Gift guide for kids: highest rated toys of 2019 by age

Calling all Santas, Mrs. Claus's, aunties, uncles, grandparents and parents! It's that time of year where you start scratching your head as you try to figure out the perfect gifts for the wide variety of sweet kiddos in your life. It can be hard to find something perfectly age-appropriate to gift. You want them to be able to open their gift, enjoy it right away, and hopefully not grow out of it for a good long while! That's where our BEST TOY gift guide by age comes in.

These might not be the very CUTEST toys to give your kids, but they're the highest rated. They're the ones that will actually get played with over and OVER. They're the ones your kids are hoping Santa will bring them, all sorted out to give you an easy-as-pecan-pie time with your holiday planning, all broken down by age.

1. Tricycle: This tricycle is under $40 and has more than 3k amazing reviews! Easily swap out for Harley Davidson or Thomas the Train.
2. Soft cloth baby book: we had a book just like this on our flights to/from SLC with Millie and it kept her entertained for an HOUR. Babies love to read and repeat over and over! This one is so cute and has sparkling reviews, for only $16
3. Plush Benny: my babies LOVE cozy stuffed toys, and this one has incredible reviews and is gender neutral!
4. Pop Pop Piano: a cute and fun interactive gift!
5. Ice Cream Cart: almost 1k PERFECT reviews for this v popular toy
6. Skip Hop Crawl Toy: perfect toy for a new baby that will grow with them developmentally.
7. Princess Stuffed Plush Play-set: perfect quiet and SOFT toy
8. Smooth Move Sloth: a toy that makes noise but gets RAVE reviews
9. Activity Walker: babies love these! Fun toy that also helps them learn to walk.

1. Booty-Shakin' Llama (pictured at the top of the post) this is one of THE “it” toys of 2019. My girls went absolutely bananas over this when they first saw it at the store and Anabelle asked for it for her birthday in Oct. They've loved playing with it ever since and I kind of love it too.
2. Play-doh Baby Shark Set: a popular toy gift for young kids, especially with that “baby shark” rage that's still plaguing our house.
3. FurReal Might Roar Simba: a fun toy for any Lion King lover!
4. Mr. Potato Head: SO classic and on sale right now too!
5. Frozen 2 Elsa Doll: for the little girls who are OBSESSED with frozen 2 like mine are!
6. Radio Flyer My First Scooter: both my girls at ages 7 and 4 still ride on this daily and love it, but easy enough for a 2 year old to figure out!
7. Little Tikes Basketball Hoop: pretty sure my dad gave “us” this same exact hoop when we were babies (Merry Christmas to him too haha). This toy will get used by everyone in the family on Christmas morning!
8. Disney Princess Suitcase Travel Set: so perfect for hours of pretend play for the little girl into Disney princesses.
9. Woody Action Figure: my girls STILL love their Woody but this is a great toy for a little kid who will love the pull string and constant sheriff buddy by their side.
10. Buzz Lightyear Action Figure: because if you give a kid a Woody, they're gonna need a Buzz too eventually!

1. Fingerlings: totally weird but kids TOTALLY love them.
2. Foam Alive Make N' Melt Ice Cream Kit: for the cool mom willing to get a little messy in the kitchen. Maybe don't gift this if you're not the parent ha.
3. 4-Wheel Go-Kart: Neil thinks this gift is SUPER cool for a little boy, and I think our girls would fight their brother for a chance to play on this!
4. Kids Camera: Ani BEGGED us for one of these last year and absolutely loved playing photographer with it!
5. Hair Bling: for someone like my Lyla who LOVES dressing up, playing hair and makeup and with all the girly things.
6. My First Pogo Stick: a super fun Christmas morning gift to get your wiggles out!
7. Hatchimals Colleggtibles: a lot of parents (like ME) think these are so dumb but kids LOVE THEM.
8. Owleez Pet: a somewhat annoying toy for parents but another wildly popular toy for kids this age!
9. LOL Surprise Globe: these are really fun for kids to take apart little by little. Warning: they usually come with TINY parts so if you have a baby in the house, this might get tricky!
10. LOL Surprise #HairGoals: another mega popular toy for 2019
11. Nerf Ultra Blaster: classic Christmas morning gift that if you want to have the ultimate fun with, you'll probably want to get two!

1. Slow Motion Race Game: amazing reviews and would be fun to play Christmas day!
2. Air Hogs Zero Gravity Laser Race Car: Neil still LOVES remote control cars, so this would be perfect for any boy any agel.
3. Pictionary Air: a fun modern twist on a classic game!
4. Carpool Karaoke Mic: for the kid who loves to sing!
5. Nerf Fortnite: another nerf toy that will probably be most fun if two are playing!
6. Gel Nails Stamper: for the little girl who's super into nail art
7. Tabletop air hockey table: this will keep EVERYONE in your house busy for hours! Amazon's choice and awesome reviews to back it up.
8. Razor Scooter: when your tween is ready to upgrade from their little kid scooter to something with a little more zip!
9. Lego Star Wars: one of the most popular lego sets of 2019, this is perfect for any Star Wars lover
10. Hover-board: a hot toy for the past several years, this one gets amazing reviews!
11. Turbo Bot: my kids are FASCINATED by robots so this would be a perfect gift for any gender or really any age over 4!
12. Uno Flip: making a classic game just a little more fun with a new twist that's earned rave reviews! Perfect for the whole entire family.

Happy shopping!

Hopefully there's something here in our gift guide for kids for every kiddo on your list! I know just how daunting it can be to shop for kids of all different ages, especially if you're sending gifts long-distance to nieces and nephews that you don't get to see as often as you'd like. And if you still need help gifting to someone who has a new baby or is expecting, a husband or even if you're scratching your head wondering what YOU should ask for this year, don't worry because all of those gift guides are coming soon too!