Holiday Gift List For Your Maker or Tinkerer

As you watch your kiddo grow and develop more interests and those interests intensify, we love infusing homes and playspaces with more material, toys and products that support it! If you’re looking for the perfect addition to your playroom to support your kiddos’ interest(s) and strength, here are some of our playroom designer favorites! Each one of these products support grOH!’s eight types of play, and will look good in your playroom. But most importantly… these toys are extremely fun!

Making, art, and tinkering are intertwined, so let's take a look at our favorite materials for your little creative!

So what is Art and Making?

When we talk about art and making, we are focusing on visual arts and creating physical materials (vs. musical arts and dramatic arts.) Young artists explore traditional and nontraditional tools and materials to translate an image or story from their head through their hands and into being. Some art and making is temporary, lasting only until it is cleaned up.

Some results in a finished product. The process of creating both inspires great problem solving and creative thinking. You might see an artist do the following:

*Collecting recycled and natural materials to add to creations

*Experimenting with various tools and materials

*Focusing on subject matter and practicing drawing the same/similar items repeatedly

*Creating art inspired by the season or changes around them.

When your fridge is full of masterpieces, you know you have an artist! Keep the art cabinet fully stocked, because you never know when the inspiration will strike them to create those priceless works of art. Here are our top gifts for your petite Picasso:

Toys For Your Artist/Maker

1. Oil pastels

2. Washi Tape

3. Kwik sticks

4. Wikki Sticks

5. Clay that dries

How do you know you have a tinkerer? Well, just look around! You’ll see the evidence of their many inventions and investigations everywhere. No need for you to try hard to figure out what makes them tick -- we’ve unlocked the perfect way to nurture their creative spirit with these 8 essential gifts:

So, what is Tinkering?

Essentially it is the exploration of materials and tools to create or invent something to solve a problem. When children tinker, they observe the physical properties of objects. They take things apart, put things together and explore how they work. You might see tinkering in the following:

*building a car out of boxes

*using natural materials (sticks, leaves etc) to create a house

*taking a toy apart and work to put it back together.

*creating and testing ramps

Tinkering is the first step toward becoming a maker, scientist and engineer!

Toys For Your Tinkerer

• Loose parts

• Manual drill *

• Measuring tape

• Kid’s hammer *

Materials

• Chalk

• Wood pieces: Cubes; Planks

• Natural materials (find outside)

• Recycled materials (collect)

*Note that a big part of tinkering is acknowledging and managing risks. If there are safety risks involved in your child’s project, point them out and coach them on the correct safety procedures. Monitor them closely and release control to your child as they continue to practice and earn trust. Always supervise your child.

Want to learn more about Tinkering and maker spaces, We love this article by NAEYC!

Is your kiddo a real Michelangelo? A kiddo of many talents and interests? Don’t miss our other lists so your playroom will be stocked with the tools and materials they need!