Eight Educational Gifts That Are Far From Boring
The season of joy is upon us, and we all need as much holiday magic as the world can provide right now. Whether you’re an avid Christmas fanatic or just happy to have a few days off from work, this series will help you choose the perfect gifts, playlists, meals and activities to make this the best Christmas ever .
Opening gifts during the holidays should be fun—no one likes gifts that are too functional or boring. This is why you probably don’t think about giving people educational gifts too often. However, there are plenty of gift ideas that are challenging or enriching in some way—and definitely not boring.
The best educational gifts for children
Getting a developmental gift for a child is not an easy task. When I was about six years old, my mother constantly praised a Christmas present and was very happy that I opened it. It turned out to be a CD called Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, which she happily installed on our clunky, Internet-less computer. I was furious. I wanted something colorful, something stylish. But I eventually started playing typing games and by the next year I was proficient with the QWERTY keys, putting me miles ahead of my classmates and, to be honest, probably preparing me for the job I have now. I type much faster and more efficiently than any of my friends, let me tell you that much. The key to this gift, although I didn’t appreciate it the moment I opened it, was the gamification of learning. For children, learning should be fun. Here’s why you should consider these gifts:
The Marble Gravity Maze teaches hands-on physics lessons and is a fun way to learn to build with your hands. I think the interactive globe toy is especially cool and useful because scanning the globe and getting information about different countries requires additional technology, like a tablet or phone. I love that it draws on the old school world and modern technology to teach kids the value of using it to both find information and stay active.
Honestly, anything that retains some of these practical elements makes a good gift. Yes, children now have access to a huge amount of information via the Internet, but there is something fundamental about the need to build or create something. While everyone else is giving them super-techy gifts, you can get a real hit with a mini chemistry set or root viewer .
When choosing a gift, do not forget to take into account the interests of the child. My mom knew I was interested in computers (and made a smart bet that they would become more relevant and important as I got older) back in the early 90s, so she got me a typing game. If the child you’re buying for isn’t into bugs, skip the ant farm; it’s only educational if they actually use it.
Cool educational gifts for adults.
The whole purpose of educating children is to prepare them for adulthood, right? Ideally, they should be lifelong learners – and some of them you know yourself. If you’re looking for some cool educational gifts for an adult, try these:
I love learning something new. I’m always taking up random classes or taking up new hobbies. Just because I don’t know anything about, say, Brazilian martial arts, doesn’t mean I can’t figure it out. I also like to do things with my own hands. Last week, for unknown reasons, I set out to learn how to do a DIY hard gel manicure. I didn’t care about saving money at the beauty salon or anything like that; I just wanted to see if I could do it. If you need an educational gift for an adult, the same rules apply as for children: find out what they can guess.
Personally, I would love to receive a set of Bluetooth speakers that I can build myself, or cards with countries of the world . I know nothing about audio and almost nothing about geography, but I would like to. Any gift that needs to be created or worked on is ideal because half the gift is the effort to create it, and the other half is the lasting physical item that is left behind as a result. A motorized marble maze puzzle or a mini bonsai garden are great options—bonus points if you offer to work with them to create unforgettable vacation memories.