2019 Hands-on & Keepsake
Holiday Gift Guide for Children

I am thrilled to share with you my 2019 gift guide for young children! I put tons of thought into making this gift guide curated around our love for hands-on activities. Think Montessori-inspired, high-quality keepsakes, most with an educational component based on our fondness of the outdoors, creating with our hands, and playing games as a family. My hope is to bring joy and creativeness to homes this holiday season, while thinking slightly outside of the box! 

1. State Bags Backpack
   gorgeous quality backpack for school, play, or heading to grandma’s!
2. Milo’s Corner Scavenger Hunt/Nature Bag
   we carry this on every walk to collect leaves and sticks, my kiddos love to put their “loot” in it!
3. Simply Toys Montessori style tools
   we play with rice, dry pasta, kinetic sand, water balls, and use whatever tools we can find, so the kids are going to be OBSESSED with these!
4. Nugget Comfort Play Couch
   hoping to get this for our climbers and jumpers, I have heard such wonderful things!
5. This & That Personalized Name puzzle
   a must for every child who is learning their name, looks perfect in their bedrooms on display too!
6. We are the Gardeners (book)
   such a sweet book by Joanna Gaines and her children!
7. Magna-tiles qubix set
   great to travel or when eating out (currently cheaper on Amazon)
8. Chalkfull Trace and Erase Chalkboards
   the perfect gift for preschool/kindergarten age children to practice, packaged beautifully and excellent quality.
9. Play the Forest School Way (Book)
   great for some afternoon adventures around your neighborhood!
10. Pulp Co Hat
    a very rad hat made in small batches!
11. Wooden Story Vintage Bowling Set/ Wooden Story Rainbow Blocks
    A unique bowling set for the whole family to enjoy! Heirloom quality blocks for endless building, love that they come in a sack so you can pack them to go anywhere! be sure to check out their entire site of wooden toys made in Poland!
12. Project Kid (100 crafts for kids book)
    fun for your little crafter at heart!
13. Rustic Family Journal
    want to start journaling as a family, include our nature treasures, highlights from trips, etc. the perfect place to fill with memories!
14. Gathre Homestead Playmat
    we basically live on our wipeable leather gathre mats. this one is so fun for imaginative play! but really, any mat would be a great gift idea!
15. Fact & Fiction Toys Tangram Set
    a beautiful hands on learning activity for your kids to enjoy! build your own creations with these wooden shapes! Pull out on a rainy day or perfect for on the go!
16. Wooden Balance Board
    a fun challenge for everyone in your home, even the adults, can use them in multiple ways!
17. Kinetic Sand
    This stuff is cool! sand that does not fall apart and is easy to clean up! Add some little trucks and your kids will be in heaven!
18. Personalized Photo Vintage Reel Viewer
    perfect for family photos or a special memory like a vacation!
19. Fin & Vince Bonnet
    fin & vince makes the most heirloom quality pieces that are worthy of keeping for your future grandbabies!
20. Water Balls
    if you have not played with theses, you are missing out!

I hope you guys enjoy paging through these spectacular items and that they inspire you to shop small and get creative! Every time we shop small, a shop owner does a little happy dance and we get to support an actual person and their family! This year I am going to follow these category ideas:

something to play
something to wear
something to share
something to read
something to keep(sake)

I know I get asked if my kids will get those character and fun items that every kid loves and the answer is YES! They will each get a paw patrol item that they have been asking for, but they have plenty of toys so we are going to keep it simple. I would love to hear what your kids are getting!

warmest christmas wishes, Dani