Holiday Guide: Last minute gifts for kids that foster life skills!

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Yikes,people! Less than a week before Christmas. It’s last minute scrambling to get the gifts for the kids. I love gifts that are practical,foster  imaginative play and teaches life skills. Below are some of my recommendations of the best practical toys for the kids that are all of these.You can get all these before Christmas if you become an Amazon Prime member. They offer a 30 day free trial. Try the trial, buy the gifts and cancel your membership. These info are as of December 20th. If you order your gifts December 24, most likely you will not get it before Christmas. Unless you got a Christmas miracle.

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Gifts that teaches life skills!

Melissa & Doug Let’s Play House Dust! Sweep! Mop! 6-Piece Pretend Play Set

Yes, you can just let your kids use the ones you have at home, but these are perfect size for little hands. Having a set for the kiddos also let them to clean along with you so you could discreetly clean the little crumbs they left behind.

Melissa & Doug Cutting Fruit Set – Wooden Play Food Kitchen Accessory

I personally love this cutting fruit set. It’s great for muscle strengthening, eye hand coordination, and teaching kids about parts and whole. Not to mention hours of endless pretend play.

My 18 months have been playing with dining set since 6 months and my 5 year old still love to serve me “dinner” with the same dining set. These are one of those toys that can definitely grow with your kids because as they age so do their imagination and the same dining set can become something totally new. To my 18 month old these make great musical instruments. He also loves to transfer water back and forth between the cups and bowls. You know what else is great about these dining set? They are dishwasher safe!

A shopping car is another toy that will last you through the years. Not to mention you can use it as storage when the kids are not playing with it. You can also bring this cart with you shopping at Target so your kid doesn’t push your cart all the time. Hopefully, he doesn’t put all the toys in it!

StarPack Nylon Kitchen Knife Set (3 Piece) – The Perfect Kids Knife, Lettuce Knife and Safe Kitchen Knife

These are real knives that are safe for kids to cut real food, but don’t cut their skin. Great starter knives. My sons are getting these for Christmas since they love helping me cook.

Learning Tower Kids Adjustable Height Kitchen Step Stool with Safety Rail 

The learning tower is so wonderful for our household. It allows the kids to safely stand while prepping dinner or washing the dishes. We built ours from an Ikea step stool, but this one from Little Partner is great cause the height is adjustable.

Compact Sewing Machine

This machine is great for kids learning how to sew. It’s light, has 10 built-in stitches, and has a guard to protect little fingers from sharp needle. Pair this with a sewing kit and they’re set to sew anything they want. For younger kids, adult supervision is needed and maybe the kid can help with one step of the sewing. When my son was a year old, he would just watch the needle move up and down. That was the most exciting part of his day. And when he got older, I would let him step on the pedal.

 

There are so many more practical gifts, but these are the ones that I personally love for my kids.

What am I missing from my guide that you feel will be great as a practical gift for kids to learn life skills?

Happy last minute shopping.

Ngoc