The Source: Gift Guides Round 🤙☝️
The third (and final!) Treehouse gift guide—just in time (we hope) for holiday shipping deadlines.
OK—we did it!
Gift guides happened. We’ll get back to our usual cascade of oddities shortly—until then:: Gifts for the Fun Little Bud and Gifts that are stocking appropriate or under $30 (sometimes, most of the time, both!).
Left to right, top to bottom.
SPOON CARVING KIT | My eldest son is desperate to whittle. Really. And so, this little spoon-carving kit is heading to a stocking near us!
MAGIC WATER BOOK | Like the WaterWow! activity books, but much, much prettier.
HEY KIDS WATCH THIS! | A24’s very own guide to the best movie night ever, all the time.
FRUITS: A FARM TO TABLE CARD GAME | A twist on Uno and Gin Rummy, Fruits is a fast-paced card game with extremely clay figures on each card.
WOOL HAT | Maybe a little more for their keeper than the actual child, but this wool (warm!) hat in safety yellow (visible!) is cute and, hey, YOU CAN’T MISS EM.
MARBLES | This is the sort of thing that, until I shared a significant amount of time with children, I may have thought, well that’s pretty, but they won’t play with it. Hypothetical me couldn’t be more wrong—in this house we are… always seeking marbles.
PEGBOARD CHESS | Another thing I didn’t realize: Wow, kids love chess?
SEA MONKEYS | Guys, Sea Monkeys.
WHALE MUSIC BOX | My kids love our Odin Parker music box so much that everyday during Christmas I am panicked they will break it.
KIDS TOOL SET | We got the ~smaller~ version of this tool set while visiting France earlier this year and it went over extremely well. Leave it to the French to give real, actual tools to children. They can take it!
DIY PAINTABLE CAT STUFFY | What’s better than a cat stuffy? One that you can PAINT.
WOODEN DOLLHOUSE | I love this little Hobbit-y dollhouse for it’s good looks, it’s open-endedness, and truly, it’s reasonable size.
CUSTOMIZED ACCORDION | Perhaps you have a sibling that needs (lifelong) getting back? Make their lives miserable by giving your niece or nephew their very own customized (!) accordion!
DIY BOAT | Just a very sweet project for small hands: Make their own cork boat to float!
BUG ME NOT | A fun board game for smaller folks! Move your bug from hear to there, feast on bugs along the way.
MONSTER STUFFY | I gifted this happy little monster to my youngest last year and I stand by this decision. It’s extremely soft and snuggly—made of baby alpaca!
FAR OUT BUBBLES | The best bubbles! Both because they produce good bubbles and because they have the best logo in the game, imo.
SEAL BANK | I wouldn’t trust anyone but this seal to hold very important life savings.
CAPE, CROWN & WAND SET | In my nine years of parenting, I have come to understand that having a crown and a cape on-hand is extremely important. A wand wouldn’t hurt.
DAYS OF THE WEEK NAPKINS | OK, this one is a little more for their adults as well, but—how cute are these denim napkins embroidered with the days of the week?
ZIG & GO MUSIC SET | What’s better than a marble run? A marble run that makes LOTS OF NOISE and for some reason also has VEHICLES!
CHARMSPRING BOARD | We recently discovered that we have an ADHD brain in our midst and sometimes that makes moving from moment to moment during a day that much more challenging. Which is why when I saw these boards, with little tiles to illustrate exactly what is happening throughout the day, I thought—huh, that could really help!
KIDS LOUNGE CHAIR | I’ve had my eye on these incredibly cozy-looking pouf chairs for a while now. Imagine a better place to snuggle?
BREAD AND PUPPET CALENDAR | Legendary Vermont puppet/theater troupe Bread & Puppet’s annual calendar!
CANVAS POUCH | Kennebunk’s own Port Canvas, with a wee helpful little pouch.
CAST IRON BUNNY | This may pull a Christmas stocking clear off its nail given the weight, but sheesh what a sweet lil bunny.
DOLCE & GABBANA TREATS | Italians are good at Christmas and these nougat treats (torroncini, can you even?!!) are extremely festive. I say: Give in.
JAPANESE WIND CHIMES | I give these as gifts with some frequency! They are beautiful and make just the most subtle and calming ding when the paper flag catches the breeze.
FISH COMB | I mean, what would you rather fix up your hair with, really?
BEADED AND EMBROIDERED PINS | On a bag, on a jacket, in your hair, on your pillow…? These fun little pins are ready to add humor and good times wherever you choose to stick em.
CHAMPAGNE FLAVORED COTTON CANDY | Only the fanciest candy today!!
RECHARGEABLE LIGHTER | Having a lighter handy is extremely helpful in many scenarios. If you’d like your giftee to be helpful, might I suggest this rechargeable lighter, which also happens to be extremely elegant??
CAST IRON CANDLESTICK | Very ~Night Before Christmas~ candle holder incoming!
MATCHBOOKS | Assorted souvenir matchbooks for restaurants that don’t exist.
BRASS HOUSE TRAYS | Very into these little house trays that I think are technically speaking Christmas decor, but I think would work just fine all the other times.
SALT CELLAR | Extremely into the new Nickey Kehoe stoneware collection and this little salt cellar seems like a nice addition to the stove-side.
LAMP CANDLE | Lamp-shaped candle, stop!
SURPRISE BALL | A holiday tradition around here! Unwrap a whole slew of fun surprises; make a tissue mess; everything is fun.
Choju Giga Incense | Hand-crafted incense in really beautiful highly giftable boxes depicting goofy animal scenes from the 12th and 13th centuries.
TWISTY CANDLE | Kate makes these really wonderful candles and Katie stocks them in her store! And me, with no personal experience with the name, have the candles in my house. Recommend.
Affiliate disclaimer: I am experimenting with affiliate links where applicable! If the links I generated even work (dubious), I might receive a small commission should you choose to buy something. As you’ll see if you start clicking around, it’s a fairly small percentage of the items here and did not effect editorial decisions or recommendations.
These kids recs are excellent. Thank you!