Curated by our fantastical Education Team!
More detailed info below:
Slime: Buy a DIY slime kit for some at-home chemistry, or get little containers of fun slime for stocking-stuffer type gifts. For extra winter fun, try cloud slime or snow slime! Slime is a blast for kids of all ages.
Pass the Pigs Game: A simple, silly dice game to play with the whole family this holiday season. Bonus: practice simple addition skills with your elementary school children.
Huckleberry Kaleidoscope by Bella Luna Toys. Play with light and observe the natural world up close! Use petals, buttons, beads, rocks, or other materials in the kaleidoscope to see the world in new ways. This is a great small gift or stocking stuffer.
Dino Egg Dig Kit: Practice fine motor skills and feel the thrill of scientific discovery as your toddler or elementary schooler breaks apart these eggs and finds the dinosaurs inside.
Stomp Rockets: We LOVE stomp rockets at JHCM because they demonstrate simple physics concepts related to Newtons Laws of Motion, and give kids an opportunity for big-body play. During the cold, dark days of winter, we suggest making your own rockets out of paper and tape for indoor use. Hint: smaller, tighter rockets will fly the highest!
The Tinkering Workshop by Ryan Jenkins
Get inspired to tinker on those cold, snowy evenings with this amazing book! Ryan Jenkins is a longtime educator who helped develop many tinkering projects in San Francisco's Exploratorium. His new book is full of creative, inspiring, relatively easy projects. Our JHCM educators have already tried several of these projects, including the LED-light cardboard city. If you have an elementary school or middle school child who loves to tinker, make, or design, this is the book for them! Appropriate for children ages 5-95.
Wooden Marble Run by Kaplan Early Learning
Build a gigantic marble run! We love all types of ball runs and marble runs because they allow children to practice engineering and design and learn about gravity, but the one by Kaplan Early Learning has lots of cool features and is made out of durable, beautiful wood. Appropriate for children 3+.
Makedo Starter Kit: For DIY forts, buy a Makedo starter kit and take advantage of those cardboard boxes in your holiday recycling. Use cardboard screws, saws, and perforators to build elaborate forts, costumes, and sculptures. Box forts allow children ages 6-12 and their caregivers to practice engineering skills such as planning, persistence, collaboration, and motor skills. Once built, forts provide a wealth of opportunities for imaginative play!
Spooner Board
Does your child have the wiggles? That’s great! Help them express their need to move with these spooner boards. These work as well indoors as outdoors and develop gross motor skills and balance.
Magic Wooden Fairy Treehouse by Bella Luna Toys
Imaginative play builds social skills, literacy, creativity, and more! This cool treehouse set brings the calming magic of natural materials into the world of indoor play. It also features simple machines like pulleys for children to play with.
Ozobots Evo Entry Kit: Our elementary school campers and afterschool clubs had a blast playing with Ozobots this year. Ozobots are cute, creative, intuitive, and teach programming skills.
JH Children's Museum Membership or punch pass
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