I don’t have any children of my own, but becoming an uncle to my niece and nephew has been one of the great joys of my life. As a 40-something who still likes to play games and occasionally collect figurines, spending time with them lets me temporarily step back into childhood and forget about the stresses that plague my adult life. Visiting them with a bag full of goodies to keep them (and me) entertained has become a form of self-care for me.
As I started to consider what to gift them for the holidays this year, I also had to take stock of what I have already given them. With that in mind, I took some of those items along with some new offerings to compile this list for any other uncles, aunts, grandparents or parents who may need a little advice. Take it from the fun uncle, these are the presents the kids in your life will still be playing with long after the holidays are over. In fact, you may want to bookmark this page for when their birthday comes along too!
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Polly Pocket has been keeping kids entertained since the ’80s and with a movie reportedly in the works, she’ll be here for a while longer. The Unicorn Partyland set comes with 30 pieces, including two dolls. There are also a few surprises we won’t spoil here.
The object of the game is to build the grossest ice cream cone by guessing which card will be flipped next. The Best Worst Ice Cream has a basic premise that’s easy to learn for younger kids and providing plenty of laughs in the process.
The ever-growing collection of plushies is about to get bigger (and smarter). Kids will be on the edge of their seats waiting to see which colorful animal hatches from the plastic egg. Once born, the interactive stuffed toy will talk, eat, play games and more. Each Hatchimal has over 100 sounds and reactions.
As an uncle, introducing my niece and nephew to the world of Nintendo, specifically Mario, has been a complete and total joy even though their parents don’t love their new video game obsession. When it’s time to take a break from the screens, we bust out their Mario Kart Hot Wheels racers and have them compete on this Rainbow Road playset.
Charm bracelets are trendy again and the Halo Charms set comes with everything your little loved one needs to create three pieces to show off on their wrists. Make It Real is known for creating craft kits that are fun for the whole family and over 200 reviewers agree that this jewelry set is no exception.
Forget RC cars! What kids really want is to take control of Godzilla, King of Monsters. This action figure roars and releases heat-ray breath as kids control his movement. Grab the Mega Punching Kong toy as well to set up the most epic battle to go down in the play room.
This activity managed to keep my niece and nephew busy for hours creating colorful little stickers and suncatchers. The Big Gem Diamond Painting set is a mess-free craft kit that comes with 14 designs for kids to color in using shimmery jewels.
You can’t always bring the kids to the playground sandbox, but this toy lets you bring the sandbox to them and wherever they go. Kinetic Sand is one of the most popular kids toys among HuffPost readers and this Sandyland set comes with two pounds of sand and molds to create candy-themed shapes.
Parents with kids of a certain age will tell you just how much Disney’s “Descendants: Rise of Red” has taken over their screens. The dolls inspired by the movie are being mentioned in a lot of letters to Santa this season, so you should grab this Queen Cinderella while its still in stock.
The whole letter and number combo in traditional Bingo can be boring for kids. Zingo! is a race to fill up your card with tiles that help young ones with memory, vocabulary and spelling. No game collection is complete without it.
Hide & Seek is already fun, but getting this beloved TV character involved takes it to a whole new level. Players take turns hiding Bluey around the house and the toy sporadically makes noises to help guide seekers to his secret location. There’s even a little dance party once he’s found.
Put away the crayons and markers and pick up the stampers that reveal adorable animals once the project is complete. The Stamp To Reveal set comes with three posters and everything a child needs to uncover the colorful portraits hidden within.
Kids who go wild for anything with wheels will love moving their toy cars through this shark-themed playset. The set comes with a special color-revealing vehicle which changes once it gets wet going through the shark’s mouth. Additional color-reveal cars can be purchased separately.
Like so many iconic toys from our childhood, the Toniebox has become one of those items kids today will look back on and remember fondly. Place a figurine on top of the box and the speaker starts playing a story that goes along with the character that was placed on it. They have figures from Disney, “Paw Patrol” and so many other shows and movies kids love. This box comes with Stitch, Tigger, and Woody from “Toy Story”.
Kids love sweet stuff almost as much as they love to make art. The 3Doodler Chef 3D candy pen combines both activities into one. Usually kids are told not to play with their food, but that’s exactly the point of this gadget, which can also be used to decorate cookies and other baked goods.
Keep them busy while they’re staying up late to catch a glimpse of Santa in his sleigh by having them build one of their own. The set is 343 pieces and comes with everything they’ll need to build the sleigh including a Santa figurine, reindeer and some gifts.
They’ll be having their dessert all hours of the day with Melissa & Doug’s popular Scoop & Serve Ice Cream Counter. The set comes with eight wooden scoops of ice cream and all of the additional fix-ins that one would expect to find at their neighborhood parlor. The best part? It doesn’t melt.
Players are expected to accomplish various challenges before passing the chicken to the next person in this Hot Potato-inspired game. Be warned, this game can be a little physically demanding but its always riotous fun for the whole family.
Us grown-ups may never understand the point of Skibidi Toilet, but when a viral YouTube series becomes popular enough to inspire a line of toys its time to pay attention. With over 44.4 million subscribers, the creators of this bizarre series have a stronghold on middle school kids all over. Each toilet has a head that pops out and a few surprises that are different in each package. You don’t have to understand it to gift it.
If their bed time routine involves a story, this set of four Choose Your Own Adventure books will win them over as they make decisions that affect how the story plays out. With so many choices spread over each of the stories, this collection will provide hours of entertainment before sending them off to dream land.
If you’re on the hunt for a gift with an educational twist, WipalaBox is it. The brand currently has two boxes to choose from, each offering a book, stickers and other items to teach children about indigenous communities around the world. The current boxes being offered include info on the Maasai peoples of Tanzania and the Embera Chami peoples of Colombia.
