 Hey everybody, welcome to the Waldoch Way. I'm Jessica. And today's video is going to be a holiday gift guide. Now today's holiday gift guide is in collaboration with Abby from Rooted in Rest. She is gonna be sharing a gift guide on her channel as well. Make sure you check it out. You're not gonna wanna miss it because I'm sure she has tons of really awesome stuff for you guys. Last year, because I really wanted you guys to be spending your money on those things that had longevity, right? That you could use for a very long time or get the biggest bang for your buck. I shared a video of our top 10 gifts. So I'm gonna link that up here for you guys if you're just looking for like our top 10 overall gifts. The things that we have bought over and over are the gifts that have stood the test of time. Like just the things that we love in our homeschool and our home and like have lasted forever. This year, I have kind of met a new struggle in our home personally. And it's that as Emily gets older, I don't find gift buying quite as easy or simple. And I'm sure it's gonna be even worse when she hits her teen years. But she's just kind of in this in-between stage right now where she's like, not a baby anymore, doesn't really need baby gifts, but she also isn't old enough yet to, well, don't get me wrong, she has asked for something kind of expensive this year, but she doesn't like want a phone yet, right? So there's just kind of this, we're in this in-between year. So what I really, really sought out this year, what I really, really was looking for in gifts are things that would be gifts that kept giving. Like one's not that she just opened and played with or did something with for a day or two, but those gifts that kind of like kept giving over and over that you could use all year long that really kind of sparked an interest or could potentially light a fire in her. Something that would be maybe something she pursued on her own even way outside of the holiday season. And so I really sought after those kinds of gifts. And then I went back through our house and our home and I pulled gifts that I felt had already done that for ideas for you. And so that's what I'm gonna share with you today. I have about, I think 15 gifts that I feel like are gifts that keep giving, ones that you can use long after the holiday season is over and ones that I really feel like will help spark an interest. Now, obviously not everyone is gonna spark an interest in your kid, but it'd be a really great way if you pick the right one to spark an interest and who knows where that spark could lead or what flame it might light a fire. So the first thing that I am going to share are these Lego books. Now these aren't just Lego idea books. These are Lego books that come with specialty Legos that also have different ideas as well as things that you can build on. So this one is chain reaction. So you're physically learning how to build things that move with Lego. So it is a great way to learn how to do more with the Legos you already have and also learn more. And by doing that, you could go further, like I said, with the Legos you already have. So you could be sparking an interest and who knows what with something like this. And these are relatively affordable. That one is chain reactions. This one is gearbox. There are tons of other ones made by Lego that you could look up depending on, if there's a specific movement your kid is interested in or something kind of specific they want to learn about. But I really think those are a great way to get your child to be creative, kind of get them to think about things that they already own in just a little bit of a different way and really extend what you already have and by reusing it over and over and over. So you're not just adding to it. You're giving them a gift that's going to spark an interest, light a fire and then kind of reuse things that you already probably have in your house or Legos, because let's be honest we all have a ton of them. So those are my first suggestion. My second suggestion is this is one that actually Emily has loved and we've almost finished it. Science kits like this, ones that are just phenomenal that have tons of different things. This has 45 easy science experiments. Comes with almost everything you need inside. It is by National Geographic which is high quality and we absolutely love everything they make. One of the main things that we really, really love about them is they always come with these really fantastic booklets that not only tell you the experiment but have very good details on why it did it and what it did. Now this one even comes with bonus science experiments that you can do at home again with that same level of quality. So this is one of those things I mean with 45 plus experiments you could spend a whole year enjoying these. I mean if you just did about one a week that's almost a full year of enjoying science experiments and again, who knows what that could spark. Maybe your kid falls in love with science or chemistry and then ends up in a scientific career or down a rabbit trail that you never knew was gonna happen if you hadn't have gotten that gift. Another one if you have a kid who likes science but is also like really girly like Emily is is this bath bomb. So this spa lab bath bombs the kids get to make their own bath bombs and they get to use all the different ingredients and colors and they're making things like pop bombs and shooting stars and sparkly geodes. So it's a really fun way to kind of start doing some fun self-care for themselves along with science and who knows this could even spark a small at home business. I mean maybe your kid falls in love with it and they end up wanting to make bath bombs or something to sell or maybe they wanna give them as gifts. It's kind of that thing that keeps on giving and once you've used this whole kit you can easily replace pieces and parts of it to continue to make them even longer. And I just really like that. I like that most of these gifts are giving you can use them to give you can use them to spark a fire and they're just not junk. I just really wanna get away from junk if you can't tell this year. The next thing that we have loved in our home and that I'm actually gifting this year is a curious chef set. Now obviously you don't need the 27 piece set but the curious chef brand is fantastic for kids especially if you have one that wants to get in the kitchen wants to be independent wants to help more they have kids safe. Knives that they can use to actually really cut their aprons are high quality. I mean everything about them we have loved everything curious chef we have ever gotten and it has really helped them get in the kitchen and not only get in the kitchen but be willing to eat more things or try to eat more things and be open to it because she has helped prepare and make it. So I really highly suggest a full set like this although it doesn't have to be this one but this set comes with all of your mixing and measuring and utensils and an apron and a hat and kind of a little bit of everything. So if you have a kid with interest in the kitchen or maybe even a picky eater something like that would be perfect for them because again if they get into the kitchen they're probably more likely to try what they actually make. Now this gift is a gift that we will be giving this year and it's a gift after my personal heart you guys have not been around very long you might not know. I was am at one point in my past life a photographer I did it for years and I loved it. So if you have a budding photographer on your hands or you have somebody who maybe just likes to really kind of document those memories these little insects cameras are adorable. So this is the mini Polaroid camera the more updated one and I bought the bundle so that it would come with the case and some extra things to film and I just think it's kind of a fun way especially for kids because they get that instant gratification. So they don't have to wait to load it to a computer or see if the picture was good you're not giving them a screen so they're off screen while doing it. It's just kind of instant gratification they can take the picture they can see if it turned out and again you could be sparking that interest I love a photography which is something I would love to do in any kid that I meet because I love photography and this bundle was relatively affordable as far as a camera is concerned. I mean cameras can be quite pricey and it is a really really great way even for young kids to just get involved because like I said they get that instant gratification they can instantly see if it was a good or a bad picture. Another kind of hobbyist thing that we have loved in our homeschool is a rock tumbler. Now this is the hobby edition there are many editions out there I think this was the most affordable one and if you have a kid who like Emily is somebody who's constantly coming home with rocks in their pockets this is kind of a fun way because you can turn rough rocks into polished gems you can dive deep into learning more about them I mean it's loud it is loud so try to do it somewhere not where you're gonna have to listen to it a garage, a porch, it's loud there's your warning but it is really really fun. Okay this one is when I was super excited about when I found it and it is a junior pottery studio so this includes the pottery machine with the pedal, power adapter, the clay, sculpting tools everything you would need again like I said I'm really really trying to give those gifts that would keep giving and this is something that would do that they would be able to keep making pottery over and over and over by just buying more clay it's not something that they could just like use up or get kind of sick and tired of and not only does it keep giving in that sense it would keep giving because they could literally be giving their pottery away so they can make pottery and give it to friends and family and I just feel like that is such a good gift. The next thing I have is the snap circuits now we have tons of experience with snap circuits we love them all and this one is one of their little I guess a little bit more expensive sets however this isn't just snap circuits this is snap circuits combined with coding so for that person in your life who maybe has done snap circuits for a while or who is interested in coding but doesn't necessarily want you know the little robot that we all have seen and know and love or maybe don't love this kind of gives them the best of both worlds so they get to build the snap circuit and then they get to code it so again that gift that they can use over and over and over because there's multiple different things I wanna say it was like 100 plus different combinations of things you could make with this let's see if I can find it I don't see it on her but it was a ton of different things that you can make you can control up to five different circuit paths at a time it has 30 different parts so there's just so many different options different combinations that you could do and something you could spend months on and never have done them all and you're learning valuable skills with circuits and coding and in this day and age you're gonna need that for almost everything that you do in life so I was really really excited to find this particular one but we own probably eight plus snap circuit sets and have never been disappointed by any of them so I am not worried about that at all one of the other things that I picked up was a 3D doodler now we again don't have experience with this one personally but I have seen the 3D doodlers all over and it just seems like such a fun way to bring a two dimensional thing to life and make it 3D so I think for any kid who's into art or any kind of doodling or tinkering this is a perfect gift we will be giving this one this year as well to a kid in our life and I'm really really excited about it because I think they're going to love it and I love that they can create with it they can create anything literally their brain is the limit when it comes to that now we have owned many different microscopes over the course of our homeschool career this is kind of the one that has been the staple in our homeschool it is a dual microscope I don't know if you have kids but especially kids with eyeglasses like Emily she struggles with trying to close one eye and look through a microscope sometimes this being a dual one makes it easier and it is kind of a full kit it comes completely prepared so it has slides ready for you it has 50 or more accessories it has all the different obstacle lenses it really was a fantastic way to kind of get started in the world of microscopes and microscopic things so if you are looking for maybe a starter set or just something that's already ready for you I mean we have a more expensive one now but honestly this really was and still is being used in our homeschool today because like I said the dual eyepiece is key for certain kids and Emily is one of those kids and the last thing I have for you is a household sewing machine now this is kind of like a mini sewing machine that is definitely smaller for kids I'm gonna tell you guys a secret I have no clue how to sew Kevin has to sew everything in our household and that's only because he learned it when he was in basic training or else we would be in deep, deep trouble when something like ripped in our house because nobody would know how to sew otherwise but he can hand sew pretty well he has a sewing machine it actually recently broke and so when we were looking at buying new sewing machines I said you know what why don't I just buy a kid's one it'll do the basic stitches that you need but then Emily also would give her kind of the accessibility to it so that she can start learning how to sew which is something that she was really really excited about and seeing how excited she was is what made me realize how great of a gift this would be for kids because it's again that thing that can keep giving they can keep creating things they can give the things that they make or create away they can keep creating over and over and over because it doesn't run out as long as you get more material you can keep creating and making with it and again you could be sparking an interest or a fire in an entire entrepreneurial line of business because maybe they end up being a designer of some kind or maybe they wanna sell the things that they've made so that is really what my goal was with this gift guide to show you guys some stuff that I feel like are gifts that keep giving the gifts that aren't junk ones that are gonna last way beyond the span of most holiday gifts and ones that could potentially spark a fire of interest in your kid something that they may want to do maybe even for a career for the rest of their life I hope you enjoyed this year's gift guide don't forget to check out Abby's video where I'm sure she gave you a ton of gift ideas before I go though I have a huge surprise for you Abby and I are partnering together to give away $500 worth of gifts we were going to be giving away a $250 Amazon gift card as well as a $250 Osborne gift card that means you can buy $500 worth of gifts for your kids just check the description box for the link it'll have all of the information on how to enter and what you need to do to enter and while you're down there don't forget to click on some of the other links like the hundred educational gift ideas a hundred educational stocking ideas gifts for the whole family and even some ideas for gifts for the homeschool mom in case you need some ideas to give the people in your life