A Few of our Favorite Things: Christmas Gift Edition

I thought I'd share some of our favorite toys/games/stuff. I'm always in need of gift ideas and I figure some of you may too. 'Tis the season! Rush Hour has provided hours of fun at our home (and fighting over who gets to play next!). While the original Rush Hour (the car version) says it's for ages 8 and up, Elijah was playing some of the easiest scenarios before he turned four. The object is to get the red vehicle out of the traffic jam by moving the vehicles around. Paul has mastered the car one, so I got him the Railroad Rush Hour, which is harder. These are available in game stores as well as through Amazon.

Jonathan Park audio adventures are great for teaching kids how to defend creationism from a young earth standpoint, all while listening to exciting stories. These are available from Vision Forum.

The String Along Lacing Kit is great for boys and girls. Elijah got it for his 4th birthday and has been happily creating pictures ever since. Instead of your traditional lacing kits, where you lace through holes, this lacing kit has a plastic "pen" you put your string into and then the board pinches the string as you move it from spot to spot. Then to undo the picture, you just pull on the string. It comes with many different colored strings and patterns.

These computers were purchased 1-2 years ago. We found the first for Ethan for Christmas 2008. It was the only non-brand name one we could find. The leapfrog ones are expensive and when you compare them, you're really paying for the brand name. It turned out to be a great intro for using a real computer and our boys have learned so much. We searched endlessly for another one to no avail until last Christmas. That's when we found a bilingual one. It's a little different, but still good. For only $20, these are totally worth it. AND we've yet to replace any batteries in them!

This book is an INDESTRUCTIBLE. They are for babies (0-toddler). They are non-toxic and feel like heavy duty paper. Babies can chew, bend, and suck on them and they don't get ruined. They don't have any words, but very colorful pictures. At about $5 each on amazon, they are awesome!

I hope these give you some ideas for Christmas or birthdays! I'm not getting any compensation for endorsing these products, they're just that great! Happy shopping!