What to present for the New Year for a child from 1 to 15 years old

How to choose a useful gift for children of different ages? What to put under the tree for kids, preschoolers and schoolchildren? Interesting ideas for educational gifts for the New Year

New Year's holidays are approaching. The kids are scribbling letters to St. Nicholas and Santa Claus with might and main, and a traditional painful quest begins for the parents. What to choose for a child, so that it is not only beautiful, fashionable and "like Masha's", but also useful. There are a great many games and toys in stores, and the characteristic “developing” does not always correspond to the truth. Based on our own experience and feedback from our readers, we have compiled a rating of truly useful gifts for children of different ages. Here you will definitely find something interesting for your child.

0 to 1 year

It is better to give a gift to a baby taking into account the needs of the parents / istockphoto.com

Frankly speaking, it doesn't make much sense to give gifts for the New Year to newborns and babies. They are still too small and are unlikely to appreciate the beauty of what is happening. Symbolically, you can give a rattle or a bright teether, but it is better to coordinate the main gift with the baby's parents. Perhaps they need a mobile, a development mat, a mega-pack of diapers, or a set of baby care products. From six months (if the baby is already sitting confidently), a set of cubes, the first sorter and a soft book (you can use it while bathing the baby) will be a good gift.

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Closer to the year, some children "fit" well wooden puzzles for 2-3 parts and insert frames. A no-lose option for this age group is a pool with colorful balls. Kids love to "swim" there.

From one to three

A business board will be the best gift for an inquisitive kid / photo easy-busy.in.ua

At this age, the child may well be involved in the pre-New Year's bustle and will gladly crawl under the tree in search of a gift. During this period of baby's development, special attention should be paid to fine motor skills. Inexpensive, but useful pyramids and cubes of different colors and sizes are well suited as a gift - they will give the child the first idea of ​​the physical properties of objects.

Sorters also remain in favor - now you can choose more complex designs with finer details and sound effects. Very good for development are constructors like Lego Duplo, where you need to assemble an animal or a car from three or four parts. However, the leader in the ranking of gifts for fine motor skills is a business board - it can be ordered on the Internet or do it yourself.

Creative children can be presented with a large canvas (as an option, a Whatman sheet) and a set of finger paints. Puzzles, cardboard wimmelbuchs or books with windows are suitable for persevering kids. By the way, among them there are many books on New Year's and Christmas themes. For example, "Christmas in a Big Tree".

Don't dismiss interactive pets: toy cats and dogs now look exactly like real ones, you can walk with them (and for some models you even have to remove the tray!). Such a toy does not just entertain the child, but teaches him to communicate and take care of animals. Finally, all children of this age, without exception, will love the toy tent: remember yourself and the “halabudas” that your parents made for you from chairs and blankets. Your own house will allow the child to develop imagination and come up with role-playing games.

Three to six

Children 3-6 years old like sets of role-playing games "in adults" / photo depositphotos.com

At this age, it is no longer so easy to "impose" a gift on children. They have their own desires, preferences, and even inclinations. Therefore, when choosing a presentation, you need to take into account the interests and psycho-emotional characteristics of the child. Although, of course, one should not discount development as well. So, for energetic kids with an awl in a soft place, sets for outdoor games are well suited: it can be a sports complex (horizontal bars and climbing frames), a musical piano carpet (on which you can "jump" different melodies), a twister, a children's boxing set, table football or darts. Many boys (and girls as well) love sets of Hot Wheels cars: they can be used to make long highways and organize racing competitions.

More diligent kids at this age can easily buy Lego-type constructors (Duplo for three-year-olds, and from four years basic sets are suitable): there are series for boys and girls, on their basis you can build a whole city and play miniature figurines. Also, calm kids will be interested in sets for creativity: for example, a picture of sequins, a homemade bracelet, a toy with their own hands or a backpack, painted on their own. An easel or a double-sided board, where on one side you can draw with crayons, and on the other, write with a marker or attach magnets, would be an excellent option. By the way, you can give a magnetic theater separately to such a board.

For role-playing games Tool kits (like Dad's), doctor's kits, or a toy kitchen work well. When choosing, you should not start from the gender of the child, it is better to pay attention to his hobbies. For example, many boys enjoy playing chefs with sets of dishes and plastic products, while girls fix cars and unscrew nuts. And do not forget about board games: from about four years old, children willingly play adventure games with adults, and from the age of five, using board games, it is quite possible to master the basics of reading and verbal counting.

Six to nine

Useful mobile app for schoolchildren / istockphoto.com

The most interesting and at the same time difficult age, when the choice of a present, in most cases, is supervised by the child himself. Parents can only gently and unobtrusively direct his desires. It depends only on you whether the child asks for a fifth bazooka with a telescopic sight, or you manage to captivate him with a truly useful gift.

Constructor. You can choose an interesting constructor for every child, regardless of his temperament. The same Lego, magnetic constructor or engineering constructors (for example, the electronic constructor Znatok) "comes in" to persevering children. For more active children, creative design kits (for example, the popular Velcro constructors, from which you can quickly create whatever comes to mind), as well as 3-D puzzles from cardboard or wood.

Board games and puzzles. You should not cut your child off from the board just because of his hyperactivity. There is now loads of gamesthat will be of interest to every student. For example, “Who am I” or “Elias” develop a child's vocabulary and creativity. Games like "Doble" or "Doublet" have a good effect on attention and reaction speed. There are adventure games that require logical thinking ("Zooregata") or games where children learn to think strategically ("Children's Mafia"). Separately, it is worth noting puzzles by Smart Games and their cheaper counterparts.

Mobile app. If a child already has a smartphone, or he shows an increased interest in your gadget, it is worth giving him a mobile application that will help to spend time on the phone with benefit. There are a great many such educational applications now, but many sin with intrusive advertising, "lag" or because of the same type of tasks quickly become uninteresting to the student.

According to parents, one of the best educational platforms today is LogicLike. There are courses on tasks for logic, mathematics, memory development and concentration. All of them are divided by difficulty levels, suitable for children from 6 years old to 12 years old. The application is drawn very colorfully, the tasks are presented in a playful way and are updated daily, so they cannot bore the child in principle. For passing each level, the little logic is given bonuses that can be spent on acquiring new motivational characters. And at the end of each course completed, the child will receive a certificate of achievement: it can be downloaded, printed and hung on the wall.

Book. There are no children who do not like to read. There are children who simply did not come across a suitable book. Spending a little time choosing according to the interests of your child, you will definitely fall into the top ten. We gave a list of the best books for the first independent reading here. here.

Also remember that many elementary school students are interested in the adventures of the same schoolchildren, so they will gladly read funny books about children. Finally, nobody canceled books about New Year and Christmas - due to their theme, they will fit into the festive atmosphere and will be, as they say, "in the theme." Just do not forget to order a book for yourself as a gift: a child will not read where he has never seen a book in the hands of an adult.

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How not to spoil your child with gifts for the New Year: 5 tips for parents

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