There's a delicate balance when it comes to shopping for holiday gifts for little ones. While you might be tempted to follow the latest toy trends, you'll probably also want to gift your kiddos something educational that fosters creativity.
As the holiday shopping season approaches, we're starting to scout out deals on the hottest gifts, including our 2024 Best Toy Award winners. In fact, one of our top editor- and kid-tested toys is currently at its lowest price ever on Amazon. The Skillmatics Storybook Art Kit is 33% off right now, making it just $20.
The kit allows young authors let their imaginations run free by penning their own book. It comes with two hardbound storybooks, over 100 colorful stickers, 50 DIY stickers, writing prompts, vocabulary lists and a bevy of craft supplies. Each kit has a dedicated theme, including adventures, animals, space or unicorns and princesses, with story suggestions, vocabulary lists and stickers tailored to the topic.
While youngsters are welcome to create their own plots, one of our parent testers said their daughter found creative inspiration through the prompts. "She loved the included story ideas and stickers to help spark ideas for illustrations and writing," our tester said.
What's more, each book includes an About the Author page, which allows kids ages 5 and up to pen their own biography to heighten the "published author" feel. Our parent tester said that their daughter especially enjoyed filling out this section.
Best of all, once little ones have finished writing their stories, the hardbound construction of the book ensures they'll become family keepsakes to be read at bedtime for years to come.
We love that these kits can help boost your youngster's writing, vocabulary and communication skills. Plus, these storybook kits are relatively mess-free compared to other giftable art projects. And if this is just the type of thing your child enjoys, we have more creative toy ideas to help encourage their artistic expressions.
Creativity-Boosting Toys
Paw Patrol My First Instant Camera
Madison McGee is a commerce editor at Hearst Magazines. For the past year, she has contributed shopping content, gift guides, product testing, and deals coverage across Hearst’s portfolio, which includes Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, Men's Health, House Beautiful, Elle, Town and Country, Esquire, Country Living, Oprah Daily, and more. Prior to joining Hearst, she was a staff writer at BuzzFeed and worked in book publishing. Madison is a graduate of the University of Mississippi’s journalism program, and holds a Masters in Publishing from New York University. When she’s not scouting out the best deals, she can be found reading, cheering on the Baltimore Ravens, or exploring New York City’s indie bookstores.
