Looking for gift ideas for preschoolers? We’ve got you covered! See our 2020 picks for fun gifts to keep little kids learning and engaged, despite a pandemic. Whether you have a 3-year-old, 4-year-old or 5-year-old, below are plenty of options to add to your holiday shopping list this Christmas!
I received product samples to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.
The Best Gifts for Preschoolers in 2020
We know this year of isolation and increased time indoors has been tough for parents of small children especially. That’s why this year’s holiday gift ideas focus on the best preschool toys and games that promote creativity, independence, and simple, pretend play at home. All toys that help make a stressful time a bit more manageable.
Ready to shop? Find all these gifts for preschoolers HERE.
Cry Babies, Goodnight Coney
For an adorable toy doll your little one can cuddle up to at bedtime, try Cry Babies — dolls that cry real water tears just like a baby when the pacifier comes out. But no need to worry, your toddler or preschooler can provide easy comfort by cuddling the doll or popping the pacifier back in!
Goodnight, Coney is one popular doll from the Cry Babies collection to help your child fall asleep at night. The doll features:
- A soft body with super soft pajamas
- Light-up LED tears when you take away her pacifier
- Face lights up with a soothing glow when you give pacifier back
- Plays 5 sweet lullabies for up to 10 minutes
- Makes realistic baby sounds
An adorable way to help your little ones prepare for a new baby sibling or learn gentle play.
Recommended for ages 18 and up, but we love it for both toddlers and preschoolers alike! Find it on Amazon or Target.
Magformers Milo’s Mansion
If you have a child who loves to build, be sure to check out the Milo’s Mansion set from Magformers this holiday season!
The fun playset lets your child build anything they can imagine with magnetic rainbow shapes that connect to build Milo the puppy’s mansion. The toy promotes color and shape recognition, fine motor skills, and problem-solving abilities – perfect for preschoolers.
Milo’s Mansion features just the right amount of pieces to let your little one create, and not overwhelm, including:
- 4 Triangles, 12 Squares, 2 magnetic support connectors, and accessories including 4 bricks, 2 windows, 1 Milo Puppy Character, 1 Fence, 2 Pictures, 1 Gate, 1 Tree, 1 Puppy House, 1 Skateboard and 1 Stair.
It’s a top STEM toy perfect for stimulating critical thinking and brain development starting at 3 years and up.
Schleich Vet Practice with Pets
Have an animal lover? Help your child hone those budding Veterinarian skills with Schleich’s Practice with Pets set which allow them to lovingly treat their favorite farm animals back to health.
The playset from the Farm World line, features a ready-to-go vet, office, and all the animals needing care including a dog, cat, horse, rabbits, and mouse!
Use the professional vet equipment to weigh each patient, check x-rays, treat on the examination table, record progress on a laptop or simply nurse back to good-health!
Kids will love the intricate details and quality in each and every Schleich character.
The Vet Practice with Pets is recommended for kids 3-8 years-old. Find it on Amazon or Target this holiday season.
Baby Dolls by JC Toys
Let your little one cozy up to an adorable baby doll by JC Toys this holiday!
JC baby dolls are beautifully crafted, featuring a large selection of diverse dolls in all shapes and sizes, made to look like real babies, from newborn and beyond!
I personally love the soft-bodied baby dolls like the Lots to Cuddle collection featured here, so kids can snuggle up to them at night.
The collection includes 20-inch baby dolls of either Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, or Asian descent, with a plush body and vinyl hands and feet.
Baby doll’s life-like facial features make pretend play fun.
Your child can learn to care for baby with the bonus bottle and paci accessories or just enjoy sweet cuddles together.
And if you’re worried about messy play, no need to worry! The baby doll is easy to maintain with a little bit of soap and water to spot clean surfaces with machine-washable clothes.
As a mom of three boys, there haven’t been many dolls in our house, until recently when we got a chance to play with these adorable JC Toy babies. They look so real that the boys can’t help but love them! In fact, pretending to take care of a baby has helped them practice being gentle and nurturing!
The Lots to Cuddle line makes holding and caring for little ones an easy skill kids can practice, regardless of gender!
These baby dolls are perfect from toddler to preschool-age. You can get a closer look at them on my Instagram highlights during the holidays or purchase them in a variety of stores including Amazon.
Preschool Collection Watches & Clock
Every parent can relate to the tantrums that follow when you tell your little one it’s time to stop…stop playing, stop watching tv or time to go.
Because it’s hard for toddlers and preschoolers to manage time expectations — they just are too young to really have a good sense of time when you tell them “only 5 more minutes”.
That’s why I love this Preschool Clock from the Preschool Collection — a clock that uses visuals to help your child understand time.
The clock uses color blocks and familiar animals to teach time. For example, “it’s time to stop when the big hand reaches the bunny rabbit” replaces “we’re leaving at 2pm”.
This way you can speak their language and help reduce some of those tantrums.
But that’s not all! The clock comes with number stickers so that as your child practices numbers, you can add each number to the appropriate time — making learning time so much easier!
The Preschool Collection also makes preschool watches using the same visual logic — so your child can manage time and expectations on the go! And as your child grows, you can upgrade to standard school watches with numbers. We love the array of designs for kids from superheroes and dinos to mermaids and unicorns!
Shop for Preschool Collection clock and watches HERE.
Learning Resources
If you’re one of many parents that have been forced to enter the homeschooling world this year or are just looking for ways to supplement preschool learning at home, Learning Resources is a must-have brand to add to your shelves!
The brand has helped parents and teachers support learning in children through educational toys. From letters and numbers to fine motor and STEM skills, Learning Resources provides the foundation kids need to succeed in school and home for a life-long love of learning.
We recently had the opportunity to check out WriggleWorms, Counting Sheep, and Snap-n-Learn Llamas.
Our 4-year-old is currently learning at home and needed some educational tools to work with.
Both the Counting Sheep and Learning Llamas have been a great resource during this time. Not only do they make learning fun — to him, it’s pretend play — but in addition, each animal is color-coded and marked with numbers or letters for matching.
It’s an easy way to help preschoolers count, identify upper and lower-case letters and build fine motor skills as they snap the pieces in place.
If you are looking to combine all those preschool essentials needed for kindergarten-readiness, don’t forget to check out WriggleWorms.
The 5-in-1 preschool game builds fine motor skills, strengthens pencil grip and supports coordination using tongs to catch and sort colorful worms.
Our preschooler really enjoyed playing this game, as it didn’t feel like “work” but just simple, everyday play at home!
Browse the array of educational toys from Learning Resources here to choose your favorites!
Pillow Pets
If your child is like most this year, seeking extra comfort, they’ll love the variety of characters and snuggles Pillow Pets bring!
Pillow Pets are adorable stuffed animal plush toys that double as pillows! They feature the largest selection of friendly characters from movie and story-time favorites to classical and mythical creatures.
Think: An adorable puppy, turtle or even Cosmic Kitty pictured below!
One of the features I love about Pillow Pets as a parent is their versatility. Your child’s Pillow Pet can be a cuddle pal during pretend play or storytime and then serve as a cozy pillow to rest on during nap or bedtime.
Each Pet can convert from pet to pillow by detaching the velcro straps. This opens up to a washable 18-inch pillow, making it easy to take wherever you go!
But not only this, each Pillow Pet provides a friendly face and warmth whatever your child is doing.
Like many families, this year has been especially tough for our three boys, not being able to see friends and extended family, and having to go back and forth between in-person and remote-learning. Stuffed animals and pretend play, have been a huge source of comfort. The kids are really loving their new Pillow Pets — even if it’s just a corner of refuge during a time-out.
Make sure you add these to your wish list, during a year that has surely been difficult for most kids!
You can learn more about each Pet and shop for your favorite here.
Burping Bobby by Goliath
If you want to play a silly, simple game with your child, Burping Bobby by Goliath may be just what you need for some laughs!
Burping Bobby is a no-reading needed type of game, keeping it easy as possible to get started.
Bobby the hippo lets out a stinky burp every so often after feeding. Kids try their luck feeding Bobby 1 of 24 pieces of stinky food from garlic and onions. After each turn and crank of a lever, wait for the magic to see if Bobby’s mouth will light up and let out a big burp!
A fun and easy way to bring excitement and learn the names of different stinky foods.
Burping Bobby is recommended for ages 4 and up. Check it out on Amazon along with the array of other Goliath games like Dino Crunch and Rattlesnake Jake — one of my kids’ favorite!
NOTE: Keep this page handy as we will be adding to it as the holidays approach.
Ana, a mom to three rambunctious little boys, has supported hundreds of thousands of women throughout their pregnancy and motherhood journey since 2012 as a blogger and maternal health advocate at MommysBundle.com.
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