Tricking Your Child Into Learning: 3 Fun Interactive and Educational Gift Ideas

To most kids, education and fun are two very different and separate things.  Education is something they receive in class while their teachers ramble on about the Pythagorean theorem and covalent bonds.  Fun, on the other hand, is something they have on the playground during recess and after school is over.

Luckily for parents, though, it is possible to combine the two by buying your kids gifts that are both fun and educational.  If your child loves to read books or works out geometry problems for fun, this shouldn’t be difficult to do.  Otherwise, you can easily trick your child into learning new things with some of these unique gift ideas.

A chemistry kit for the budding scientist

Chemistry is often one of the most popular classes at school for its experiments and its potential for amusing mishaps at the lab table.  You can bring that same fun into the home with a chemistry kit.  This classic gift is perfect for the scientifically-inclined child (or for the kid who simply enjoys messing around with chemicals and causing unexpected reactions.)

A typical chemistry kit includes glass flasks, test tubes, rubber stoppers, droppers and a variety of chemicals and metals to be used in experiments.  Every kit also comes with a guide filled with experiments your child can easily perform.  As long as you make sure that your child understands the need for caution and carefully follows the kit’s directions when performing experiments, it should make for a fun, educational, and safe present.

A globe for the aspiring traveler

Many children are fascinated by foreign cultures and distant lands.  If your child is destined to become a jet-setter one day, he or she will have to be familiar with the world’s geography.  Enter the electronic globe, an innovation that combines the educational value of the classic globe with the benefits of modern technology. 

Electronic globes come in many different sizes and types, but most of them have several features in common, including internal lighting, touch control, and optional automatic rotation.  Many advanced models also include political and geographical information on the countries of the world provided by an electronically-generated voice.  And electronic globes don’t become obsolete with time as do traditional globes – software updates will provide the globe with up-to-date information about our changing Earth.  An electronic globe is a great way to interest your child in the world and its various countries and peoples.

An art kit for the prospective Picasso

Children have different kinds of talents.  Some are naturally good with numbers, and others are better with words.  A lucky few children have a serious knack for the visual arts.  If you have a kid who enjoys painting and drawing at school, an art kit makes for a natural gift.

Children’s art kits feature various types of colored pencils, markers and paints.  Some of the more advanced kits also include pads of sketch paper and suggestions for art projects.  Even if you’re not artistically inclined, an art kit is something that you and your kid can use as a team – there’s no better way to encourage a child’s emerging creative talent.

These affordable and interactive gifts should spark your children’s curiosity and provide them with many hours of entertainment.  Best of all, you can buy them without having to deal with the chaos of the holiday shopping season, because they’re all easily obtained online.  Save yourself some stress and buy a fun and educational present for your child online today.

Jack Harding enjoys finding interactive ways to please his family. He also writes for various family lifestyle blogs.