Educational and entertaining toys for everyone from toddlers to teens

Yahoo Life is joined by Meredith Sinclair, lifestyle expert and author, to share 7 amazing gifts for kids of all ages. These toys are excellent for encouraging creative hands-on learning and imaginative play.

Video Transcript

MEREDITH SINCLAIR: Hi. I'm Meredith Sinclair, and I've got seven amazing gifts for kids of all ages that are really going to encourage creative hands-on learning and play.

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So we're going to start with this beautiful toy by a company called Hape. This is a Shape Sorter Xylophone. So this is for kids 12 months and up. What I love about it is it not only teaches music and sound recognition but also beginning colors, beginning shapes, and really gets kids actively learning.

Next up, this is called The Animal, and it's by Spin Master. What's super cool about this is it's the first unboxing truck. What you do is you put this fun key into the back of the box, and then kids knock on the box and holler at it a little bit, and it comes out and it turns from a four-by-four truck into an animal that can go on any kind of terrain.

You know, not every toy has to teach math and science. These toys teach imagination and, you know, open-ended play, which is just as important.

Next, the Mermaid Cove with an illuminated dome. And so this is for kids four and up, and what's great about this is kids have just as much fun building these sets as they do playing with them. Playmobil always puts incredible detail into their play sets, and these really grow with kids. So any of your Playmobil sets will work with any others you have, so it really extends the playability as well.

This is called Paint by Pom Pom. So this is the perfect crafty kit for boys and girls ages five and up. You literally just pull back this cover, and it exposes an adhesive board with a beautiful image on it. And then kids use their tiny pompoms to fill and paint their piece of art.

Now for something for kids eight and up, boys and girls. This is a building kit called Moving Creations with Knex. Kids are going to learn early engineering skills, math, and science, and this comes with nine different builds and 18 different experiments. So this is a great way to sneak in a whole lot of learning with a really fun building kit.

I don't know if you've ever heard about the very popular card game called Yu-Gi-Oh!, but this year they're launching a brand new one with new cards called Maximum Gold. This is a game of strategy where kids duel each other with magical monsters and spells. They can even play together over Zoom, plus they're learning early math and reading skills and those social skills they need to compete against each other.

OK, finally this is a gift for your tweens and teens, but really it's for the whole family. This is the Polaroid Now Instant Film Camera Bundle. What you get is you get the camera plus two rolls of film, and this is really a fun modern take on the retro camera. This is a phone-free way to document all your family memories and then tell stories about them when you're done.

Have a safe and happy holiday.