Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Birthday or Christmas gifts that support learning, build talents & creativity without feeling like “learning”—ones my kids love to play with!
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items I love buying gifts for my kids that help them develop a talent or have a learning element, but my kids don’t even realize it because they are having fun. These are my favorite items that we have that help develop a talent or support learning. (I hav...
Sections
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Building/exploring talents
Games/puzzles
Building/exploring talents
This book pairs well with a whittling kit. My son got this for Christmas one year and it was fun for him to see ideas of what he could make and get some inspiration.
Easy Wood Carving for Children: Fun Whittling
This kit builds real electronics skills while letting kids experiment independently. The joy on their faces when a piece takes flight or the circuit makes music is the best!
Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 Electronics Kit, 28 Parts
I have a son that particularly took an interest in balloon art but all my kids have enjoyed making creations with balloons. We originally tried several pumps on Amazon and none of them worked well. Luckily, we met a professional balloon artist who to...
Qualatex Hand Held Air Inflator Lime Green Double Action Latex Balloon Pump
Not all balloons for balloon art are created equal. Many are poor quality and pop easily. Thankfully, we met a professional balloon artist and he told us that this is one of the brands he likes and regularly uses. These balloons have worked great an...
260B Sempertex Fashion Assortment Latex Entertainer Balloons (100 Pack) - Party Supplies Decorations
This was a gift given to my oldest son, who is 10. He tried this activity several years ago and really loved it so it’s fun he now has his own kit to experiment with.
Craft Culture Beginners Wood Burning Kit for Kids
My kids love to cook—and they love popcorn. Since we don’t use microwave popcorn, they’re always asking me to make it on the stove. That’s what made this such a perfect gift: it lets a child be independent and make something on their own in the kitch...
Whirley Pop 6 Qt Stove Top Popcorn Maker
I have a son who loves to sing and dance, and he learns the lyrics to songs very easily. He was delighted when he received this karaoke machine for Christmas one year. He uses it regularly, especially when we have friends or family over.
Karaoke Machine Bluetooth Speaker w/ 2 Mics
This has been great to help encourage my kids to write—something they aren’t typically super motivated to do. They like this though and have been working on finishing up a story they wrote so we can send it in to be made into a book.
Lulu Jr. Illustory Book Making Kit, Multicolor
My kids love balancing on things like foam rollers and traditional balance boards. Since we don’t have a yard with large trees, setting up a slackline outside isn’t an option for us—but this is the next best thing. It helps them learn the basics of s...
GIBBON SlackBoard Balance Trainer - Kids & Adults
We recently tried felting at a friend’s house, and we all really loved it. We made some cute little pumpkins for decoration. It’s fun making something functional that doesn’t require loads of time.
Mayboos Needle Felting Kit, 40 Colors Wool
I highly recommend this! We did this and it was so neat to watch the entire transformation process! It was also special to release the butterflies into the wild and then see them come back near our yard a few times. Great hands-on science learning to...
Insect Lore Butterfly Garden Kit with Voucher
I have a 9 year-old son that loves doing this, and I’ve used it some and enjoy it also! It’s very therapeutic and fun to have something you can make fairly quickly. My son has made a little blanket but is also starting to create several pieces togeth...
Lemonfilter 9x11in Kids Wooden Weaving Loom Kit
2 of my boys, ages 10 and 8 have these and they love them. My boys love finding sticks or wood when we go out hiking and then they try this kit out on the stuff they find. Bonus: Pair it with a beginning whittling book!
Wood Whittling Kit with Knives & Blocks
Games/puzzles
This is the best for developing reasoning/planning & problem solving and it’s fun for the kids! My kids enjoy doing this one! I love getting my kids toys/games where they are having so much fun, they don’t realize they are learning! 😉
ThinkFun Rush Hour Traffic Jam Logic Game
When I can find screen-free items to entertain my children when we travel, it’s a win! Double win when it’s also educational—this one improves problem solving skills! My kids all love this and so do the adults! Hours of screen-free fun!
GiiKER Super Slide,Original 500+ Challenges Brain Teaser Puzzle for 5+,Travel and Birthday Gift for Boys and Girls - Walmart.com
I love finding toys that my kids love to play with and do not realize they are learning while playing it. This is a fun problem solving type puzzle where you have to make the ball drop out a certain way. It’s kind of like a gravity maze, and my kids ...
ThinkFun Gravity Maze - STEM Marble Game
My mom use to play Boggle with me often while I was a kid. I feel like it helped me learn how to spell, but it was also a really fun game to find the words! Now that some of my kids are getting older, they are starting to like this game. It’s recomme...
Winning Moves Big Boggle 5x5 Grid Word Game
My boys love this game and it’s great for learning how to deal with and count large amounts of money. Math lesson for the win! 😉
Grandpa Beck's Cover Your Assets Card Game
This is a simple game to play and it’s one of my kid’s favorite games. It teaches simple math skills with addition up to 50. It says for ages 8 and above, but my 6 year-old was able to play and loved it. You can always help with the adding as the gam...
Sleeping Queens Card Game for Kids 8+
This one is a great one for teaching problem solving skills as well as spatial awareness. My kids all enjoy playing this one.
Mattel Games Blokus Game - 1
This is similar to Monopoly but it’s geared towards elementary school-aged kids. You earn money for “washing the car,” etc. This is an amazing game for learning real life math skills and it’s fun. My kids reach for this game on their own and play it...
The Allowance Game®
This one’s a hit because it comes with a real mini laser and mirrors. It’s problem-solving in disguise—and the kids are having way too much fun to notice.
Think Fun Laser Maze Brain Game STEM Toy
This game has great reviews on Amazon, and it boosts mental agility through pattern recognition. It’s nice because you can play solo or with 2 or more people.
SET Enterprises Family Card Game - 81 Cards
I taught my kids how to play chess using this kit. It’s great for someone like me who doesn’t have strong chess skills to begin with 😆. They enjoyed it and it makes learning the game so easy!
No Stress Chess by Winning Moves Games USA
The kids got this for Christmas this last year and we all enjoyed it—even the adults! It builds concentration, patience, motor-skills and problem solving through play. We also got the level 2 and it’s awesome because they hook together.
Screwball Scramble Brainteasers for Ages 5 to 10
The kids got this for Christmas this last year and we all enjoyed it—even the adults! It builds concentration, patience, motor-skills and problem solving through play. We also got the level 1 and it’s awesome because they hook together.
Screwball Scramble 2 Brainteasers for Ages 5 to 9