The 2012 Smarty Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by Toys & Co in Cotswold and Park Road Shopping Center. Find everything on Santa’s list at Toys & Co! And, they will wrap every gift BEAUTIFULLY and oh-so-expertly. They are the toy experts so they will help you source a gift if you are not sure what to get.
This age bracket is the MOST fun! There are so many cool things for kids this age – and the best part is there’s no more huge plastic toys like in the baby stage. Smarty Wendy Bentien and I loved putting this list together. Make sure to add your ideas in the comment section below!
And don’t forget to keep checking back all week for our toy giveaway extravaganza!!!
American Girl Dolls and Accessories. I don’t know many girls in this age bracket who wouldn’t be thrilled to get an American Girl with some accessories. Choose from a historical doll, Girl of the Year (McKenna), or a My American Girl. The age range on this is 8+, and I truly believe that’s about the age they get the most out playing with these dolls.
If your daughter is a little younger, you might want to try the Our Generation girl dolls from Target. They are the same size and remarkably well made. One Smarty Mama had Santa write a little note to her daughter that said if she could take good care of this doll then maybe next year she would be ready for a real American Girl doll the next year. The best part is that they sell for around $25 compared to the $100 AG.
Pillow Pets Dream Lites – A snuggly night light.
Crayola Light Designer– Drawings magically light up on a 3 dimensional surface and are created from light. No mess and no clean up – love that!
Expandable Art File: Help keep your young budding artist nice and organized. She will love to flip back through her works of art.
Duck Tape Designer – Duck tape isn’t just for your fix it tool box anymore. It comes in every color from camouflage to fluorescent pink. Kits come ready to design purses, bracelets and wallets. Great rainy day activity.
Boo Stuffed animal and book – This little dog has the cutest face ever. The companion book has pictures of Boo doing everything from eating nachos to going for a walk in the rain.
Baby Butterscotch Pony – Makes real horse noises and you won’t need to buy any hay or shovel horse poop.
Lego Friends – Finally Legos for girls. They can build on to make their own little city. Very cool. But has the notoriously tiny pieces so if you have younger siblings in the house make sure you keep track of them.
Tenzi Game – The worlds fastest game. The object of the game is to get all 10 dice to show the same number.
Lava Lamps – What’s old is new again. Still as fascinating as ever.
Spot it Game – Fast paced observation game for the whole family. Comes in a handy travel-sized tin
Sports paraphenalia – Carolina Panthers jerseys (Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams are popular!), or your favorite pro or collegiate team. Also a “regulation” football or basketball is great for this age because up until now they’ve probably had smaller versions of the real thing.
Sport Guys – These come in a variety of sports – soccer, football, hockey, etc. HUGE favorite in our house.
Nike and Under Armour – Seriously, boys are just as logo-conscious as girls! Anything with a Swoosh or the Under Armour logo is going to be appreciated. Nike Elite basketball socks are huge with this age group (hard to find though!), and Under Armour hoodies are a great way to stay warm and be cool at the same time. Omega and Dick’s have a good selection of both brands!
Legos – always a hit. Popular Legos are Star Wars, Monster Fighters 1, Ninjago, and City.
Nerf Firevision Sports Football – No sunlight? No problem. Put on the FIRE FRAMES eyewear and turn on the switch to see this awesome football soar. Set includes one FIREVISION SPORTS football and two pairs of FIRE FRAMES eyewear.
Air Hogs Battle Tracker – Engage in an interactive battle between the disc firing heli and the missile firing robot, have the turret track attack the helicopter automatically or manually, or fly the heli into position and shoot up to seven rapid-fire discs to claim victory!
Pogo Sticks – Surely all that jumping will help them with sports.
Rip Stick – My son (now 7) got this from Santa last year, and he worked on it for 3 months before he actually figured it out. Now he (and my 8 yr-old daughter) are pros at it. Definitely a must-have for this age!
Monster Truck Custom Shop – Boys can show off their creativity without glitter and sequins!
Game of Life – Kind of complicated but great for the older kids in this age range
Twister Dance Game – This looks FUN. Might have to steal this for my next adult party.
Power Balance Bands – Cool ways to express their personal style – they come in bright yellows and greens, etc. Find them locally at Dick’s.
Electronics: IPod Touch 5 (and a cool case to go with it!), XBox 360, and Wii U.
Razor scooters, Electric Razor scooters, and the Razor PowerWing Caster Scooter – Our garage is going to go from the stroller graveyard to the scooter graveyard, but can I get to Target on my kids’ electric scooter if Santa brings it to them?
Remote Control Vehicles – This remote control John Deere is super cool.
Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle – LOVE anything Imaginext and this castle is the bomb.com.
A pet guinea pig or fish – this is a great age to try out some responsibility for a small pet!
Want more ideas? Visit the website for Toys & Co. ! They have a perfect list of toys listed by age. Genius?! This adorable store is local and fun to shop at and play in.
3 comments
been so excited for this list w/ 3 boys in this range. fun to see all their big requests here (right down to the socks – which makes me laugh/never would have expected)
Best age and so fun to buy for! Love everything!
Yeah!!! Legos!!! Never get enough of them!