The Happy Camper Live Holiday Gift Guide is back! We had so much fun this year testing out new activities and working with some new great partners. We continue to strive to Play, Create, Discover, Wonder and Inspire our kiddos to make impactful choices and give back to others. See below for our 2023 picks!

 

Encourage them to CREATE

Plus Plus

Move over Lego, there is a new game in town! Plus Plus has TONS of kits for your kiddo to imagine themselves or follow instructions. Everything from our fave (the Rainbow and Unicorn tubes), to monsters, dinos, mermaids, Monet inspired, Ogres, Gnomes and more!  These addition sign-shaped pieces make every masterpiece a 3D creation as they all connect to each other in multiple ways and are pliable, so your astronaut or villain can sit or stand accordingly. There are even Everyday Heroes kits for the grown-ups in Red, Blue and camo in your life. Great stocking stuffers or a starter set for your future architect. From free play to build by number, Plus Plus has it all.

MSRP – starting at 7.99 and goes up from there with a ton of choices on the Plus Plus website.

 

Create a Castle

These kits are Toy of the Year award winners for good reason. Create a Castle is a super cool multi tasking sets of building molds and special sand. Your LO can create their own medieval castle, moats and more for their damsel in distress. The molds can be used with their proprietary sand, as well as snow (game changer!) and other pliable substances.  Let them channel their inner Gaudi or Frank Lloyd Wright centuries later.  The sand is no mess and it does not dry out. Each kit comes with handy tools to push and pull the sand into place.

 

MSRP starting at $79 at Create a Castle, catch the Black Friday Deals through Cyber Monday.

 

Fun Foil

Create a vibrant world with foil stickers without glue, scissors or glitter with Foil Fun from Skillmatics. Space, Dinos, Princesses and more. These foil stickers transfer to the variety of background cards to make a story fit for a king. No Mess fun for on the go, a rainy day, a road trip! All kits are on sale now for a limited time! Check out this Good Housekeeping Best 

Toy Award Winner.

 

MSRP – $24.97 (but on SALE!!).  Find your favorite here

 

Teach them to PLAY

Lower Case Toys

Getting back to basics, we love this fantastic new play on Paper Dolls from Lower Case Toys. Made with chunky felt, the kids can play for hours and accessorize to their hearts content with gorgeous outfit combinations and calming colors. These sets are super inclusive both in gender and color (just another reason to love them). Interlocking Blocks and Tangrams round out the offerings here with the same chunky felt pieces to easily create and learn. I think we just filled out the toddler git list!

 

MSRP – starting at $14 and up. Shop all collections HERE!

 

Magna Tiles

These magnetic tile pieces in various shapes and sizes have been around for years! With an updated look, it’s time to revisit this timeless free-play toy. Sets like Farm Animals, Dinos and Forest Animals round out the creature end. The Glow set and Classic are always welcome additions to the play room.

 

MSRP – starting at $14.99 and up at Magna Tiles and Amazon

 

Twee

We featured Twee in 2022 and still love everything about them.  Handmade in my hometown of Philly, it is the coolest chalk since, well, ever. This year they have new things that should be on everyone’s wishlist. Veggie Paints in 2 color hues are non toxic and you guessed it – veggie based for vibrant colors. Got a unique name you can never find? Custom Made for you Chalks are where it’s at. How can you not OMGee over the Insectarium chalk for your little entomologist. Basically you have your food, animals, fantasy, nature, letters and more all covered at Twee, and you can wrap them all up in a super cute Park Pouch for safe keeping

 

MSRP – starting at $12, with prices for everyone at Twee.

 

 

Let them DISCOVER

Buzzy Seeds

These growing kits are perfect for little hands and are hands on.  Buzzy Seeds has gifts that grow.  From their Culinary line –  Taco Night Windowsill Grow kit, herbs, Strawberry Garden Windowsill Grow Kit to Flowers that even the worst green thumb can tackle like the Cactus Mini Basin Grow Kit, Buzzy has you covered. Super cute packaging, growing guides with helpful hints and a recipe guide to utilize the fruits of your labor (literally) are enough reason to add this to your gift giving this year.

 

MSRP – starting at $10, free shipping over $30, what are you waiting for – head to Buzzy Seeds now!

 

Wild Life 

We are all about being outside and away from screens.  The Wild Life adventure kits give us even more of a reason to enjoy the great outdoors. From Space to Growing, Nature to Survival there is a kit for everyone little and big. Each kit contains 5-9 items to make the exploration exceptional and an activity guide and skill-building activities with the box contents. All activities also have merit pins for collecting that can be proudly displayed for friends and fam to ooh and aah over. A lot of the items are also available ala carte so you can build your own adventure. Go forth and forge outside your way! 

 

MSRP – Kits start at $30, ala care items range on the Wild Life website 

 

 

 

INSPIRE them 

Doodle Dash

Rewind back to our obsession with stickers and the Doodle Dash mini printer is now going to be my best friend. I am partial to this fresh yellow. 1 roll of paper equals 50 stickers, I could do some damage. Extra rolls of paper are always good to have handy and they come in colors!! Great for your budding artist or student who wants to easily (and legibly) keep notes handy.  Simply connect the Note Buddy to the Fun Print app via Bluetooth for seamless printing.

 

MSRP – normally $99.95, but 50% off for a limited time, and the best deal is the $64.95 starter pack with 3 rolls of sticker paper included. 

 

Fashion Angels

I am a wee bit obsessed with these girls empowerment kits. Their It’s My Biz line of starter kits is just what your budding CEO needs to start their own business. With ideas, step-by-step instructions, flyer-making ideas, note-taking options and more. For our four-legged friends there is a Pet Care Kit, a baking biz for your Emeril or Giada or a Babysitting for the future teacher.

 

MSRP- $19 at Walmart

 

pipsticks

You did not have a full childhood if you did not have a sticker book in your youth. We are beyond excited that stickers are back in full force and a real “thing”  pipsticks has Sticker books, puffy stickers, glittery stickers, scratch and sniff, fuzzy and more oh my! Every category, holiday, animal, color, season, so many we can’t count. Did someone say Care Bears??  pixigems are a must to start a collection or add to an existing one with their glittery goodness. Now I am really reliving my sticker decade. Can we talk about the monthly Sticker Club, OMGee, the best gift ever. 

 

MSRP – starts at $2.95 and up on the Pipsticks website, use code OMG10 for 10% off first time monthly subscribers

 

Zen Strips

Lets face it, we all have a little “ooh shiny thing (thoughts get distracted)” from time to time. Our favorite partner The Pencil Grip has just launched sensory  Zen Strips for everyone to help keep calm and focus on..  Bigger than other comparable calming strips, we love these for the funky colors and patterns.  There are also a variety of textures to feed all tactile situations. We are partial to the Sand Brights and the Bumpy Space. These make a great stocking stuffer or addition to any holiday gift this year. 

 

MSRP-  $5.99 on The Pencil Grip exclusively use code CAMP20 for 20% off!!

 

Make them WONDER

Bubble Tree

The single biggest issue when the kids were toddlers was the bubble stick stuck in the bottle and having to dig it out all wet and slippery.  Where was Bubble Tree 14 years ago??? Sustainable and eco friendly fun designed bottles with the bubble stick BUILT INTO the cap!  Brilliant!  The bubbles are refillable and non toxic. Their refill box has a handy spout for easy refills. We love that Bubble Tree is Made in the USA and fully committed to an eco friendly existence. 

 

MSRP – starts at $9.99, find a variety at Target or on the Bubble Tree website

 

Bumpas

It’s a happy hug.  Bumpas are our new favorite lovable plush friends. These pillows with weighted arms that hug you are the bomb. Funky colors and monster-shaped, we are partial to Sprinx and Shloof but if tie dye is not your thing, there are plenty of other choices. Their 3lb weighted arms hug you and you sigh. It’s just enough pressure to calm those thoughts and snuggle in for the night and provide a sense of security, reduce stress, anxiety…even improve sleep quality.

 

MSRP $39.99, find them in the Bumpas Store or Amazon