adventure game. Ideal for newbies on their first quest but also fun for parental Dungeon Masters too. Alexa, play "In The Garage" by Weezer!
Amazon
For ages 12+.
Includes a 48-page adventure booklet, 32-page rulebook for playing characters of levels 1–3, 5 ready-to-play characters (each with a character sheet), and 6 polyhedral game dice.
Promising review: "We have been playing D&D for years and we love playing new adventures. I found this starter kit and ordered immediately. After reading through and getting it set up to start, it will be very fun. One of our group always wants to talk to every new group or creature we come across. It's always fun and interesting how some adventures is more talking and some are more fighting and you never know what you are going to get...sorry no spoilers." —knightslady
Get it from Amazon for $19.82.
27. A Disney Princess necklace activity set featuring five rubber character charms and colorful beads for creating necklaces worthy of royalty (or at least the animated kind).
28. A Connect 4 Spin Game that takes the classic (you know, get four colored discs to line up vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) but adds the new challenge of having to literally spin each column every time they drop a piece. Family game night just got more fun, stressful, challenging; you take your pick, maybe all three.
29. A 3D skyline puzzle because an interest in international architecture has to start somewhere. Let that somewhere be right at home with these scale models featuring the most iconic locales of their respective cities. Best part? These can take up to three hours to put together!
What the kids won't be saying under your roof once they receive one of these games, crafts, or puzzles...
