This Gift Guide is Filled with STEM and Activity Gift Ideas for All Ages
When we’re sourcing ideas for our holiday gift guides, we communicate with a wide range of brands and agencies that we work with throughout the year. We encourage them to share the details with friends or clients. We receive samples like the games from Nintendo and the coloring books, so these guides end up being a mix of products we’re already familiar with and ones that are new to us. We put a lot of work into each of these guides, but this one is filled with exciting, unique ideas that you probably aren’t finding on other lists. The first three are perfect support gifts for friends and family who are interested in role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons.
We encourage you to read over this list and click through to learn more about the products. (We may receive a small commission if you make a purchase.) This particular list has typically been focused on educational and STEM products but this year we’ve shifted the focus to include products that encourage reading and general wellbeing as well. We are confident that you’ll find something for someone on your shopping list – or perhaps even your own wish list!
Color My Quest
Dice Up Games
Color My Quest is the ENNIE Award nominated tabletop role playing game for the whole family. With easy to learn rules and color and cut elements to keep everyone engaged, Color My Quest is the perfect entry point for families to get into RPGs, and at an affordable price. Everything you need to play is in the core book, which is available in digital or physical formats, and there are eleven books in the series!
Shelf Care: A Table Top Coloring Book
Violet Daisy Games
A board game and RPG themed coloring book featuring twenty artists from the tabletop games industry.
ink is an adorably spooky roguelite tabletop RPG where you play as the ghosts of dead characters trying to battle their way out of the spirit world. Every time your party dies, you gain valuable Shards which can help you and your Shadow gain new supernatural powers and unlock forgotten memories of your past life. This coffee-fueled game includes rules for procedurally generated campaigns, nautical combat, and a bevy of friendly Boorista ghosts along the way to sell you invigorating, caffeinated magical elixirs.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Nintendo
Classic Mario gameplay is turned on its head with Wonder Flowers in the Super Mario Bros. Wonder game! These game-changing items can make some wonderfully weird stuff happen. Witness pipes coming alive, wreak havoc as a giant Spike-Ball, and lots more!
Emotional Intelligence
Hawkberry Games
Emotional Intelligence is a unique social deduction game that combines personality types and This or That questions. Inspired by the popular Myers-Briggs personality test, you are given one of 16 personality types, and your goal is to guess the personality types of the other players. Use hilarious and thought-provoking questions provided in the game to help you deduce the other players’ personalities. Guess the most personalities correct, and you can confidently say that you have Emotional Intelligence!
Bank-A-Ball
ABetter Design Company
Bank-A-Ball Mini Basketball Hoop is the World’s Most Advanced Trickshot Basketball Set For Sports Guys. It is an Indoor Adjustable Backboard And Tilting Rim With a Soft Ball that is Safe For The Man Cave, Bedroom, Office, Boardroom, Workroom, Work Space, Shop, Common Lounge – Best Gift For Guys Installs Over Any Door – Easily Adjusts For Trick Shot Fun – Get Perfect Gift for Dudes Of Every Age
Just Add Soap
Griddly Kids
Introduce your kids to the fascinating world of clean science and art with Just Add Soap! This all-in-one kit brings excitement and wonder into your home, making learning a delightful and interactive experience. With everything you need included, simply add a little imagination, and the exploration begins! Delve into the science behind bubbles, uncovering the secrets of viscosity and surface tension. Create your very own soap and soap crayons, sparking endless artistic possibilities. With over 20 captivating activities, time will fly as your little ones immerse themselves in this hands-on learning adventure.
Hydraulic Boxing Bots
Thames & Kosmos
Ding! Ding! Jab, dodge, uppercut! These boxing robots use hydraulic power to move like real boxers. Packed with the excitement of a boxing match and the fun of constructing incredible mechanical models, this kit allows you to build two boxing robots and challenge a friend to a match. With complex shoulder gestures, two boxing punches (jab and uppercut), three waist postures, and interchangeable heads, these robots are designed to float like butterflies and sting like bees. Use the handheld hydraulic controls to fight like a champ. Knock your opponent robot’s head backward and score a point on the included scoreboard. Learn about how these amazing machines and hydraulic systems work. Leave the rocking and socking to the lightweights — this awesome STEM kit really packs a punch!
Challenger 14pc Set
Magformers
Innovators of the future are sure to love the building experience, achievable with the Magformers Challenger 14 Pc Set. Aimed at architects of the future, build anything from giraffes and helicopters to cruisers and magic balls. Containing a wide variety of magnetic building shapes, the Challenger 14 Pc Set lets kids explore magnetic construction through modular creative play.
The Sherlock Files: Sinister Secrets
Indie Boards & Cards
The Sherlock Files: Sinister Secrets includes three new confounding cases to solve. Track down a priceless diamond necklace that vanished after a glamorous Hollywood afterparty. Unravel the sordid tale of a man who was murdered before the eyes of his own mother. Investigate the supernatural secrets of a haunted hotel room that kills anyone who tries to stay in it! How strong is your sleuthing? Solve these cases to find out!
Pikmin 4
Nintendo
Raise a crop of plantlike Pikmin and guide them on an endearing expedition!
Meet Pikmin, small, plantlike creatures you can grow, pluck, guide, and send into battle with enemies multiple times their size! These loyal, curious helpers come in different types, including fire-resistant Red Pikmin and brand-new Ice Pikmin. The fate of your Pikmin is yours to decide—will you carefully avoid danger or rush into situations despite potential…losses?
TrainBots
Thames & Kosmos
Choo choo! TrainBots coming through! All aboard! Put on your engineer’s cap and build your own steampunk-style train robot with amazing steam effects. You can build your TrainBot in two different configurations: a rolling train and a walking robot. Turn it on and watch it go, with cool water vapor “steam” billowing from its chimney, lit up in a fiery orange glow. This retro-futuristic model is packed with modern technology, including an electric motor, LED lights, circuit board, and an innovative ultrasonic atomizer that transforms tap water into the fine mist that rises from the chimney. Learn about how the ultrasonic atomizer works, about the differences between fog, smoke, and steam, and about the steampunk craze. The experiment manual includes step-by-step assembly instructions as well as a fun, comic-book-style story that brings the TrainBots to life.
Advent Calendar
Plus Plus USA
Countdown to Christmas with the Plus-Plus Advent Calendar! Create your way through the holidays with over 25 unique builds culminating in a festive scene made from 600 pieces.
Shrink-Its! DIY Shrink Art Kit
Ooly
Turn a ho-hum afternoon into a good time with OOLY Shrink-Its! DIY Shrink Art Kit! It includes 20 quirky charms, three differently colored cords, and five differently colored ball chains. You simply provide the markers or color pencils and the oven! Made from lightweight plastic, these charms are perfect for hanging on a backpack or keychain! Themes: Cute Crew, Fun Friends. Ages 6+ | MSRP $12.99 | Available now at OOLY.com
If you’re still looking for gift ideas, check out our other guides filled with family games, card games, games for older kids and adults, gifts for younger kids and classic games. More guides are on the way too along with plenty of giveaways so stay tuned!
Which will end up on your wish list and which in your shopping cart?
Ink and TrainBots both look cool!
Shelf Care: A Table Top Coloring Book, Emotional Intelligence, Just add Soap and Advent Calendar are my favorites
I haven’t played Pikmin in years…..
advent calendars are my jam!
Just Add Soap looks like something my preschool would love.
Hydralic Boxing Bots looks really cool! I could see my family playing with these for hours.
I like Just Add Soap
My favorites are “Bank-A-Ball”, “Advent Calendar” and “Shelf-Care: Tabletop Coloring Book”
Pikmin 4 looks like a blast!
Emotional Intelligence is a great idea.