2022 Holiday Gift Guide

I heard someone recently describe this time of year as “the Most time of year.” Not The Most Wonderful like we’ve always been taught, but just, The Most. It seems like we feel everything a little more this time of year, both the magic and the heartache. I appreciate this reminder. It’s ok that everything feels wonderful and also a little tender. The feelings are all heightened around the holidays.

You’ve probably seen about a million ads and links by this point, and it can feel noisy and overwhelming. This list is intended to simplify, just if you need an idea, or a springboard to help you think creatively about your unique person. I’m a strong believer that you know your child/spouse/BFF/mother in law best and therefore are the expert in gift giving for them.

Also: there are a million ways to care for someone and sometimes the very best ones cost only time, not money. I try to keep in mind that how magical my kids remember their childhood Christmases is not directly proportional to what’s under the tree.

Here are some thoughtful ideas for giving and getting. Special Note: the children’s gifts here are organized by gender for simplicity’s sake, but of course any gift can be for any child. This is meant to be an all-inclusive, anything for anyone, kind of list. Happy gifting!

FOR GIRLS

American Girl. So nostalgic for me! Blaire is getting some of my American Girl items I had as a child, and her big gift this year is a new doll, the 2019 girl of the year, Blaire! I had to really hunt around for it because that doll is now retired and not in production anymore. I love the quality of American Girl, the connection to reading, and the stories of strong girls. Some places to shop for secondhand, retired, or new in box dolls at a discount: OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, Poshmark, and Ebay.

Piggy paint. Best non-toxic nail polish for girls.

Modern dollhouse. I found this one on OfferUp.

Velvet tiny box for treasures or jewelry. $8! A similar version is an Oprah favorite this year.

Bows, hair clips, hair ties

Stick on Earrings. So 1999.

Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty in Fairy Sprinkles Gift Set. We love putty for the tactile sensory input. There are lots of kinds! Costco has a gift set right now for $19.

Brown Toy Box. Puzzles and games for all kids, featuring culturally diverse children in STE(A)M professions! If you can see yourself in it, you can be it.

OG Doll Hairbrush. Target’s line of dolls and accessories similar to American Girl, Our Generation, has similar items for less. This wire hairbrush can be used on doll hair and won’t frizz like other hairbrushes.

EOS lip balms. Costco had a pack of 7 these on sale recently for $12. Great in a stocking.

FOR BOYS

Harry Potter Lego. Combining two favorites here.

Loog Pro Electric Guitar. Three strings, expensive, but have heard such great things about this one for learning how to play. Comes with free video lessons.

Laser Tag. Controversial, I know. This was an asked for gift this year. We are strategic about our language around it, calling them “blasters” instead of guns, and “darts” instead of bullets. Similar to nerf, but without the cleanup. Every family has different boundaries around this kind of play though, and I think our main idea is to be thoughtful and intentional about it.

Kiwi Co Subscription Kits. We really love these kits. Trey has his eye on a robotics one. $10 off with this link here.

Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty. For your favorite fidgeter. Find it at Costco for a deal!

OgoSport. An indoor safe active game, with koosh balls (remember those from the 90s?)

Walkie Talkies. Our gifts for the cousins last year. Rechargeable and long range! This was a fun one.

FOR FRIENDS/SISTERS/MOMS

Stocking stuffers: Elf cosmetics. Cheapest clean beauty around. I love the putty blush, bronzer, eye brow, and the multi-stick. Also: This 8.99 wallet, and fancy salt.

The fancy hotel candle. This candle by Alixx is the scent of one of our favorite luxury hotels. The medium sized is plenty big, and gives the most amazing relaxing scent.

A crossbody purse. I wear this everyday. Perfect for moms, the handsfree upgrade to the fanny pack.

Musee. This may be the coolest company on this list. A woman owned bath line, supporting vulnerable employees, and the packaging is gorgeous! From their website: “Musee makes handcrafted, natural bath products in Madison County, Mississippi with the mission of restoring lives by providing dignified work for vulnerable people in our community. We primarily hire women in recovery, people with disabilities, and people who have lived in chronic poverty. Our products are handmade in the USA with ethically sourced, natural ingredients. Our bath balms are cruelty-free, paraben-free, and sulfate-free and safe for all skin types.” So great, right? If you’re shopping for a tween who loves face masks, see their new sister line, Pretty Inside.

Similarly, Thistle Farms. Providing healing and hope for women survivors of all kinds of trauma. My mom sent me a gift box that included their all natural, essential oil bug spray last summer and I really loved it. Great products and a great mission equals a great gift in my book.

Magnesium bath salt flakes. More bio-available than Epsom salts, magnesium is a natural relaxant and makes a wonderful addition to a bath. Pair with a natural bubble bath.

Loop earplugs. For moms in loud households! A friend has these and I’m trying them out this year

FOR MEN

Air Tags. Keep track of everything, from keys to luggage (to your kid, put one in their backpack!)

Beats studio buds. I run with these daily. Great sound and stay put.

Rechargeable Lighter. Never look for a match again! No batteries needed. We light candles with it every night now that it’s dark so early.

This wallet. Chances are he has a wallet already, yes. But we both use this bare minimum one, it comes in a million colors, it’s only around $13, and we both love it. Great in a stocking.

Car water bottle expandable holder. Random, but I did not know these existed. To keep a larger width water bottle upright while driving. Genius.

Spike Ball. If he’s into backyard sports and games, this is a good one.

Klask. Fun tabletop game that he probably doesn’t already have.

FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Games! Some of our faves and some I want to try: spot it, headbanz, Otrio, throw throw burrito, taco goat cheese pizza, and a surprise to me for this age, chess! Chess club at school has been a fall highlight.

Indoor/winter gym: mats, a foldable balance beam, wedges. This would be a great basement playroom gift idea.

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR MEN 2020

(No, Daniel is not getting a boat or a jet ski and this photo is from 6 months ago and completely unrelated but more fun than noise cancelling headphones or a self heating coffee mug so here it is.)

By request! Perhaps the hardest to shop for gifting category of them all. With gifts, I think the best ones are always the most personal, unique, well thought out ones. But sometimes you just need a little inspiration. Here is a start:

Minimalist leather wallet. It’s under $13, real leather, and Daniel has carried it for a year and loves it. Daniel has black because it was 9.99 and he is as cheap as they come :) but I also like the brown and “yellow” (camel colored) leathers.

KiwiCo Eureka Crate. Yes, the same crates we love for kids also make an adult line! When Daniel was a child, his parents used to take him thrifting for electronics so he could buy something just to take it apart into all the little pieces. He loves figuring out how things work, and also building. This line has monthly kits delivered for projects to make, cool things like a real desk lamp, or guitar. If you also have a guy who loves to build stuff, this could be really fun. $10 off here.

Scooter. Daniel really loves his. In pre-corona days when he worked downtown, he would scooter around when he needed to get places. Would be such a great dad/child gift to get one for each! $10 off here.

Similar: E-Bike, E-scooter.

A matte black insulated tumbler. Klean Kanteen makes a lot that we love. Yeti also has high quality ones here and here.

Storyville Coffee Subscription. Daniel’s local favorite and on major sale right now. Fun to get a fresh bag of well roasted beans in the mail.

Noise Cancelling Headphones. For the WFH life with small children. These are the ones Daniel likes and the 21k+ reviews are good.

Sonos WiFI speaker. We don’t have, but heard good things.

Ember Mug. To go with the coffee subscription. Another miracle with small children around: drinking your coffee hot. Haven’t tried but heard good things.

If you have a golfer. A round at a favorite or new course, or this golf grip. I know nothing about golf but Daniel says this is good for putting.

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2020

It’s here! Holidays in 2020. While things are looking different this year, we’re still celebrating. In fact, judging by the amount of Christmas decor I have already crafted, things may even be a little extra this year. Finding all the little moments of good and really wanting to celebrate.

Sharing some of my favorite gifts for babies, kids, and mamas here today. I am often asked about the “best” toys for kids as a speech therapist, and the best toy for a child is really what they’re uniquely interested in, which you as the parent will know best and can vary so widely from kid to kid, even between siblings. One kid is interested in art, another loves to move. Think about what lights them up and what they’re interested in this year. Our favorites are always the simple, open-ended, non-battery ones that can be used in a variety of play contexts, and especially those that encourage pretend play. Sharing some of our tried and true, year after year favorites here.

FOR BABIES

Bannor Toys, for modern wood and personalized toys that make an heirloom style gift.

KiwiCo Panda Crate for 0-24m. Blaire got this as a gift this year and the activities and toys have been so fun. $10 off here.

Pinhole Press Photo Book. Still well loved after 4 years, and great for speech and language development.

Rainbow Stacker. There are many of these out there, we have a small wooden one. Open ended play and cute as decor.

L’ovedBaby. Their organic cotton zip rompers were all that Blaire wore her first year. 15% off here.

Bucket Swing. If you happen to have a backyard play set, or a really good tree, Blaire got one for her first birthday from a great grandparent and I thought it was a creative and unique idea for babies if your parks are closed.

FOR KIDS

Green toys. Made from recycled milk jugs, we have the ferry, firetruck, and garbage truck (for babies: the stacking cups). Great for pretend play, dishwasher and bath safe.

Pretend Play Kitchen. A classic we have loved for years.

Cookie Baking Set. We got this one at a garage sale. Wood, well designed, fine motor practice, love the velcro cutting concept, often in use in our pretend kitchen.

Dollhouse. (now sold out at that link! Similar one here) If you’ve seen my stories you’ve heard me rave about the one I found second hand for $20. It is incredibly well made and gets daily use. I am actually embarrassed to say I didn’t think of getting a dollhouse until I had a daughter, and my son actually plays with this every single day, and builds all kinds of complex pretend play schemes with it. It is beautiful and stays out in our living room, and was the best kid item we bought this year. (I also love this one too, but it’s also sold out right now. Similar: the bakery. There is some really amazing modern doll house furniture on Etsy, and less modern but still wood and super cheap at the dollar store!)

Dollhouse people. Marc the Skateboarder and the Camper set by HABA. Trey got really into camping and skateboarding this summer, so this is a fun set that is a little more boy inclusive for dollhouse pretend play.

Dolls. Even for boys! Inexpensive and racially diverse one that we don’t have but looks good here. We also love Cuddle and Kind. Next Christmas I will introduce Blaire to American Girl dolls and I can hardly wait.

Doll stroller. I found two of these on OfferUp last summer and they are another well loved toy item around here. This one is fun in that it looks like our jogging stroller, but any kind is great.

Pretend make up set. Blaire is always taking my makeup so I think she would really love this. Wood, not plastic! And small shop find.

KiwiCo. We have loved these monthly STEAM crates this year for both kids. Age specific and developmentally appropriate activities mailed to your door, and the creations often get reused in pretend play. $10 off with this link here.

Magnatiles. These make the list every year. Have heard good things about the less expensive version, Picasso Tiles.

Scooter. Another multiple year winner. The mini deluxe is our favorite for ages 2-5. (Don’t forget a helmet!) $10 off with my friends & family link here.

Trey is more into creative play than building, but LEGOS are a classic, along with Duplos for younger ages, and Plus Plus is the newer, cooler cousin (the smaller size is tiny tiny, make sure you get the big size for kids under age 4-5).

Art supplies of all kinds from your favorite local art store. Also, surprisingly IKEA has a great selection of art (and other pretend play items) at good prices.

Wobble Board. A grandparent got this for Trey for Christmas. A bridge, a slide, a balance board, I’ve seen these for years and I think he’s going to really love it.

Similar: Wobble Chair. We have a very active preschooler. We were sent this to try out, and it seems really fun and Trey likes “wobbling” on it while drawing. Sometimes I even sit on it while I work! Great for core strength and kids who need to move to focus, I wish I could gift this to every child who is now zooming for school.

Games. Our preschooler is starting to get into games and we have quite the game cabinet now. Some of our favorites: The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, Zingo, eeBoo Picnic game, and Spot it.

Cardboard Castle. We got this for my nephews last Christmas. Great for indoor play in the winter.

Gym mat. Speaking of indoor active play. I have my eye on these. Ikea has this pretty ombré one too.

New books out:

My Favorite Color. I love this one because so many children (and adults!) have a difficult time picking a favorite color. This book acknowledges that there are many different colors, even in the same shade, and has translucent pages that highlight the subtle differences in color.

Christmas is Joy. Sweet and simple with repetitive text and cute illustrations.

Mouse’s Night Before Christmas. A darling story about a mouse wishing for a friend!

Peppa Pig and the Day of Giving Thanks. A little late, but my nephew is a big Peppa Pig fan so I looked into this one. Highlights thankfulness and the fall season, and also there’s a rainstorm, which is so applicable for us since we’re in the PNW and it rains a lot here. Come January it’s easy to become ungrateful with all the rainy weather, but this story spins it for good.

FOR MAMAS

Everlane perform leggings. I have three pairs and they are my daily uniform. The fabric is amazing.

LVX luxury & 10-free nail polish.

A virtual creative workshop like my friends Brooke and Kristi have started over at StudioLife

Coolest modern, inclusive, woman-owned puzzles. 10% off with code ALLIE.

Love hot baths at night in our freezing winter months. Rediscovered all the benefits of salt baths and now I want Epsom salts in bulk

BLK + GRN black owned, cleaned beauty from multiple brands all in one place

The leather tote I’ve carried every day for years and is ethically made! I have the black/cognac version. I wish all my purchases were as inspiring as their company slogan: “Challenging the culture of the fashion industry by creating transformative opportunities for women.” Yes, please. (AND that tote is on sale right now)