This post was written in collaboration with Wicked Uncle. You can find out their fabulous suggestions for toys for eight year old girls here.
In a few weeks, my oldest is turning seven and it’s thrown me through a bit of a loop, present-wise.
In previous years, I have always gone heavy with the brand-new toys on the market, as luckily we get to test out a lot of them and it is an excellent time to put together a popular Christmas gift guide .
This year, I haven’t gone down this route, because I have a confession:
I am slightly fed up of all the plastic tat in my house.
Yes, the kids love it. What kid doesn’t? I do like doing reviews as they bring traffic to this site and people find them helpful. Above anything else, it is fun to test out new toys! Who wouldn’t want that as their job?!
But when it comes to purchasing presents with my own money, there are some things I absolutely refuse to buy *cough LOL Dolls* even though I know she would like them. I am fed up with surprise toys with loads of plastic wrapping, collectibles which we excitedly open only to find it is the same one we have 28 swaps of already, and things that take up so much space I can’t wait to pass them on to someone else.
Gift ideas for girls aged 7-9
I have a guide here to picking the perfect Christmas toy for younger children, but slightly older girls is new territory for me, so I asked the advice of my Facebook Group to see what they were buying for their girls n the 7-9 age bracket.
Here are some of my favourite suggestions.
Pippa said ‘My daughter (just turned 8) and her friends love the Top Model range. It’s basically activity books which allow you to create fashion designs, make up looks etc. We always take them as birthday party gifts and they are always a hit. I’ll be buying them for my daughter and niece this Christmas’. Their make up colouring book features on the Wicked Uncle gift list for 8 year old girls and I think my daughter would love this!
Kerry has ordered a subscription to The Week Junior, a current affairs magazine for children aged 8-14. We have the weekly Podcast on our Yoto Player which my daughter enjoys listening to so this is something we would consider!
Suzanne’s daughter has asked for guinea pigs. They’re not plastic, but I don’t think you can buy them on Wicked Uncle’. We had guinea pigs before the kids were born. If we didn’t have a dog, I’d be tempted because they are lovely friendly creatures. But obviously, pets only make a good gift if you are entirely ready to look after them because I can tell you now that a seven year old will lose interest in cleaning them out (I was that girl).
Chloe said ‘I have an 8 year old boy but one of his biggest requests from him which is a very unisex present is design his own converse. On their website you can literally customize every element of the shoes and he is desperate to do it. They are £45‘.
There was a lot of love for science and craft sets. There are plenty to choose from over on the Wicked Uncle website, as well as baking sets which I think she would love! I must say, the idea of something that is educational and doesn’t take up space indefinitely is definitely a winner.
Julie went with a musical instrument – ‘My girl is 7 this week and she’s asked for and getting an electric keyboard….I’ve bought one that can be played with headphones because I’m smart’. Although instruments were previously in my dear lord don’t buy this list for younger children, as she gets older it is definitely something we are considering.
For extra help with picking a suitable present, do check out Wicked Uncle where you can find hand picked toys sorted by by age and category. I’ve used the site myself many times, and it makes finding toys for children a breeze!