9 Christmas Gifts for Kids that are Quarantined
Cool. Coolcoolcoolcoolcool, another month stuck inside in quarantine.
Cool. (c)NBC
How are you doing? How are the kids? What's been keeping everybody entertained since March? Are your kids thoroughly sick of their toys? Have they been overly spoiled by grandparents and uncles and aunts with a bunch of NEW toys rolling in all year, because there's nothing else to do but stay inside and play when there's a pandemic?
Impulse shopping has trended up, Amazon is increasingly convenient, and as parents, we're having a really hard time denying our kids whatever joy and fun they can get. Who cares if we're spoiling them at this point? Is it even spoiling, considering everything that's going on? We're pretty sure the typical rules of child spoilage are suspended during pandemics... we'll ask the World Health Organization. (They're not busy or anything.)
Now that the gift giving months are here, we suspect quite a few moms and dads are hard up for new and unique ideas for Christmas gifts for kids. Well, whether your kid already has everything OR you're so overly exhausted by *gestures vaguely to all of it* that you have no capacity left to be creative for the holidays, BooginHead is here to help. Check out our list of 9 Christmas gifts for kids of all ages! And only one of them involves screen time. Two involve lightsabers. Let's get to it.
Christmas Gifts for Kids #1: Jousting
For the family that wants to lovingly beat the crap out of each other, may we introduce you to this Jousting Set from HearthSong?
Engage those tiny cores!
Weather resistant so it's good for indoors and outdoors, inflatable so it's easy to pack away, and encourages physical interaction and fitness? Yes, please. The balance boards hold up to 300 pounds so parents get to join in the fun of bonking their kid over the head with a jousting lance. Did you know jousting is Maryland's state sport? Now you do.
Christmas Gifts for Kids #2: Art Easel
The name of the game with an art easel is STORAGE. You want art trays, you want art shelves, you want a wide stance - like this Wooden Kids Art Easel from TOP BRIGHT:
The feel, smell, and sound of chalk: essential childhood memories
It has an adjustable height to grow with your child, a chalkboard on one side, dry erase on the other, and a roll of paper on the top to pull down for kid painting projects. There's a big wide tray for art supplies and it's pretty lightweight, too! What's great about art easels is they require art supplies, which make great stocking stuffers and bonus gifts for kids.
Christmas Gifts for Kids #3: BooginHead High Chair Mat
Ok, ok, this one's not really for the kids, it's for you. If you're going to buy that awesome art easel you're setting yourself up for some glorious art and some glorious mess. You deserve to enjoy your kid's brilliant creations without worrying about the cleanup after.
Not today, paint.
Our SplatMat high chair mat can give you that peace of mind - it's extra large at 52" diameter and subtle, stylish patterns like marble swirl and grey chevron aren't babyish or cloying, making them a natural addition to art projects for any age child and any home decor. And if you have a baby, well! SplatMat is a fantastic high chair mat that goes under a child's chair at dinner and protects your floors from the mess. It's easy to clean, much easier to clean than the rug - just wipe it down with warm, soapy water and it's good as new.
Christmas Gifts for Kids #4: Virtual Reality (VR) Movement Games
If you already have a VR for a PlayStation, this is going to be an easy win. Have you heard of the game Beat Saber?
Watch Brie Larson and Jimmy Fallon play it!
Yes, it's a video game. Yes, the kids are maxed on screen time. But at least they're moving! And it is SO. FUN. It's fun to play, it's fun to watch others play, there's different difficulty levels for kids of all ages from Easy to Expert+, and has tons of beat-pumpin' songs that are all family friendly. The harder songs will make you sweat, for sure, and we could all stand to get our blood moving in the middle of winter, in the middle of a pandemic. This Christmas gift for kids is actually a Christmas gift for the entire family, we promise.
Christmas Gifts for Kids #5: Musical Instruments
If your kids already play instruments, you probably know how keen they are to mess around with other instruments they don't play. If your kids don't play instruments, there is no better time to spark their musical inspiration. You can get a Fender guitar and a ukulele surprisingly cheap these days, and look how FUN they are!
I've never had this much fun IN MY LIFE.
Ukuleles in particular are quick to pick up. Even the most musically uninterested kid may surprise you on Christmas morning when the big ukulele reveal is made. Music is a universal language, a shared art form in time, and unlocking its secrets is incredibly rewarding. And for so many kids, the opportunity to participate in making music just hasn't been there. Not many families have random ukuleles, recorders, harmonicas, panflutes, melodicas, zithers, or mbiras laying around! We recommend putting the music there and watching what happens next. Another great thing about ukuleles and other musical instruments - they need accessories like picks, music books, and tuners, so there's some more built in stocking stuffers for kids!
Christmas Gifts for Kids #6: Face Masks
At this point, your kids probably already have face masks. But do they have BooginHead's far superior and much cooler-looking face masks?
You can't see it, but there's a kid wearing a camouflage face mask in this photo #camouflage
When it comes to Christmas, are face masks the new socks? Maybe. But you need socks, and you need face masks. Personally we looooooove getting socks for Christmas (read about that and other unique stocking stuffers). Like socks in the 90's, face masks are a new way for kids to express their personality, to be a little different and a little fun. BooginHead face masks for kids are a perfect stocking stuffer - they come in a 2-pack so when one gets dirty (they're machine washable!) you've got a backup. These face masks are made from our safety-tested bandana baby bib fabric so they're 95% cotton and 5% spandex. Cotton is great for breathability, softness, and comfort, and the hand-designed patterns may have begun life as a baby bib, but how could you tell? Our face masks look good on any age and any face.
Available in Adult and Youth sizes!
Christmas Gifts for Kids #7: Punching Bag
This year has been exceedingly punchable, no? We're grown ups, and we just want to punch everything. Well, kids are experiencing emotions just as complex and powerful while doing the same things we have to deal with as adults, without the benefit of full grown and developed cerebral cortexes. We're both sitting in front of a computer all day, we both can't see our friends, we can't go to restaurants, we can't go to movies. And adults have a wider range of external coping mechanisms available to them, like a glass of wine at the end of the day, maybe some retail therapy... not so much our kids.
Get it all out, kid.
Enter: the punching bag. This punching bag from FIGOLO is 63 inches tall, freestanding, inflatable, and packs down small to fit into a backpack if you need to go get your punch on somewhere else. This year, give kids the Christmas gift of beating the hell out of something that's made to take it. And maybe, after the kids go to bed, you could give it a kick or two yourself.
Christmas Gifts for Kids #8: A Globe
Yes, a globe.
Let's face it - Americans aren't great at geography. The internet brings the entire world right into your home and because of that, the next generation of kids is much more global minded than any generation before, but that worldliness isn't translating into an understanding of the physical planet we live on. Luckily, there are some awesome new toys our there that gamify learning for younger kids, like the new LeapFrog Magic Adventures Globe.
...I wanna play with it
It's got videos from the BBC! Tap it anywhere with the stylus to hear thousands of facts about cultures, animals, habitats, and more! It's got a little screen to guide kids through games and activities, and only needs 4 AA batteries. It's never been more vital to understand our world and how everything and everyone works together. This is the kind of Christmas gift for kids that keeps on giving.
Christmas Gifts for kids #9: F**k it, Real Lightsabers
Lightsabers have come a long way, baby. Yes, extendable plastic lightsabers you fling out of the handle are still around for the younger kids just getting to know Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren. But for the older kids, the ones who grew up on Star Wars Prequels I, II, and III (and maybe for your older adults who fell in love originally with Star Wars IV, V, and VI) there's a whole wide world of LED lit, airplane-aluminum-machined, combat-ready lightsabers waiting for you.
There's one tiny hiccup in the lightsaber community you should be aware of - shipping times are long. Like, could be up to six months long. That's why we recommend Crimson Dawn's Mystery Boxes, which are pre-packaged hilts with sound and super-strong polycarbonate blades that are ready to go. Since it's a mystery box you won't get to choose your blade color or hilt style, but isn't that part of the fun? It will be a surprise for everybody on Christmas morning! And then take that blade outside and whack all the snow off the tress, because these suckers are durable. Did you know lightsaber combat is an actual sport with tournaments and training teams?
Learn something new everyday
And there you have it! BooginHead's best suggestions on Christmas gifts for kids, Christmas gifts for tweens, and Christmas gifts for teens stuck in quarantine. It's been a weird year, but there's still time to make it unique, special, and celebratory. Message us on social and let us know how it goes!
Be sure to check the BooginHead Blog for the baby stuff we love, updates on what we're up to, our philanthropic efforts, and more! We love to hear from you - chat us on Instagram or Facebook or email us at info@booginhead.com with products you love or any questions you have.
