The Only Gift Guide for an 8-Year-Old You’ll Ever Need

Somewhere between a toy, afidget, and anart supply, Crazy Aaron’s biscuit-size tins of putty are wildly popular among elementary-school kids. Strategist contributorYoungna Parktold me that her daughter discovered it around age 8 and loved it so much that she saved her allowance to buy it. Not only does Crazy Aaron’s offer tactile play, it also comes in a huge assortment of styles includingmagnetic putty,color-changing glitter putty, and evenputty that looks like boba.

By now, most 8-year-olds will have heard ofpickleball, whether they have played it or not. This tabletop party game reimagines it with elementary-school kids in mind, adding a wacky anthropomorphized pickle and slapstick gameplay. Players compete to be the first to flip two of their opponent’s three pickle-jar lids. I had the opportunity to test the game at a toy fair and found it surprisingly fun.

Nicholas Elmi, chef and partner at several restaurants in Philadelphia, includingRoyal BoucherieandLaurel, bought this American Girlcookbookfor his daughter Grace when she turned 8 to complement her obsession with the American Girl doll of the same name. “Her backstory is that she loves to bake, and after a trip to Paris, Grace falls in love with Parisian bakeries and helps save her family’s bakery,” he says. The book has recipes for cookies, brownies, pies, cupcakes, and more.

I first playedTaco Cat Goat Cheese Pizzawith my niece and nephew when they were 8 and 13 years old; I ended up getting so into it that my palms actually started sweating. The simple card game accommodates groups of two to eight people and isn’t too tricky to master: Everyone takes turns saying a word from the phrase “Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza” while laying down a card from their hand. If there’s a match between the spoken word and the card played, the race is on to slap the pile of cards. Last one to slap picks up the pile — a major setback, because the first player to get rid of their cards wins the game.

This chess board is ideal for newbies because it’s affordable, portable, and magnetic, so you won’t lose any of the pieces.

Collaborative games teach kids to work together toward a common goal or against a common threat. Caitlin Meister, founder of theGreer Meister Group, a private-tutoring andeducational-consulting practice in Brooklyn, recommends this collaborative game where players have to work together to get off of an island that is sinking into the ocean. She says it’s fun for kids and adults because it’s different every time: “You reassemble the board each time by laying out tiles, so it doesn’t get boring.”

Austin, Texas–based dad Bryan Camphire loves playing this game with his 8-year-old daughter Myrna who is very into math. “Her teacher has this game in the classroom, so I bought it for us to play at home,” he says. To win a card, players have to get to the center number by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing the five other numbers on the card. The first player to collect five cards wins. Each player starts the game by choosing their own level of difficulty, meaning kids (and adults) of different ages can all play together.

Art supplieslike printer paper, colorful painter’s tape, paint sticks, and colored pencils make wonderful gifts for kids this age. But it can also be nice to balance out the freedom of open-ended materials with books and magazines that provide guided activities and help young readers practice their comprehension skills. We featured this activity book by Mike Lowery in our guide to thebest activity books for kids. It’s filled with dozens of prompts for everything from creating a personalized spaceship to writing a song for a cat rock band.

Park’s daughter is into all kinds of art-making andcrafts, from drawing and sculpting to making her own jewelry. She has a polymer bead set similar to this one that Park says has been a big hit. It has lots of interesting bead choices that will fit on the included elastic, to keep things simple and fun.

Elementary-school kids love anything that’s miniature — hence the success of toys likeFive Surprise Mini Brands. But if that miniature toy is also a working pottery wheel, then you’ve got a toy that’ll blow their minds, says Toy Insider senior editor James Zahn. The box includes ten mini pottery projects kids can complete to progress from total beginner to pottery master.

This notebook-size synthesizer is the same as one that David Bowie used, and comes recommended by Milkteeth co-founders Rebecca Calavan and Catherine Newell-Hanson. “My brother bought it for my kids and I was like, this is such a silly uncle gift, but actually they’re obsessed with it and they haven’t broken it yet,” says Newell-Hanson. She says it’s an especially amazing gift for kids who are interested in music.

This 12-inch-tall anatomical model of the human body is gross in the best way. It’s filled with squishy versions of vital organs, each of which can be removed with forceps and tweezers, along with the rib cage and other skeletal and muscular systems.

This portable planetarium is a huge value for the price, according to Zahn. Not only does the projector turn any darkened room into a shimmering and rotating night sky, it also comes with 24 high-definition slides that kids can change out to create different combinations.

Beaudrie recommends Prism Designs kites like this one, which she and her family like to take on camping and beach trips, and which she has often given as gifts. She says they are durable, easy to pack, and fly really well.

Stoller points out that perhaps the best thing you can do to encourage a kid’s love of art and art making is to gift them something that takes their artwork to another dimension, literally. The 3Doodler works by gently melting, then pushing out, a brightly colored, nontoxic plastic filament that hardens almost instantly so that kids can create everything from silly-looking monsters and wearable accessories to entire cityscapes and imaginary flying vehicles.

Lego setsare usually a crowd-pleaser, and once this 647-piece space set is built, it can provide out-of-this-world room décor or lots of pretend fun. Because it’s a 3-in-1 set, there are instructions for assembling either an astronaut, a space viper jet, or a cute space dog from the same set of bricks, and the build even includes a display stand. If your particular 8-year-old isn’t into space, though, there are also lots of licensed Lego sets, includingHarry Potter,Animal Crossing, andSuper Mario Bros.to indulge their specific pop-culture obsessions.

We have heard from dozens of experts and actual kids about the magic of Squishmallows. And even if your favorite 8-year-old already has a bedroom full of them, the irresistibly cushy stuffies are still a good gift. You can also diversify their collection with a variety of other products, like this beanbag chair in the shape of a cat.

Mom of two Misko Beaudrie recommendedJellycat stuffiesbecause they’re so soft and come in so many fun designs. In addition to typical bears, frogs, and other animals, the brand sells a collection of sports balls and other equipment, like this smiling basketball wearing sneakers inspired by Air Jordans. It, or any of Jellycat’s other large-scale options, would make a stylish addition to any 8-year-old’s bedroom.

There is an entire cottage industry of toys that double as stress and anxiety relief.Fidgetsand other sensory toys like slime are the most well-known, but I have also been seeing a lot of soothing — sometimes weighted, sometimeswarming—plush toys for kids and adults. Among them is this weighted sloth — the brand also makes anelephant, acat, and apuppy— that truly feels like it is hugging you back. I tested the 4.5-pound Hugimals at home and were it not for the responsibilities of parenthood, I could have spent hours in its soft embrace. I like that it doesn’t cover your whole body the way a weighted blanket does. I would absolutely recommend buying one for nervous or overstimulated 8-year-olds.

Clixo is a mostly open-ended magnetic building toy with flexible pieces that kids can make into almost anything. I have a basic set at home that is honestly more of a toy for me than for my almost 2-year-old son. But by 8 years old, children are primed to get the most out Clixo, especially the newest themed sets. My personal favorite is this Tropical Birds pack that includes a wing-flapping mechanism, allowing you to control your birds wings by tugging it with your finger.

Park recommends this magneticbuilding toyfor second-graders, like her son, who are in theirMinecrafteras. Key materials from the game like brick, grass, water, ore, and avatars of main characters are rendered as pixel-like one-inch cubes;there are multiple themes to choose from, likepumpkin, glacier, orpanda, which come with different sets of resources within the 100-piece packs and can all be used interchangeably. As a bonus, Park says that talking to her son aboutMinecraftwhile he plays with the physical blocks has helped her understand the game by translating the digital elements into into connectable, 3-D toys.

Both Park and Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio have mentioned their daughters’ longstanding fascination with treasures and trinkets; nice-looking storage solutions for those treasures and trinkets make excellent gifts for not only the young collectors themselves but their parents. A lot of jewelry boxes for kids look the same, but this one from one of my favorite brands, DJECO, has a unique secret-garden theme and lots of interesting spots to organize baubles.

If the 8-year-old in your life is ready to level up theirart supplies, consider getting them a big set of water-soluble colored pencils like these from Swiss brand Caran d’Ache. Park’s daughter loves to draw, and has tried every type of colored pencil, pastel, paint, and marker out there. For vibrant and smooth color, which Park says can require a bit of an investment, her family likes Prismacolor and Caran d’Ache products. This set can be used dry to create traditional colored-pencil drawings, and when you add water, the colors transform into lovely watercolors. And because plain old printer paper can’t stand up to a lot of water, you might want to gift it with a set ofwatercolor paper postcards.

Games that encourage full-body movement are particularly beneficial at this age, saysDeb Vilas, director of the Child Life program at Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Along with classics like Jenga, Connect Four, and Twister, Vilas recommends Nok Hockey. The fast-paced game is incredibly durable, uncomplicated, and a great antidote to too much screen time, she says.

This modular Calico Critters home comes recommended by Ruka Curate, founder of theTiny Treasures Nanny Agency,and includes a mansion, a country cottage, furniture, figures, and a seven-seater family van. Even if they’re not familiar with the Calico characters or thevibrant online community of collectors, the old-world aesthetic — and family of rabbits in removable outfits — has an undeniable pull. While this might seem a little babyish to some 8-year-olds, those who enjoy ’90s trends and cute collectibles will be excited to receive this set. Plus there are endless add-on characters and accessories to collect, like a baby hedgehog and its undergound hideout or a family of ice-cream-selling penguins.

This Swiss marble-run brand drew a huge crowd at one of the toy fairs I visited this fall. What drew me to it was the smooth, almost silent way the marbles would glide across the wooden tracks, and how you can rearrange the pieces over and over again to create new paths. It even has pieces that take the marbles through the center of a block, making it disappear and reemerge like magic. It’s definitely a splurge gift, but the quality is superb and it would make a lovely piece of room décor that families can play with together. This 50-piece track set is made of beech wood and comes with five marbles. You can also buy add-on sets that make marblesjump,flip, andrun in parallel tracks.