Leave A Little “Magic” Under the Tree
Turn your tablet into a learning device with games so fun your kids won’t even realize they’re doing math! Magical curriculum-based adventure series that combines digital gameplay with active, hands-on learning – helping children build math confidence through imagination, reason, and exploration. The latest addition, Math Wizard and the Fantastic Food Truck teaches kids geometry and spatial reasoning as they prepare fun foods. From partitioning shapes into equal shares as they “cut” food to composing 2D shapes, our kids enjoy making lots of fun food creations all while practicing math concepts. A great way to bring “magic” under the tree.
In the Math Wizard series games from Osmo , the players use math to help create potions for dragons and help the townspeople. Math Wizard is a self-paced, curriculum-inspired series that combines hands-on learning with digital adventure, helping children build math confidence and understanding. Osmo works closely with educators to develop the games to make sure they are aligned with traditional curriculum so that children can take what they play on the Osmo game and apply it to the classroom and life. There are settings within the game for parents to set based on their student’s ability.
Each of the Math Wizard games covers a variety of math skills including: addition/subtraction up to 120, place value, how to use non-standard units of measure, how to use a ruler to measure, balancing and building equations, solving for an unknown value, repeated addition as a foundation for multiplication, number decomposition and more. The best part is that the games all use different pieces as part of solving the problem, so it is definitely hands-on learning!
For those that aren’t familiar, Osmo is an app-based system that works with your iPad or Fire Table. From coding to learning math and how to draw your favorite Disney characters, we love that it has a wide-range of games for all ages. Rather than sit in front of the TV, we love that it is a positive screen time option, where they are learning STEAM-based skills and having fun
Family Matching Fun
From Christmas crafting to reading, watching movies and darling photos — get cozy with the family enjoy the holiday season.
From Christmas crafting to reading, watching movies and darling photos we love getting cozy with the family to enjoy the holiday season. And of course everyone was cozy in their Hanna Andersson family matching pajamas! From Gnomes and Deers, Stripes and even your favorite characters, we love Hanna Andersson pajamas because not only can the entire family match, but the quality makes them easy to pass down to siblings and cousins. The premium organic cotton makes them so soft that we just want to wear them all day.
They also make for a great holiday photo outfit. Each year, we love picking a print and having the entire extended family get the same print. Whether it is waking up Christmas morning and taking some family photos or going to your favorite holiday events in matching pjs, we love the quality of Hanna Andersson pajamas.
Holiday Party Personalized
From a statement centerpiece to a Santa cookie jar, character cups or handprint plates… personalize your party with celebratory ceramic creations. Or bring the family to the clay and have your own pottery party without having to clean up the mess. Ceramic Cafe at the Del Mar Highlands is one of our favorite spots. You can make a reindeer plate to leave Santa his cookies or a gingerbread cookie jar to store all your homemade treats. Our kids love picking out a piece to paint. Sometimes we work as a family together on one piece and other times the kids enjoy painting a piece on their own. Every time we create something, we have the kids put their thumb print or handprint on the back along with the year. It is another fun way to add a personal touch. We also love this as a gift option. By giving the gift of a shared activity, grandma can take the kids to paint an item or you can create a piece together as a family.
Gifts That Inspire
Reading and music are crucial to cognitive learning and when they are combined, it’s pure inspiration. Some of our favorite classic books get a twist, and legendary leaders stories are told in a way a child can understand.
The Story Orchestra collection from Quarto is a favorite! Follow Clara on a magical Christmas adventure in this musical retelling of The Nutcracker ballet – push the button on each beautiful scene to hear the vivid sound of an orchestra playing from Tchaikovsky’s original score.
At the back of The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker you’ll find a short biography of the composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, with details about his composition of The Nutcracker ballet. Next to this, you can replay the musical excerpts and, for each of them, read a discussion of the instruments, rhythms and musical techniques that make them so powerful. A glossary defines musical terms.
In addition to this, the series The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day, you can push the button in each breathtaking scene to hear the vivid sound of an orchestra playing from Vivaldi’s score.
We love the Little People, Big Dreams series so we were super excited to find this beautifully packaged Treasury featuring 50 dreamers from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling series. Printed with gold gilded page edges and with an interior reading ribbon, this luxury keepsake treasury features inspiring artists and passionate climate activists to intrepid explorers and groundbreaking musicians, this collection goes further than the original series into the lives of these iconic figures, perfect for curious minds who always want to know more!
Each of the beautifully written biographies is accompanied by a timeline, featuring extra information, important dates and real photos.
Presents that “Build” Memories
You don’t have to be a master builder to be a LEGO® fan… in fact you don’t even have to play with the bricks (although we love to and are gaga over their Christmas sets and upcoming art projects). But from fashions to home decor, LEGO®is building memories with beanies, sweaters, containers and coasters. Just like the box says from 0-99, all ages would want the gift of Lego. The LEGO® Collection x Target is a limited-time-only lifestyle assortment that includes nearly 300 items spanning home goods, pets, toys and gifts, as well as apparel and accessories for the entire family featuring vibrant colors and brick-inspired patterns. There are even fun accessories to make LEGO-inspired snowmen or sandcastles. We love the ornament sets for stocking stuffers. It gives the kids something to work on while we are still waking up. Some other fun holiday gifting ideas are the elf club, wreath set and art set. The art set enables the creator to make different pieces of art out of LEGOs and can be displayed.
We love that the LEGO x Target collection has a wide range of apparel in sizes and features an expanded assortment of adaptive and sensory-friendly offerings for kids and babies. They even have family-matching items, which we love for trips to Legoland or when we are building sets at home. The brick-inspired sweaters and sherpas paired with the beanies is a great gift idea as it inspires their love for LEGOs. The kids are definitely drawing straws on who gets to rock the Benny cross-body bag.
Throw Your Own Themed Tea
Whether it’s Reindeer, the Nutcracker or even a Teddy Bear tea, pick a theme and create your own Christmas tea for family and friends right at home!
It’s easier than you think and allows a safe way to enjoy the season while also allowing for your creativity to spark.
