Fun, Educational Toys for an 8 year old girl?
My oldest daughter just turned 8 last month and I am racking my brain trying to come up with some Christmas ideas. We have so many Barbies and Polly’s we just can’t handle anymore. She has an entire bookcase full of books and tons of craft projects. I want to get her some educational, but FUN toys, activities or projects. Nothing too mainstream like Webkinz (we are already owners of a few). Some original ideas would be great. Thanks!
My 8-year-old girl loves board games (mastermind, boggle, pictionary, battleship, monopoly, mexican train dominos, clue, etc.). Every year for Christmas I get her a bin full of art supplies (always one of her favorite presents) with things like special paper, cray-pas, markers, jagged scizzors, colored pencils, glitter glue, tracing paper, collage materials, wooden shapes for painting, etc. She also loves outdoor stuff (kite, roller blades, ice skates, jump rope, pogo stick, stuff like that). You could get a pet, even a little one like a fish, or something like an ant farm or caterpillars that your raise to butterflies. Does she have a watch? Craft stores also have clocks that you can decorate for her to keep in her room. My daughter loves Snap-Circuits, which has lots of projects for building different kinds of electrical circuits. Building toys are also good (beyond blocks, try the big sets of wedgits with the cards that you try to replicate). Those little puzzle games you find in Barnes and Noble are also great … I can’t think of names offhand but one is trying to get a guy across the river by figuring out the right way to move the planks, another is I think called “Rush Hour” where you have to figure out how to move all the cars out of the way of one another. On the electronic front, my kids have a kid-proof digital camera that they love, and we also have a simple Dance Dance Revolution that just plugs into the tv (you can also get ones for game systems) — it’s a very active video game that involves moving around a lot. A journal is also a good choice for that age. 8-year-olds might like latch hook, as well (the only craft I was ever able to learn!).
8 month old with AMAZING hand/eye coordination