Christmas Gift Guide: 15 learning toys to fit your child’s personality

As parents we love perusing Christmas Gift Guides to get inspired and put great presents under the tree. It’s especially great when the gifts help them develop and grow. 

As parents we also know that our kids are individuals, so one gift does not fit all children. Luckily, Learning Resources®has a huge range of educational toys for all types of children: from thoughtful, to artistic to adventurous to nature-loving. By providing toys that help children work on their motor skills, challenge their thinking and help them explore the world, Learning Resources works with parents to build someone amazing! (This post is sponsored by Learning Resources.) We’ve put together a Christmas Gift Guide that’s not just about the presents you can buy, but also the type of child you have. 

Learning Resources has been helping parents build generations of amazing kids for over 35 years. Their educational toys offer children, parents, and teachers the resources needed for developing children’s confidence in maths and literacyskills. Award-winning coding toys make STEM learning fun, and hands-on science toys spark curiosity. They also have a range of resources for social-emotional learning to help your child.

Discover gifts that will delight your children and help them learn and that are perfectly suited to them. 

Choose a category of what they love to do or who they want to be:

1. Chef

Do you have a budding cook in the family: one who loves to measure out and mix ingredients? Let them ‘cook’ safely at any time with the New Sprouts® Cook It! My Very Own Chef Set. The chunky rubberised pieces will stand up when they whip something up with the saucepan, stockpot, colander, serving spoon and straining spoon. Ages: 2-5

2. Computer Whiz

Kids as young as 5 can start coding with Botley 2.0® Activity Set You don’t need to worry about increasing screen time either: Kids programme Botley to do things itself such as light up Botley’s eyes, change the colour or programme a light show. They can even unlock hidden features 

You can also extend it at their birthday with the Botley Crashin’ Construction Accessory Set  Ages: 5-10

3. Shopkeeper

Does your child love counting out the coins at the shops and play shopkeeper? The Pretend & Play® Calculator Cash Register has UK currency and lets them run the store while also helping them practice addition and subtraction. Ages 3-7

4. Dreamer

Do you have a little dreamer who loves unicorns, rainbows and dragons? The Colour By Playfoam – Unicorn or Drago gets them using squishy satisfying Play Foam to create a picture – which they can scoop out and do again and again. Play Foam sticks only to itself, so won’t create a mess in hair, carpet or clothes. 

5. Artist

If your child loves shapes this Pattern Block Activity Set would be just the thing. They match the 124 plastic pattern blocks to the 40 designs, fitting together squares, triangles, trapezoids, hexagons and more. Once they’ve mastered the included designs, they can create their own mosaics. Ages 4-8. 

6. Scientist

Mini scientists will love this award-winning working microscope, created by a scientist and mum of two, which allows them to examine their world up close. With the two large eye pieces, a focussing knob and a bright LED light with easy-on button they can explore 3-D objects.  

7. Inventor

Help your little Leonardo da Vinci do real-world inventor tasks with the Ultimate Inventor Toolkit. It comes with 280 building materials and 10 building challenges, with a box to keep all their work together (good for parents too!). Ages 5+. There’s also a version for ages 8+

8. Builder

Does your child love to swagger around singing the theme song to a certain builder’s show? Do they talk about building houses or skyscrapers? The Design & Drill® Power Drill is a has a motor that moves, a little window where they can see the gears turning and a slider to change the direction, just like a real version! Ages: 3-7. 

9. Mad scientist

Does your child love creating crazy concoctions and playing with slime? Get them creating fizzing bubbling reactions that reveal creatures inside! You can buy more Beaker Creatures separately to keep them formulating even more fun! Ages: 5-10

10. Puzzle fan

With the iTrax™ Critical Thinking Game, kids who love strategy, games and puzzles try to create paths between coloured blocks, competing against parents or friends. It’s a great way to promote critical thinking during family game time! Ages: 6-9. 

11. Traveller

What better way to capture the imagination of a child who loves nature, is interested in the natural world or loves to explore new places than with the GeoSafari® Jr. Talking Globe. It’s interactive: Kids use the smart pen to point to different places around the world and hear audio facts – great for solo learning and play! The also helps with finger control. Ages: 4-7. 

12. Kids connecting to feelings

The Big Feelings Pineapple is a fun social emotional learning tool that provides 26 different facial pieces that help them identify emotions. The two-sided design means children can build different expressions and compare them. Plus all the pieces store inside the Pineapple when playtime is over. Ages: 3-7 

13. Banker

Basic monetary-related maths skills comes into play with the Little Banker Coin Matching Game. It’s a way to begin your child’s important journey to financial literary. They play by adding coin values with little coins that look like the real thing! Further expand their knowledge with the Play Euro Money Classroom kit. Ages: 6-10. 

14. Kids who are into everything

Channel your child’s tactile curiosity with the Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set. They can use the Gator Grabber Tweezers, Handy Scoopers, Twisty Droppers and Squeezy Tweezers in the bath, in the sandbox, at an activity table or just around the house. A perfect stocking filler! Ages: 3-10. 

15. Fashion designer

For children who love dressing up and creating their own style, the Papercraft Fashion Parade, these 24 large and easy to colour paper dolls and mix-and-match fashion provide countless opportunities to design. After they create, your child can stick the design to tables, walls and doors with no-residue adhesive. Ages: 3-7. 

Get more meaningful ideas for Christmas

• Stocking filler ideas for kids https://www.learningresources.co.uk/blog/stocking-filler-ideas-for-kids
• The best family games for Christmas http://www.learningresources.co.uk/blog/the-best-family-games-for-christmas
• Free festive activity sheets https://www.learningresources.co.uk/free-activity-sheets-for-kids#christmasactivities