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

You might remember the feel of these rectangular decks in your hands as you fanned them out from their fastened corner (a brilliant design detail — this way the cards never get lost) to reveal each of a thousand trivia questions written by Chris Welles Feder (eldest daughter of Orson Welles). The look has been modernized and the material has been updated since you were a kid — it’s based on school curriculums, with categories for the third-grade set including math, science, social studies, and language arts. But in this form, the quizzing doesn’t feel like school; it becomes a game that can be played anywhere, including in a car or on a plane. “And even during dinnertime,” adds Kate S., a nanny for the New York–based SmartSitting agency. She likes to buy sets for the level just above the child’s actual grade, “to challenge them and help them get ahead in school.” And the price of around $10 for each deck, she says, can’t be beat.

“Your kids become inflatable Goodyear Blimps in these Gobstopper-shaped entrapments,” says Zibby Owens, author, mom of four, and host of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. “My twins got the set as gifts for their 8th birthday and spent the afternoon crashing into each other, rolling around in the grass, and laughing hysterically.” The suits are made of durable PVC, but in case the wrestling action gets particularly intense, there’s a repair patch included.

What 8-year-olds may not realize as they’re utterly absorbed in this balancing game is that it’s encouraging socialization: Up to four players can get involved, watching the tower wobble and shift and change shape with each piece that’s added on. Playing together in smaller groups is also a great way for kids to develop self-esteem, according to Stoller: “They’re more competitive at this age and love to play games together, so peer interaction is very important.”

The dozen plaster-coated dinosaur eggs in this kit come with chiseling tools to spark your kid’s inner archeologist — as they excavate away, they’ll eventually discover a different clay dinosaur inside each egg. “I like these sorts of toys because they give children a window into science without them realizing they are learning,” says Dr. Sanam Hafeez, neuropsychologist and founder of Comprehensive Consultation Psychological Services. There are informational cards included about all the dinosaurs, too. (Parent tip: To cut down on the dust involved in the unearthing process, you can soak the eggs in water first.)

“Goldieblox was designed to get kids engaged with STEM projects, and they have branched out more into the art space now,” Meister says. She recommends the company’s craft kits for creative kids. With this one, kids can decorate their own light-up essential oil diffuser and essential oil-infused bracelets. The kit comes with everything they’ll need to create their own unique scent, including six different oils.

Pokémon may be more than 25 years old, but the franchise is just as popular with grade-school kids as it has ever been. Ali Mierzejewski, editor-in-chief at the Toy Insider, says there are all kinds of new licensed toys being released — including Squishmallows and new video games for Nintendo Switch — but that even these basic trading-card packs will make an excellent gift for an 8-year-old.

An ideal stocking stuffer: “Here is a ‘Keep in your purse at all times’ one,” says Brenda Bisner, SVP of content at Kidoodle.TV. It’s a speedy dice game — there’s one labeled L that you pass to the left, one marked C to put in the center, and an R to pass to the right — that comes with chips for the winner to collect. “You can make this a lot of fun without taking up a lot of space. I love to have this on hand for when the crayons and coloring become boring. I feel like the ‘cool mom’ when I pull it out.”

For ages 8 and up, this is “an amazing logic and thinking game,” according to Dr. Taylor Chesney, Psy.D., director of the Feeling Good Institute NYC. The goal is to arrange the tokens on the board so that the flashing laser beam hits your target. And since it “comes with multilevel challenges,” Dr. Chesney notes, “it grows with your child.” To that end, an Amazon reviewer writes: “Fourth graders and engineers love this toy. Follow the cards, create your own, make it big, make it long — it’s all fun. It is the most sought-after game in my classroom and it engaged two very serious young adults until they were told to put it away.”

“Shouldn’t every family have a chess board?” asks Naomi Davis of the blog Love Taza, who is a mother of five. This model is particularly authentic: She says it is the same style board and pieces used in professional chess tournaments. (It meets the proportion standards of the World Chess Federation.) “It’s fun to do together with kids and even more fun to watch them play each other and be good sports about it.”

Part memory game, part board game, this is a particularly appealing gift for visual learners, according to Owens. Each card has an illustrated (and sometimes wacky) scene — a girl at the beach, a potluck party, a cockatoo making pancakes. You have 30 seconds to stare at each scene, then you have to recall as many details as possible. “It’s fun, mind-engaging, and highly entertaining,” Owens says.

Dr. Chesney sees all kinds of educational benefits here. For one, the futuristic-looking marble run “gives kids a hands-on introduction to gravity, magnetism, and kinetic energy.” And the modular design can be assembled in various ways, allowing for curves, free falls, even a cannon situation. All of which is “a great way to practice trial and error and problem-solving skills,” says Dr. Chesney, who notes that kids can either follow the instructions or get creative and dream up a layout all their own. It “grows with a kid’s increasingly complex mind.”

This award-winning MudWatt kit by Magical Microbes teaches kids how to build a battery using dirt, which kids can grab from their own yards or the park. Kansas State University geology professor Matthew Kirk recently used this kit to teach middle-schoolers about geobiology, specifically getting a charge out of microbes and mud. “They like to play with mud, and who doesn’t,” he says. “From my perspective, these MudWatt fuel cells offer a lot of potential learning opportunities — from environmental chemistry and microbiology to electricity and circuits. They could be used in a lot of ways.”

The half-pound of roughly textured rocks that come in this set are transformed into polished agate, amethyst, and seven other types of real gemstones when you put them through the motorized tumbling machine with some grit powder and water. “Any budding crystal or gemstone collector will get such a kick out of this,” says Tara Maria Famiglietti, a mom and jewelry designer of ONDYN. Famiglietti notes that you can shine up any other rocks you happen upon, too: “There are even quartz rocks you can find in Central Park and throw in here to have your very own polished crystal stone,” she says. Of course, it’s not immediate gratification: The tumbling process involves multiple stages of running the rocks through the machine for days at a time. But that’s an “added bonus,” Famiglietti says. “It teaches patience.”

Stoller points out that some kids at this point in their development show an inclination toward such creative endeavors — so perhaps the best thing you can do to encourage their love of art and artmaking is to gift them something that takes their artwork to another dimension, literally. 3Doodler is widely recognized as the best 3-D printing pen on the market for kids. How does it work? The pen gently melts, then pushes out a brightly colored, nontoxic plastic filament that hardens almost instantly, and the latest upgrades to the award-winning device include a slimmer pen for easier handling, faster charging, and a standby mode for improved safety.

“There’s something deeply satisfying in watching two tops bang into each other for Beyblade supremacy,” says Beth Beckman, a co-founder of FOMOFeed Kids, who can’t remember a playdate where these didn’t make an appearance. “It’s a hit as big as the noise it makes when these explode on the floor.”

If it’s a monster truck good enough for Kate Hudson’s kid, well … (It appeared on Hudson’s Instagram as a birthday gift when her son, Bingham Hawn Bellamy, turned 8). Maybe you won’t be surprised, then, to hear that it has such awesome features as four-wheel drive, waterproof electronics, a 2.4GHz radio system, and a “bashable” design that allows you to easily swap or replace parts and keep racing if something breaks, say, from crashing the truck into a mailbox, a fence, or a tree.

The glory days of the department store may be over, but kids still experience a sense of wonder in the two-story shopping tower here, complete with a working elevator and revolving door that lead to the fashion boutique and cosmetics counter, set amid patterned ceilings and a movable quarter-balcony. Curate finds this to be a beautiful gift for this age. Even if they’re not familiar with the Calico characters, the old-world aesthetic — and Chocolate Lounge serving tiny treats — has an undeniable pull.