There are so many gifts to choose from but it has never been so difficult to decide on the right gifts for your child at Christmas. However, we are also in an era in which parents have more information than ever before and, if we want, we can use it to improve our criteria and choose well.
As each age is accompanied by a different maturing moment, we propose some ideas so that your gift is also an opportunity for growth.
At each stage, a corresponding gift. Take note of these proposals!
01. Musical Instruments (1 year old)
If your baby is around the year old, one of the gifts for your child at Christmas that he/she will surely enjoy is the kit of musical instruments for children.
It mainly consists of percussion with drums, tambourines and varied rattles with fillings composed of small pieces that emit different noises when shaken in the air. The xylophone is usually the star thanks to the musicality of its sound that delights the little ones.
A great way to accompany their discovery of music without requiring great skill on their part playing.
02. Magnetic Blackboard (2 years old)
One way to help them discover the world is by letting them freely capture the interpretation of everything that surrounds them through drawing. And to avoid that they eat the coloring waxes, the use of the magnetic boards is one of the most useful (and clean) options so that they can start making their first drawings.
It consists of a magnetized (and framed) surface that is usually accompanied by a pencil with a magnet on the pointer. When you slide it on the surface, the strokes appear in another color, which can be easily erased with a bar that slides from side to side. Sometimes it also includes other magnets with geometric shapes to give the board more play.
In any case, if you choose to give your child one, you will see him painting frequently and in turn developing motor skills with the use of a pencil.
03. A Bicycle Without Pedals (3 years old)
As time goes by, your child is becoming more aware of his own body and gaining more physical ability. It is the ideal time to take the step towards the discovery of the wheel bicycle without pedals.
And why give a bike without pedals? Because it is an ideal way for him/her to begin to gain balance and thus make the natural transition (when the time comes) to the bicycle with pedals without the need of support wheels!
04. Kitchen Set With Molding Paste (4 years old)
During the 4 years, your child is beginning to understand the world of adults and the imitation of everyday activities as part of their learning. The kitchen, that place from which everything that he/she eats, becomes one of the places that most arouse his/her curiosity. Why not give him/her the possibility to start making his/her own dishes?
There are some kitchen sets that bring a soft clay to the touch to mold with which you can make cakes, spaghetti and at the same time develop creativity, internalize models of the functioning of adults and reinforce the motor.
05. Games to Train Skill, Self-Control, and Patience (5 years old)
At this age, one of the most reinforcing parts of children is their capacity for self-control, since, in order to progress in many new aspects, this is very necessary.
Some games, such as fishing toy fish with a magnet using a fishing rod, serve to train that skill which requires concentration and patience. Stacking pieces challenging the balance to build a tower, for example, are also very useful.
Having this type of games as an option is a great help when you are not sure what gift to buy to your child.
06. Tablet (6 years old)
Today, the exposure of our children to smartphones, tablets, and computers is inevitable, since they are born, all these devices are part of our daily gestures. But if we have had a minimum of good sense, we will have tried at least to postpone to the maximum the moment of giving them to use it.
However, we can not live with our backs to reality and that is that digital screens are going to be part of our daily life and children should be allowed to become familiar with their use. Of course, always under our supervision and with an adequate use that does not limit their interaction with the rest of the world. That is, always establishing hours of use.
07. Games for One and for Sharing (7 -9 years old)
Between the ages of 7 and 9, both the most introspective curiosity and the most connected sociability with the people around them, the children are fed by experiences that allow them, on the one hand, to satisfy their desire to investigate and explore the world, and the other to relate and share with others.
Therefore, it is perhaps one of the best stages to introduce board games that create new opportunities to enjoy with family and friends, as well as others who can use them alone (with adult supervision) to let their desire to explore like magic games, those of chemical experiments, of the creation of crystals or those of archeology.
08. Virtual Reality and Role-Playing Games (10 – 12 years old)
If your child is between 10 and 12 years old, you will have noticed that adolescence is approaching. We will stop talking about children as such and it will be time to face a new and complex stage in which the gifts for your child will be different. But the changes happen gradually so that their awakening to all new experiences that come begins with an approach, which they see as the world of adults.
Role-playing games offer a new dimension since it requires a series of more complex skills for which their level of maturity begins to be at the height, being also a new way to socialize with other kids with similar interests to theirs.
at the end
On the other hand, we will incorporate a new element: virtual reality. Before this age, there may be a risk that the immersive capacity of the use of virtual reality glasses will act counterproductively in the development of the child’s social skills, by isolating him too much from his surroundings and plunging him into a world in which it can be possible.
It may be time to incorporate this element to provide realism to some games, but yes, supervising its use from a cautious and critical view.