8 Gifts That Provoke Kids to WONDER

6 months after Christmas, the parts are missing, the batteries are dead and the handle is broken. True story.

Sure, plastic toys have their place, but why not give gifts that will provoke your children to WONDER?! We can actually help our children look at the world with big, curious eyes through the gifts we give.

Here’s my list

(NOOOO affiliate links, just good ol’ mom-to-mom advice here. Most links are AMAZON, but OBVIOUSLY if you can buy it locally that’s a good call.)

BUT you can do me a solid- LEAVE A COMMENT if you get something from the list

and SHARE this with friends and grandparents!)

1- Binoculars + a birding book + a journal

(Do yourself a favor here and get a quality pair!)

2- Ant Farm

(This one is a little funky, but you could go traditional too.) We’ve had several any farms over the years and the kids always love it. If you’ve tried the ant farm before, maybe go for a butterfly garden!

3- Geode Kit

I don’t know why but I LOOOVE our geode kit! You get to break one rocks to find crystals have been growing inside for who knows how long. Serious fun. With an emphasis on SERIOUS. You will need safety goggles and a real hammer to get these babies open.

NOTE* Target sells a 2 rock kit… don’t bother. You’ll want TEN! For one, not all of them are impressive and for two, it took us a few rocks just to get the hang of opening them without just smashing the whole rock.

4- A Crystal Growing kit

I’m going to recommend National Geographic because that will arrive to you before Christmas, but there are a few other good brands that get great reviews.

These will be so fun to grow and you’ll be able to keep what you want!

5- A place to collect things

Something like this is perfect! Who has ever been handed a rock by there 3 year old who said, “Mommy look! It’s for you!” That instinct that little children have to notice the small details of life is so precious. Why not encourage that by giving them a place they can keep neat things they find!

My children have a natural eye to see and find neat things simple because I’ve encouraged them to LOOK! Here’s what our family collection looks like. We have rocks, pine cones, and all kind of things from the different walks and trips we’ve taken.

Here’s our family’s collection shelf. It’s my favorite thing in the whole house! (Besides the people.)

6- Microscope.

What’s not to like here?? What provokes wonder like showing your kids that there is a WHOLE other world that they cannot see with their natural eyes!

Again- don’t get a KIDS version of this. Get the real deal!

Though its been in my ‘amazon cart’ I haven’t actually bought them one yet! But every time we’ve been to a museum that has a giant microscope the kids fight over it. “What does my hand look like?” “What does that thread look like?” “Put your hair in there!”

7- Great books

Specifically books that either help you see things in a beautiful way, like this gorgeous book about seeds, (the whole series here) or books that give you a ‘inside look’ look at what we take for granted every day!