Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. This is one way that bloggers make money, but it is at absolutely no extra cost to you if you choose to make a purchase based on my suggestions! If you would like to read more about how this works, check out my Disclosure Policy!
Let’s face it, you don’t need another gift guide. You don’t need another long list of things that people LOVEEE this year, but that will be decluttered before next year.
You don’t need this years MUST HAVES just to declutter next year.
So that isn’t what this is.
Instead, I am creating a list of things we got last year for the holidays and we still LOVE. I did end up adding a few things we got for birthday, but I know we will be loving them for a long time! When kids are younger than 5, my goal is to get gifts that will last a few years instead of just one year! I have been pretty intentional with what I buy or ask for when it comes to toys because I want them to last more than one season.
Also, this photo was 3 years ago, and I am still obsesses with it. (And I took it myself with a tripod. I just used the video setting and then took screenshots of the moments that were good!)
Gifts we got last year that we still LOVE.
1. These magnetic cubes
These magnetic blocks have been so much fun! These have been an almost daily toy in our house. We have built all kinds of things, we have used them for patterns and counting and a bunch of things. We use them for homeschool but also for creative play! Honestly, even I enjoy building with them sometimes!
In addition, I got these this year. These are a little bit smaller and don’t quite fit with the ones we have, but I am excited for these for on the go!
2. Science kit
Okay, this science kit was technically for his birthday but I can tell already that we will still be loving this long into next year. We have been doing at least one science experiment a week for a few months now and have barely touched the supplies that come with it. This science kit is a great introduction to little experiments. It comes with just enough information of why that works, but it comes with most of the things that you need for the experiments + the beakers and trays! I would definitely buy this one again.
3. Magnetic Tiles
Maybe we just love building around here, but I have had so much fun with these and so has my 5 year old. I will often give him scenarios like “Oh no! All of the animals got out of the zoo, can you build them each a home” with the magnetic tiles.
There are also a ton of great designs you can print out and build. I created an entire Pinterest board for activities that we can do with them! You can check out the Pinterest board right here!
We did also get him a travel set of magnetic tiles for a road trip and he has played with them at restaurants and in the car. These don’t fit well with the bigger ones, but a perfect travel option too!
4. UNO!
I really thought my son would be too young for UNO, but I saw a reel of someone playing “face up UNO” where you just lay the cards down in front of you! It is great for number and color recognition and it has quickly become one of our favorite weeknight and restaurant games because we can play a few rounds even in the evenings!
We still play it face up, but I have also seen people using the magnitic tiles to hold the cards if kids hands are just too small to hold all the cards up! I think face up uno is actually harder because you know what other people have and have to play carefully!
5. Sneaky Squirrel Game
I can’t actually remember if this game was from last year or the year before, but we still play this pretty often! The goal is to get all of the colors of acorns! It is great for color recognition, fine motor skills with the squirrel, and overall I just love games at this age for practicing winning and losing!
6. Nex Playground
This one was also actually a birthday present earlier this year, but I know the whole family will be using this for a long time. This is a video game system that uses a camera to track your movement so you have to move your body to play the games. There are workouts on there for adults + games for families + educational games for kids. All of the games are included in a membership that we paid for the year, but beyond the system and the membership, there aren’t additional games to buy or upcharges which I love. I have used this alone and with my kid and I think this would be a great “bigger” or “family” present.
7. Play-Doh + Accessories
We LOVE play doh in our house and have a whole bin where all of it lives + a bunch of accessories. Last year we got this bag of play doh toys that came with tons of ways to play with the play doh and we still use them on a weekly basis! This is a toy that stays at the dining room table as much as possible, but even just setting it out on the table leads to at least 30 minutes of me getting something else done!
8. Kinetic Sand Kits
We have also had some of our kinetic sand + accessories for more than a year, some of them probably two years. I only let my son play with it in the dining room where I can sweep it up easily. But other than what falls on the floor, we have really enjoyed playing with these. We have animals that go with, have made an ice cream shop, dig in it. It is fun to just stick your fingers in!
9. Family Dates!
The family date box has been a fun one because it is more focused on quality time together. Each card has the budget amount, time of day, and amount of prep needed and there are tons of free cards inside the box! If you are a family that is focused on experiences and not toys, this is a great one that we have loved!
10) Things I am getting him this year (2025)
I wanted to include a space to share what I am getting him this year because a few of them I am really excited about!
A pack of printer paper. He loves going into my office to grab paper to draw on, so this year for Christmas I am getting him just a pack of printer paper and some markers so he is free to create and draw without me overseeing how much of my paper is being taken from my office!
More magnetic tiles and magnetic blocks to add onto what he already has.
More family games that we can play together!
A children’s museum and children’s zoo membership. We get these every year on Black Friday because our local ones do a half off the membership sale and it makes it even more worth it!
Bath paints and soaps. I do love gifts that can be used up and don’t add more clutter to my house!
