Educational Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids

When it comes to stocking stuffer ideas for kids, why not go educational with a few items? While you might have the traditional fruit, candy, socks, or underwear tucked inside, it can be a fun touch to include a toy or game inside that can also serve an educational purpose.

It may be something to help them work on fine motor skills or number recognition. Or maybe rhyming and letter sounds. The key for most kids is that it can’t be blatantly educational. I mean, who wants to get a set of sight word flashcards in their stocking?!?

So today, I’m following up our reading games list and math games list to share some educational stocking stuffer ideas for kids that are fun AND can serve some kind of educational purpose at the same time.

*This post contains affiliate links.

 

Educational Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids

Listed below are stocking stuffer ideas with an educational flare for younger and older kids. If you have any ideas you’d like to share, please do in the comments!

Younger Kids {Babies through Pre-K}

board books – These books for babies and tots {and even preschoolers} are usually fairly small and could fit down in a stocking. Check out our favorite board books for babies and tots!

 

CDs – Music has such a fun way of sneaking in all kinds of reading readiness skills such as rhyming, phonemic awareness, and storytelling. {Of course, that all depends on what kinds of CDs you buy.} Some of my younger kids’ favorites at the time are Greg and Steve, Laurie Berkner Band, Hap Palmer, Dr. Jean, and Raffi.

Playdough – I like to find the small containers of playdough and put a few in my kids’ stockings. Playdough is GREAT for imagination and for fine motor skills. You could even print a few of my playdough mats, laminate them, and wrap separately as a gift!

 

Do a Dot Paint – If you have a child who likes to create and paint, these paint markers are a MUST! Not only are they fun you can find all kinds of educational dot pages, like our Alphabet Mazes or the number pages from Learning the Alphabet and Reading the Alphabet.

 

watercolor paint – Watercolor paint is also packaged perfectly to fit inside a stocking. We also like to do crayon resist learning activities with our watercolor paint.

 

scissors – Younger kids may enjoy these spring-loaded scissors while older kids may enjoy having an extra pair of their own {because, in my opinion, you can never have too many pairs of scissors!!}.

This Fine Motor Tool Set, by Learning Resources, has “tools” that kids can use for all kinds of fun. Plus, they help build those fine motor muscles needed for writing!

 

markers – With younger kids, especially, you want to go with washable marker. The Pip-Squeak markers are awesome for older tots and preschoolers because they encourage the tripod pencil grip better than the fatter markers.

 

bath crayons – ALL of my younger kids have enjoyed exploring with writing with our bathtub crayons. I will say that the crayon marking doesn’t come off too well if you leave them on for months. {I’ve just been told this, of course.}

 

Spot It! – My preschooler and Kindergartner, especially, love Spot it! Kids are not only playing the game, but calling out letters, numbers and shapes! Perfect for a reluctant learner!!

 

 

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Older Kids {K and Up}

 

UNO – Our entire family enjoys playing UNO! And UNO has such a fantastic way of integrating number and color recognition with younger kids, too.

 

Magnet Set – What kid doesn’t love playing {and learning} about magnets? This kit also comes with an activity book!

 

PickUp Sticks – While kids will enjoy playing PickUp Sticks, they may not realize that it’s a great game to work on those fine motor muscles used for writing!

 

Qwixx – This fast-paced dice game will be a family favorite. With no down time in between turns, Qwixx sneaks in some great practice for math skills! I’d recommend it for 2nd grade and up.

 

Mad Libs – These little stories are seriously FUN. When kids fill out Mad Libs and read them, they are working on grammar, spelling, and fluency in such a silly way they may not even be aware of all the thinking and learning involved. Even reluctant readers will enjoy these!

 

chapter books – Chapter books also fit nicely inside a stocking. I have three book lists that feature chapter books that may help when picking chapter books: 1- Chapter Books for 2nd/3rd grades, 2- Chapter Books for 4th/5th grades, and 3- High Interest Low Readability Books for Struggling Readers.

 

Post-It Notes or small notepad – Kids, no matter their age, love Post-It Notes. Who am I kidding? I still like them! And they can be used for all kinds of learning ideas such as jotting down phonics rules or playing hide and seek with sight words.

 

highlighters – Like sticky notes, highlighters are popular with children young and old. They can be used to color code text, jot comprehension thoughts, color code patterns in words, or other learning objectives.

 

Fun pens, like the Squiggle Wiggle Writer, are at hit at our house. These BIC pens have been around since I was a kid. They are durable and WELL worth the money!

 

Obviously Educational Stocking Ideas for Kids

If you think your child wouldn’t mind more educational-type gifts, here are a few more suggestions that are great to sneak into the stocking.

 

Sumoku – This math game can be played with so many variations. Roll the die, then find combinations that add to to the key number. I’d recommend it for for 1st grade and up.

 

Math Dice Jr. – This is a fun little math game that requires kids to think on their toes about number combinations. Kids roll a number, then use the dice to add, subtract, multiply, and/or divide to get the answer. While it can be played in a competitive way with the hopscotch looking mat, we like to play in a non-competitive way. Thinkfun also makes Math Dice {2nd grade and up} for older kids, too.

 

Wordical – could be played by younger children, but at a much slower pace and without points, but 8+ is the recommended age. I love Wordical that it gets kids making words. After you roll the vowel dice, you see what kinds of combinations you can create with your cards to make words.

 

Rory’s Story – While it’s a fun game to play, I can see how kids might perceive Rory’s Story Cubes as leaning more towards educational. It’s a great game to pull out during writing time, too!

 

Bananagrams – Similar to Scrabble, Bananagrams gets kids spelling words with letter tiles. I recommend for 2nd grade+, but my 1st grader is able to play easier when he uses our phonics cheat sheets.

 

BOB Books – If your child is learning to read, BOB Books can be a fantastic tool for him. There are several different levels of BOB Books and for each, I have tons of free printables and even free lesson outlines for teaching with them.

 

flash cards – Yes, I did include flash cards on this list, as some kids might actually like them! You can find flash cards for almost anything. Remember that flash cards don’t have to be used just for drilling. They can use used on hand-on ways, too!

 

 

What kinds educational stocking stuffers do you slip into your child’s stocking? I’d love to hear your ideas!

 

 

Find more educational gift ideas for kids.

 

~Becky