Buying a gift for a child who falls into the 5 to 7 range is generally not too hard. Kids of this age have definite interests and opinions on what they like and don’t like. This is also the age that they are most interested in toys. The biggest problem when shopping for this age range is that there is SO much selection that it is difficult to choose just one thing.

Here are our top picks for all the best holiday toy and gift ideas for 5, 6 and 7 year old children:

Artistic/Creative

Kids ages 5 to 7 are getting more control over their fine motor skills so the types of crafts they can do can get a bit more interesting.

For the last few years Minecraft has probably been the biggest thing for kids to come along in a while. This year the Minecraft merchandise has really gotten rolling and has started to catch up with the demand for anything Minecraft related. This Minecraft Papercraft Overworld Deluxe Set is sort of neat it you know a child who just can’t get enough Minecraft but maybe you don’t want them spending so much time in front of a screen. It is basically paper blocks made out of card stock- stay with me here, I know it doesn’t sound that great- but your kids will spend hours assembling it and playing with it. It is really fun for this age.

The DohVinci Style & Store Vanity Design Kit is made by the Play Doh people (Doh Vinci get it?). It a vanity that you child can personalize to suit their own style. It uses a 3-D styling compound that let kids make cool designs on it and if they mess up they can just wipe it off and start again because it doesn’t dry right away.

Kinetic Sand – Sandbox & Molds Activity Set the sand art kits are kind of a big thing with kids over the last few years. They can be a bit messy so don’t buy this for a child who has clean freak parents or they won’t be too happy with you. Otherwise kids really like this stuff, it 98% sand, 2% Polymers and those Polymers really make this stuff great and fun to play with.

Musical

A wonderful gift for a 5-7 year old child is a musical instrument. There are lots of beginner instruments available at toy stores that are made for kids that aren’t very good quality, they don’t sound or look that good and will break or fall apart easily. For a bit more money you can get some really well-made Junior Drum Sets ,Mini Guitars or Mini Keyboards that are basically small versions of the real thing. These are so much better than what you buy in a toy store and will last much longer and will hopeful spark a lifelong interest in music for the lucky kids who get them as presents.

Technology

WowWee Tipster Toy would make a great first robot for any kid. It has 5 play modes (stacking, balancing, building, free play, or tricks) and a remote and a guide for the interactive activities that your kids can do with Tipster. You can stack things on Tipster before the music stops or you can watch it do tricks. It is pretty impressive for the price.

Zoomer Dino is an interactive dinosaur that moves like a real dinosaur, and can tell when you’re interacting with him. He will react to being stroked and touched. It’s a pretty cool toy because it can get angry, spin around, chomp and roar at you. It also performs tricks and will follow you around.

Fun

LEGO is an easy choice as a gift for most kids, the hard part is trying to figure out what set to get. For Lego Friends I like the LEGO Friends Jungle Tree Sanctuary. If you want more of a holiday theme to your gift you can try out the LEGO Advent Calendars. These are pretty cool, the most popular one is the LEGO City Advent Calendar but you can also get a LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar or even a LEGO Friends calendar. The idea is that you countdown to Christmas by opening up the advent calendar each day of the month of December and you will find different LEGO mini figures, assorted accessories and mini builds.

Kids who love outdoor play will love the Stomp Rocket Jr. Glow Kit that lets kids stomp on a rocket launcher to shoot a rocket into the sky.

If the child you are buying for loves butterflies or insects there is a super cool butterfly kit called Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden that gives kids the opportunity to observe butterflies through every stage of their lifecycle. Children ages four and up can observe five real caterpillars eat and grow to form their chrysalis and then emerge as Painted Lady butterflies. Children will love feeding the butterflies in their included observation habitat and then releasing them into the wild.

Educational

If you are looking for an educational and fun to play game that will help with addition and subtraction you could try the board game Sum Swamp Addition and Subtraction Game. This game gives a great introduction to addition and subtraction in a fun way.
For kids who are starting to get into science you can’t go wrong with a science kit. A kit that we have tried and really like is the POOF-Slinky 0SA221 Scientific Explorer My First Mind Blowing Science Kit. This kit helps kids to explore and learn the basics of science from chemical reactions to the use of basic science tools.

Another educational toy that is pretty cool for this age is Roominate, which is a DIY wired dollhouse building kit for kids ages 6 and up. This kit lets kids wire up circuits to make parts of a room or a dollhouse move and light up. Roominate is part of the neat trend that includes Goldie Blox and littleBits that are products created by young female engineers who are trying to get girls interested in science, technology and engineering.

Board Games

This is an age where you can start getting into board games that are a little more complex and that are fun for adults to play as well. Qwirkle is a super popular gift that anyone ages 6+ can play. It has one lots of awards and is great for helping kids develop strategy and critical thinking skills. Another classic game that is good to help kids develop problem solving and critical thinking skills is for this age is ThinkFun Rush Hour Jr.

If you are looking for something a little different try ThinkFun Zingo this game teaches image and vocabulary recognition, matching, memory, concentration, and social interaction.

Another game that is fun, quick and easy for kids this age to play is the strategy-building game Sequence for Kids.

Good Books for Kids Ages 5, 6, and 7

  • Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
  • The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
  • Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and Macky Pamintuan
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
  • The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
  • The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
  • Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
  • Ivy and Bean Series Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall

More great gift ideas for birthday and Christmas for kids ages: 2, 3 and 4, 8, 9 and 10,

12.