8 Awesome Toys You Can Still Get By Christmas

If you follow me on Instastories (and if you don't, uh, get on it!), you may know that we celebrated Christmas early this year. We're going to be out of town on the big day*, and there was just no way I could get all of our presents there and back. So we did a full Christmas this past weekend with my family, and then Santa will come while we're on vacation.

As a result, I got to see which toys my kids loved the most--and I'm sharing them here now. If you still need a last-minute gift for your little ones (or for a niece, nephew, etc), this is a good place to start. My kids loved all of these, and (as of writing this post!), they are all still available and able to get to you by Christmas. Hurry!

{clockwise from top left}

Poopsie Pooey Puitton Slime Surprise: Okay this is actually the only one that I haven't seen a reaction to yet. (Though I heard Santa might be bringing it. ;) My daughter desperately wanted this after spotting it on YouTube, though, so I'm confident she'll love it. It's a big, plastic poop-shaped homage to a Louis Vuitton bag (they must be thrilled, by the way), stuffed with all sorts of sparkles and mix-ins to create a bunch of different slimes. (There are also other goodies like a keychain.) It was sold out for a long time, but they have it at Walmart at least for right now. Run!

Moj Moj Squishy Toy Claw Machine: This is an actual working claw machine where you can "win" mystery eggs filled with assorted squishy toys. It was a gift for my daughter, but both kids are already obsessed with it. (In fact, my five-year-old son has gotten so good at it that I'm actually looking forward to having him try out his skills on a "real" claw machine now!) This has been one of the hottest toys of the season, so it's sold out most places online, but there are still a few sellers on Amazon who seem to have it!

Learning Resources Beaker Creatures Liquid Reactor Super Lab: I love this, because it's a fun, "boy" twist on all of those blind bags and surprise eggs that are usually geared towards girls. The lab comes with a few pods (you can buy lots of extras) that you place into the "reactor liquid" and then it bubbles and you see what creature you got. Each one also comes with experiments, which is a nice twist. My science- (and surprise-) loving son adored it.

Kano Harry Potter Coding Kit: This thing is awesome--and a very cool gift for Potter-obsessed kids. It works with an iPad and kids can build a wand and then teach it all sorts of spells. I love that it's a more active, educational version of screen time, and that it teaches coding. My daughter was thrilled when she unwrapped this. Can't wait to see her start to code!

iLoom Deluxe Starter Pack Digital Friendship Bracelet Loom: I was SO excited when I randomly stumbled on this on Amazon, and my daughter was equally blown away when she opened it up. It's a physical loom that you hook up to your iPad. The app then tells you exactly how to create very elaborate friendship bracelets and gives you step by step instructions as you go. The patterns are complicated, but the app makes them easy because it shows you where to put every string, as you do it. My daughter was making an elaborate chevron bracelet minutes after we set it up. 

Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven Baking Star Edition: I had one as a kid and loved it, but for whatevver reason, we never bought one for my daughter. So this year, we got it for my son. He loves to cook and has already had a lot of fun making cookies with it. I also love that the price is really right with this one. Under $35! (Funny story: This edition is mostly white with a little gold and magenta, so not super girly-looking. Still, my son unwrapped it, got super excited, and then pointed to the magenta design and said--genuinely perplexed--"Why is it pink?" His reaction was cute but also kind of sad. He loved it, but was honestly confused why, in his mind, it seemed to be geared towards girls. Anyway, he loves it. Great, classic gift for any kid.)

Stomp Rocket Jr. Glow Rocket: Stomp Rockets have long been my go-to birthday gift for little boys. They love them, and they're not super pricey. I recently found this glow-in-the-dark version, and gave it to one of my son's friends. He was jealous, so I got him a set for Christmas this year. He's excited to use it.

Little Live Scruff a Luv Mystery Rescue Pet: One of the hottest toys of the season, this is a gift that is, again, probably intended for girls (pink packaging, etc), but there's really no reason boys can't play with it. This year, it was one of the top things my son was asking for. It's a cute concept: You "rescue" a sad looking ball of fur that you then have to wash and groom in order to find out what animal (cat, dog, or bunny) it actually is. Then, you dry it off and it becomes your stuffed animal. My parents bought him the blue one, and he had a lot of fun washing it in a bowl of water, and was thrilled when he learned it was a bunny. (I'm actually shocked this one is totally still in stock, because again, it was one of the biggest launches of the year, but it's there--at least for now!)

Do you guys have your shopping done yet? That is probably the biggest advantage of having "early Christmas"--I'm totally done now! (And if you need any more last-minute gift ideas, check out my favorite-things gift guide with great gifts for her, and my beauty gift guide!)

Have a wonderful holiday!

*I know it's a total internet no-no to say you're going to be out of town, but since my dog (who does NOT take kindly to strangers coming into his domain, to say the least) and my actual dog walker are staying in our house while we're away, I feel okay about it. ;)

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