The Best tip to make kids the EASIEST to gift on your list

kids pajamas + socks  ||  bed  |  white blanket  |  art  ||  christmas decor

When it comes to shopping for my little people in can be a little overwhelming. Like any kids, they want allllll the things. And to be honest, we really don’t need anything else!! They have plenty of toys and the last thing I want in our house is more clutter. So this year Joe and I decided to try a new spin on really simplifying Christmas and not overbuying, which I think we all find ourselves doing. We narrowed it down to 4 simple categories to focus on for each of our kids. They are WANT – NEED – WEAR – READ… and I’m actually kind of loving it! Since it is helping us simplify so much, I thought I’d break down my Kid’s Gift Guide the same way!

houston outfit  ||  my jumpsuit  ||  harper outfit + headband  ||  table + chairs + fuzzy stool

. . . WANT . . .

Is there anything my little people don’t want this year?! I swear every time we walk through a store there are a few more things they’ve changed their mind to! Since I can’t just say “all the aisles of Target”, I’m sharing their top asks, as well as our tried and true favorites!!

• SLIME : Is that basically a swear word in your house too?! Agh as much as I realllly don’t like it, my little people love it!! So we set some strict Slime making/cleaning up rules and are slowly easing ourselves back into it. I loved these kits to get you started…and I know the girls would die over this one!
• LOLZ : These little dolls are taking over our house because Hayden is obsessed. Anyone else totally getting flashbacks to their Polly Pocket days?! They really are the cutest toys and I love how much they make her use her imagination. She is dying to get this giant set this year.
• SCOOTER : These little scooters have ALWAYS been a family favorite for us. Something about the babies feeling like they can keep up with the bigs is their favorite. They are so easy for them to control and balance, and you can’t beat the price point for the quality!
• MINI BIKE : When I shared this little mini bike over on Instagram, you guys completely blew up my Direct Messages asking where it was from. It has been so fun, and the babies love riding it back and forth in the house on these colder days.
• JEWELRY : Hunter is officially a tween and loves all things girly. She has started “borrowing” my jewelry and begging for her own. I wanted to get her good quality pieces that were simple and timeless, so of course I turned to my girl Mary over at Made by Mary. My favorites are this simple initial necklace, this dainty gold choker, and this heart necklace. My girls and I all have these little matching bracelets too and I love the special connection it gives us. The perfect idea for your daughters or granddaughters.
• LEGOS : Lego’s have always been a family favorite. Hudson could do them for hours if we let him and the girls have really started to get into them more too. Joe and I love them because it gets their minds away from screens and encourages them to be creative. We love buying these big buckets so what they build is completely up to them.
• NERF GUNS : Joe might love these just as much as my kids, but I kind of don’t blame him! They love when we make it into a family game and all have our own gun running around dodging little foam arrows. Something about getting the whole family involved makes them so fun! Whether you want to go fancy or just get a simple set for the family, they are so fun! And if you aren’t a fan of things flying around your house, they even made a laser tag version that looks so fun!
• PLAY STORE : And I thought our toy kitchen was the cutest thing I’d ever seen! The babies would DIE over this adorable play grocery store. You can scan your groceries (with a real beep), open the cash register, bag them and everything. I can picture them playing this for hours with these play groceries. 
• MINI BACKPACK : My girls are growing up fast and LOVE to go shopping. They aren’t quite in to your typical purse, but love having their own bag to keep their things in. So you know with my love of matching that I’m dying to get them these little mini versions of my bag?! They are so cute and I know the quality is amazing, like all of their products! You can use code KAILEExFP to get your first month of Fringe FREE!!
• RUBIK’S CUBE : If you follow along over on Instagram, you saw Hudson’s obsession (and incredible skill) with solving the Rubik’s Cube. He got so good at it and wanted another challenge. Little did I know you can get other similar puzzles in more complex like this pyramid or ball.
• RACE TRACK : I think this little glow in the dark race track has been on my gift guides for three years now, but it is that good. It has been Houston’s favorite and he never gets sick of it! I love that its easy to store when he’s not playing with it to, unlike most bulky tracks.
• BASKETBALL HOOP : If you know Houston, you know he loves alllll the balls. But Utah is cold in the winter so we have to think indoors. Love this fun hoop and could see him playing for hours.
• GAMES : I love how much more interactive typical board games are these days. We LOVE this one for a good laugh, and this one to get the whole family into it. They are perfect for extended family parties too! I’ve seen a version of this one on Ellen and think I would be peeing my pants!

. SHOP WANT IDEAS .

.  .  .

my sweater + jeans  ||  houston outfit  ||  harper sweater + leggings  || kids aprons + oven mitts

. . . NEED . . .

When it comes to what my little people “need”, the thing that comes to the top of my list is TIME. They need and crave that one on one time with Joe and I. I’ve shared about our Kid Dates here, and we thought this was the perfect category to get things to help us spend that time together.

• CLASS SIGN UP : A friend of mine had this idea and I loved it! Each of my kids have different interests and I think they’d love taking a class, especially if it was something we could do together. I just did a cake class and I’m dying to take Hunter back on a date with me. You could also do a paint class, dance class, cooking class, anything you know your kids love!
• COOKING SUPPLIES : My little people LOVE time in the kitchen with me, so I know they would die over their own mini baking supplies like these. We are obsessed with these aprons and oven mitts too!
• SEASON PASS : I love the idea of getting season passes for the whole family as a Christmas gift, because you are giving the gift of memories and time together! Some fun local ideas could be Hogle Zoo, Living Planet Aquarium, Thanksgiving Point, This is The Place, and Lagoon. It makes it so much easier to just head over when you have a break in your scheduled and not have to think about what to do. My kids would love it!
• DATE NIGHT : Our typical kid dates are pretty simple. It could be walking the aisles of Target and then heading for Ice Cream. Or going to play mini golf and to their favorite restaurant. We love giving our people gift cards for future dates to get them excited and planning!
• MOVIE GIFT CARD : Family movie night is a fun one too! My little people love going to the theater (probably partly for all the snacks), but even buying a favorite move or getting a Netflix subscription would be a great family gift idea!
• TOP GOLF : We love going to Top Golf as a family. It is such a fun atmosphere and the perfect place to teach your little people. Houston loves it so much we even got him his own little set of clubs! The perfect gift if you have a golf loving little one.
• LESSONS : Have any of your kids been begging to try a new instrument? Or maybe start taking karate or dance? A friend had the idea to gift her son a guitar and lessons and I thought that was so fun!
• TRACKING/PHONE WATCH : If you’ve been around here for a little while, you know I am pretty against my little people having a phone or any kind of device. That being said they are busy and away from me a lot, and I still wanted the peace of mind being able to reach them and see where they are. These watches have been a life saver and the perfect solution for us!

. SHOP NEED IDEAS .

.  .  .

hunter dress + jacket + shoes  ||  hudson top + joggers  ||  houston top + joggers + shoes  ||  hayden dress + cardigan + boots  ||  harper dress + shoes

. . . WEAR . . .

Whether they like it or not, Christmas is the perfect time to stock up on some of the clothes your little people are in need of. Whether it’s a few things to help them keep warm, or in my case a bigger size because I swear they won’t stop growing, Wear is a must have category on our list, and doesn’t always have to be boring!

• SHOES : If there is one thing my little people grow out of FAST it is shoes!! I swear they are always needing new ones. I love getting all their shoes at Rack Room because they always have great deals, and the best selection of shoes my little people and I can both agree on. We are all on a major Vans kick right now and I’m dying over these for the girls and  these for the boys.
• COATS : Northern Utah winters are CHILLY and it is already kicking in, so keeping everyone bundled up is a must. I about died when I saw this coat for Harper and Houston and had to have them. I found some great options for the bigger kids here and here.
• BEANIES : While it may just be another way to keep warm, there is something more fun for the littles about getting a new beanie. Love these cute girly ones the most!
• SLIPPERS : We have a no shoes in the house policy, so slippers are always a favorite over here. This sparkly option for my girls is so dang cute, and as cheesy as they are, I know my boys would be obsessed with these.
• SOCKS : Fun patterned socks are another easy way to liven up the wear category.
• BOOTS : We are boot lovers over here. You’ve probably seen Houston rocking his boots with any outfit he can throw together. The girls love wearing them with jeans or even with a dress for a fun pop.
• PAJAMAS : I talked about our favorite pajama tradition last week, so we are always guaranteed to get those. Whether you want to go more holiday festive or traditional to wear year round, there are so many cute options!
• BASICS : And last but not least is the basics. New headbands for Harper…jeans for the boys…cute outfits for my big girls…whatever helps keep the kids closet simple and transitional gets my vote.

 . SHOP WEAR IDEAS .

.  .  .

my sweater + jeans  ||  harper sweater + leggings + bow  ||  houston outfit  ||  christmas decor

. . . READ . . .

This might be one of my favorite categories. I love seeing my kids start to catch the bug and love for learning. They are just really getting into chapter books and it has been so fun. In addition to just books, we made this category include all things that are a little more “educational”, aka the parent favorite!

• BOOKS : I love getting my kids new books to read! They have all really gotten into reading this past year so I’m excited to get them a few from their favorite series. Hunter is loving Sticks and Stones. Hudson has been flying through the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Hayden loves the Katie Woo books, and the babies can’t get enough of these little animal books that I love for baby gifts.
• ART SUPPLIES : My little people love drawing and coloring so an art kit like this would be a favorite!
• PUZZLES : Puzzles can entertain my people for hours and they will actually work together!
  
• MAGFORMERS : All of my little people love these! They are so fun to create and really use your imagination to see what you can come up with!
• OSMO : I love that this promotes creativity and using your imagination with technology instead of getting lost in the screen.
  

 . SHOP READ IDEAS .

I think that wraps up alllll the ideas! Hopefully you found something perfect for all the little people on your list! I wanna know what other must haves I need to add!

photos : aubrey taiese