Team Screen or not, these screen-free toys are fun for all the kiddos on your list
We don’t have an issue with screen time. After all, devices are entertaining, sure, but they also offer educational and convenience benefits. But regardless of your stance on the subject, everyone needs time away from screens and devices (grown-ups included). It can be so easy to forget to look up from our digital lives. That’s where our work, communication, entertainment, banking, researching, and, well, really most things throughout our days. We don’t think there’s anything wrong with that…until we forget to take in our surroundings. That’s why we also make sure to focus on screen-free toys around the holidays.
While there are some hot high-tech gifts this year, we think it’s a great idea to include some screen-free toys in the mix. And they’re really anything but boring. Creativity, relaxation, and imagination are all nudged when we aren’t looking at our screens. They’re great for flexing little ones’ minds, and they also prevent them from becoming a little too reliant on their iPads. There are a lot of fantastic screen-free gifts out there, and these are some of the absolute best that are definitely on our “Buy” and “Give” lists.
Slice & Bake Cookie Set
Includes 12 sliceable cookies, 12 toppings, knife, spatula, cookie sheet, and kitchen mitt, plus a storage cookie tube.
Nuts and Bolts 24 Piece Sensory Set
Color-matching, coordination, and fine motor skills are all used to play with these super fun toddler-ready nuts and bolts.
Little Tikes Adventure Rocket
For kiddos who need something a little different from the classic playhouse, this rocket includes all the tools and activities they need to explore outer space.
Volcano Expedition Base Camp
Screen-free fun is erupting in this schleich® play set where dinosaurs roam the land. Featuring molten lava, volcanic ash, and action-packed play functions, like glowing lava, cool vapor, realistic tremors, and a ground-shaking eruption, kids will get lost in their imagination for hours on end.
Rody Horse
Rody Horse is smooth, bouncy, and designed to stay sturdy while your little one hops. Rody can be inflated and deflated to adjust as kids grow, and can support up to 100lbs. Comes in multiple colors.
5pc Fine Motor Fun Set
Gator tweezers, a water dropper, scooper, cup tweezers, and plastic fine-tip tweezers give little ones the tools to play with sand, water, pom poms, different foods, and all sorts of other objects (with parent supervision, of course).
Wooden Busy Board
This hand-held busy board includes LED lights to really hold their attention.
Warmies
What's better than their favorite stuffy? Warmies are fully microwavable to provide hours coziness. They're scented with real dried French lavender and perfectly weighted, too. Choose from so, so many different loveable characters.
Magnetic Building Blocks
We love these blocks since they're ideal for building together with your littles.
TubeLox Deluxe Set
A life-sized construction set makes for literally years of fun. Kids can create forts, cars, playhouses, castles, jungle gyms...the list goes on and on.
Automatic Laying Domino Train
This domino-laying train lets your minis create fun domino patterns over and over again, thanks to the train's automatic placement.
Outer Space Sensory Bin
A self-contained galaxy sensory bin where they can scoop, sort, and play.
Slumberkins Shine Bright Kin & 'Bigfoot Shares His Gift' Board Book
Slumberkins is a Tinybeans fave. Each sweet 'Kin' and book combination helps kiddos learn social and emotional skills (confidence, positive self talk, and healthy relationships), plus they're adorable and include an affirmation card for littles to help remember the most important messaging. This season, Bigfoot is sharing his gift and learning self-acceptance.
Slumberkins Shine Bright Kin & Bigfoot Shares His Gift Board Book ($58.00)—Buy Here!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Ready to Grow Garden
No one loves a good sticker decoration activity like kids, and this terrarium gets decorated and also includes potting mix, decorative gravel, plant mister and quick-grow chia seeds.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Ready to Grow Garden ($15.39)—Buy Here!
Wooden Water Blocks
Odin Parker makes heirloom toys that are perfect for gifting, and the water blocks teach them colors, shapes, shadows, and more.
Randimals
Meet Hork. He's a shark-horse hybrid, along with his friends Zangaroo, Seadog, Squiger, and more. Randimals are designed to remind little ones that 'what makes us different, makes all the difference'.
Plan Toys Balancing Cactus
Made from rubberwood, this cute cactus teaches balance and coordination through a stacking game the whole family can play.
Modern Museum Architecture Set
Complete with easy-to-decorate pieces—86, to be exact—that are reusable and ready to help little ones complete their museum build.
Nesting Rainbow Stacking Blocks
Even though they all nest together, these stacking blocks can be used individually for open-ended play.
