The TKSST Gift Guide

My 13-year-old wanted to learn how to crochet, but when she tried on her own, she had trouble getting the stitches started. At some point, we ran into a Woobles amigurumi beginner kit at Blick, and after a few weeks of saving, she went back and got it.

For the next few days, she kept coming out of her room with more of it finished. They are cute and effectively instructive! And collectable. I’m tempted to get the dinosaur, which reminds me a wee bit of this.

Since the founder was on Shark Tank, there are lots of copycat kits, but you can find Woobles at Amazon, Blick, Woobles.com or in a local shop. And, of course, there’s a 21-project book!

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NEW ⬆️ My family is very into puzzle solving so this Turing Machine Punch Card Computer strategy and deduction game will be under our tree this year. It’s described as “a fascinating little puzzle game that feels like Sudoku dialed up to 11″ and has high ratings. Plus: Cracking codes? An analog computer? Punch cards? Potentially 7,000,000 problems to solve? And it’s award-winning? I’m in.

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Schleich animals are sturdy, detailed, high quality, and realistic. From sloths to llamas to elephants, gorillas, tigers, polar bears, this stunning blue whale, and our favorite T-Rex that we've had since 2013, and more. Our Schleich animals that have gone on wild adventures in our back yard, and are super charming sitting around the house. Highly recommended.

On the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids list and authored by a youth services librarian, Search for a Giant Squid is 96 pages of a choose your own adventure-style expedition to find a giant squid in the ocean's twilight zone. Pick a submersible, a pilot, and a dive site and you’re on your way to being a teuthologist. I love this! And it’s the first in a Science Explorers: Pick Your Path series that ages 6 to 11 will really enjoy. I can’t wait to see more!

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NEW ⬆️ Hokusai’s The Great Wave is transformed with this 3D LEGO Art set that you can hang on your wall. A stunning design, 15.5″ by 20.5″, made with 1,810 pieces. Want! 

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🔥POPULAR 🔥 “A Colorfully Cutthroat Card Game of Rainbows and Revenge...” "The simplicity of UNO and the depth of Gin Rummy...” and it’s a family game for ages 7+ from the makers of Exploding Kittens? Yes, please.

Mantis is easy to learn and play, and though it's simple, it's also fun and surprising because you can't predict how the scoring and stealing will pan out. The 5-star reviews agree.

As someone who grew up before smartphones, I want to make sure my kids stay connected with the outdoors more than screens. Enter The Secret Signs of Nature, a picture book with more than 200 tips for reading the clues and cues that our landscapes and skies provide.

This book is an incredible catalyst for seeing nature with new eyes. I also love that it helps kids gain confidence outdoors and practice their observation skills wherever they are.

Get this at Bookshop

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And for older readers and grown-ups: The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs.

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🔥POPULAR 🔥 It’s sort of a mash up of Pictionary (sans pictures) and Name That Tune... but add kazoos. Kazoo That Tune is all about music and some seriously needed silliness. Comes with four kazoos, a sand timer, and 200 songs including a good amount of contemporary picks. Very affordable and highly rated with lots of happy commenters. Perfect for parties and family fun. 

We got a 16 foot string of Govee LED Lights for each of our teens. Both opted to put them under their bunks and it’s completely transformed their bedrooms into colorful hangout spaces. We also put one in the inner ledge of our skylight to make a mini wannabe James Turrell installation. It turns on and off with sunset and sunrise, dimmed but still room shifting, and the kids pick a new color every season.

In 2019, I researched mini photo cameras and printers for weeks. Ultimately, I chose the brand new Fujifilm Instax Mini Link Smartphone Printer, above, and four years later, it's been a solid purchase for us. It’s highly rated, the hardware and software makes it fun for the kids to use, the Instax Mini Instant Film has a vintage feel but I have editing control in the app, and most importantly, it works with our iPhones and any photos we’ve already taken. Great at birthday parties or for thank you cards after, for photo books, and more. It comes in a few different colors, too. A moment of analog with the benefits of digital.

NEW ⬆️ Exoplanets: A Guide to the Worlds Outside Our Solar System is a fantastic addition to the wave of smart picture books that demystify real world science for kids—in this case, breakthrough discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics.

What is an exoplanet? And how did we already find 5,000 of them? Exoplanets distills the 5 main discovery methods, shares some of the newly found planets, and answers key questions for kids and grown ups alike.

Buy directly from Bushel & Peck

Buy from Amazon

One of our kids took off on a pedal bike within 5 minutes thanks to years of balance-biking around the neighborhood. Looking back, it was probably one of our best purchases, especially since the bike covered both kids. We didn’t hurt our backs bending to guide the pedaling, and it was a confidence-builder for both of them to boot.

If you’re in the market for a balance bike, the Strider 12" Sport Balance Bike for ages 18 months to five years old is at the top of everyone’s best-of-the-best list. It’s sturdy, well-designed, and comes in six colors. And it’s smart: You can add Strider’s Pedal Conversion Kit when your kiddo is ready.

The 12″ budget-friendly Classic for ages 18 months to three years, the silver, slightly lighter Pro, and the 14x for ages three to seven are also best-sellers.

NEW ⬆️ There’s a world of delicious foods out there; if only there were kid-friendly visual guides for them. Enter the awesome small biz team at Gloo Books.

Fruity sinh tố, crispy dosa, delicate bánh ướt, scrumptious dahi, comforting sundubu-jjigae, versatile silog, salty pinakbet, gooey hotteok, and my favorites: bibimbap and everything ube. Read about Vietnamese, Indian, Filipino, and Korean street foods, staple foods, comfort foods, yummy desserts, and more. Plus, learn a bit about when, why, and how they’re made.

These Very Asian Guides for ages 3+ are perfect for libraries, classrooms, and for food and cultural literacy at home. Highly recommended.

Get these at Gloo

When the kids were little, we would spend hours at our local science museum where we could build with Kapla blocks and set up marble runs. These Magnetic Marble Run components remind me a lot of the ramp pieces we’d hook into pegboards as we tested the marble’s path, adjusted, and tested again. It was a lot of fun and taught them so much about redesigning, trying new things, and fails = useful information.

This 150 piece set includes a motorized Archimedes' screw lift! There’s also a 75 piece starter set. Bonus: More marble-related ideas. 

We have three of Theodore Gray’s science and technology books, and they’re fantastic for all ages to explore. How Things Work will be an excellent 256-page addition to our collection this year. 

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It can be tough to find high-quality and sturdy electronics for kids, especially electronics that they use all the time... like headphones. This impressive wireless set from Puro Sound Labs is volume-limiting, an essential feature for kid eardrum-protection, and with Bluetooth and a cable included, you have options. They come in six colors and are highly recommended. Up to 18 hours of playtime and 200 standby hours, perfect for road trips, plane travel, and hanging out at home. Kids can listen to music or their favorite kid podcasts and audiobooks.

We also love Onanoff Kids Explore Foldable Headphones for ages 2-6 and JLab Audio JBuddies for ages 6-16.

I played with my spirograph constantly as a kid. My kids—screen-free at the time—drew these iconic mathematical patterns for years, too, so I highly recommended this precision anniversary edition in a collector's tin for ages 8+. Put on a podcast, place a pen in position, and spin the drawing disk for calm and classic afternoon.