Christmas Gift Ideas For Kids | Funkidivagirl.com

It is a personal conviction of mine that I stay out of Toys R Us during the Christmas season as much as possible. I do not find that place fun at all and shopping for kids’ gifts should be fun! Now that my daughter has too many Barbie Dolls for one person and a whole world for them that includes tons of clothes, 2 cars, a mobile home and a townhouse taller than her, I have no reason to set foot in there. Hopefully, never again.

If you are looking for gifts for the children in your life, here’s a few fun and funki gifts that will make them happy and give you mad cool points as well. And you will not have to step one tiny toe into Toys R Us.

Chicken Socks and Klutz activity books are always a go-to gift item for me; the activities are fun and creative and keep kids occupied for a long time. And they are consumable–meaning that there is not a “thing” to take up more space in the toy box. These books are especially nice to give a kid who is going on a vacation soon; I promise the parents will thank you for this. Besides the Klutz website, you can find them at Target, bookstores like Barnes & Noble or Borders and on Amazon.com. A couple of my daughter’s favorites were Hand Art, Amazing Lacing and Clothespin Cuties.

Just because I hate Toys R Us, doesn’t mean I hate all toy stores; I love going to boutique toy stores. Here in Atlanta my favorite store is The Toy Store, but Learning Express is in many cities. Often found on “Main Streets” or in the trendy part of town, I’m sure that you have a boutique toy store in your city; check it out. These toy stores often have tons of great art supplies, interesting games and toys that really spark creativity and imagination in children. Last year I got Fashion Angels for my daughter and she spends many hours designing fashionable clothes for these contemporary paper dolls.

Anthropologie is another favorite place of mine to buy unique gifts for kids. My daughter and I have matching aprons from Anthropologie and I think this would be a great gift to give a sister and niece.

For her birthday last year I bought my daughter a wonderfully creative coloring book at Anthropologie that she loves and will be perfect for any child who likes to color outside the lines.

When my nephew was born I bought him the softest stuffed animal that I have ever felt; there are several different animals that would be a perfect gift for a baby.

The book series This is____ is great to give a child who lives in that city or will be visiting there soon. I bought This is New York for my daughter before our trip to New York last summer and it was fun reading about New York’s history.

Anthropologie really has many great books for children; the other day my daughter and I saw a fascinating pop-up book, Birdscapes, that would make a great gift. Not only were the pop-up pages amazing, but the book makes bird sounds!

If the kids in your life are like mine, they have way too much stuff. Santa Claus brings my kids a few gifts that they really want and then I try to encourage family members to give them only 1 gift each and if at all possible, something that is not a toy. Family Memberships to local attractions are perfect for this and most can be purchased online. My mother-in-law gave my daughter a family membership to Zoo Atlanta for her birthday one year and we used it all the time. Since the zoo here in Atlanta is very expensive ($15 per person!), this was a great gift and allowed us to pop in even just for a hour to watch the animals. If a local art museum has a children’s area or art workshops for kids, this would make a great membership as well. The High Museum here in Atlanta has Toddler Art every Thursday and before my daughter was in school every day, we used our membership every week. Even now my family frequently goes to the museum on the weekends for art workshops, to see new exhibits or participate in special events. A couple of years ago my husband’s uncle gave our family a membership to the Georgia Aquarium and we enjoyed that so much. If there is a children’s museum, science center, zoo, art museum, aquarium or botanical garden in the city where your niece, nephew or godchild lives, this is a great gift to give that lasts all year long and that the whole family can enjoy.

I hope that I have made your seasonal shopping a little easier and a lot more fun! And while you are at Anthropologie, pick up a little something for yourself as well; you deserve it for being such a great gift-giver!