Four-year-olds are in the middle of the “magic years.” For the unfamiliar, the magic years refer to a period between 3 and 5 years old, when a child’s imagination runs wild and their learning capacity is seemingly endless. We often equate the best learning settings as ones with few distractions, tons of desks, and a teacher in front of a 300-person lecture hall. However, preschoolers learn from play.
Holidays and birthdays may feel like an exercise in mass consumerism, but finding great gifts for 4-year-olds can help them develop skills while having fun. Toys and books come at various prices, and not all gifts for 4-year-olds have to be a thing. You can gift fun experiences that provide a child with lifelong memories. We made a nice list of gifts for 4-year-olds (and checked it twice).
Best educational gifts for 4-year-olds
A 4-year-old can learn from any of the gifts on this list. However, these toys fit the more “traditional” bill for building knowledge.
- Simple coding toys. Those of us who grew up pre-internet may have learned to code later in life (or opted out). However, kids today begin learning to code as early as preschool. Coding requires children to think in sequences — an executive functioning skill they’ll use whether they go into tech or not. Brands like Learning Resources have cute, age-appropriate critters that can help children learn simple coding.
- Pre-literacy story cards. Four-year-olds may be introduced to simple spelling in school, depending on the curriculum. However, they won’t be reading Shakespeare for a while. Literacy cards usually have vibrant photos of characters on them but not words. Children can make up stories and arrange cards to tell an engaging tale, readying them for independent reading.
- Memory/matching games. You may remember these from growing up. They require players to flip over a card, recall where it is, and match it to a card with the same photo. The games expand cognitive functioning skills, like memory and focus, and gently introduce healthy competition.
Best types of books for 4-year-olds
Independent reading isn’t that far off. However, people of all ages, especially young children, can benefit from someone reading to them. Reading builds language skills and serves as a bonding opportunity. These books are excellent picks for 4-year-olds.
- Animal fiction books. Play to the 4-year-old’s beautiful imagination with books about talking animal characters. Pete the Cat and The Pigeon books are famous examples.
- Interactive books. These reads turn reading into multi-sensory and two-way experiences, inviting your child to literally “enter” the book’s world. Think Never Touch A… books with textured characters, Where’s Waldo? and books with flaps for children to turn over to reveal an answer.
- Social emotional. Preschoolers can still have big feelings, and books can help them. The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too, and Glad, Sad Monster are ways to help children understand feelings and develop coping skills.
Best experience gifts for 4-year-olds
What can you give the 4-year-old who already has everything? Consider an experience — parents with little space to spare for more toys will thank you.
- Animal adventures. Farms, petting zoos, traditional zoos, and aquariums allow children to get up-close looks at the animals they read about in books and sing about in circle time.
- Play spaces and kiddie gyms. Play spaces and little gyms let kids get a move on and run out their endless energy, rain or shine.
- Minor league baseball games. Your kid might be too young to eat peanuts and cracker jacks, but minor-league baseball games are much more than sporting events. Between-inning contests, mascots, and chances to run the bases provide many fun opportunities.
Imaginative toys
For many 4-year-olds, toys that encourage imaginative play are the jackpot given their current stage of development. If you’re … less imaginative, these toys should give you some ideas.
- Fantasy dress-up. Halloween isn’t the only day 4-year-olds can be anything they want. Princesses, superheroes, dinosaurs, and other not-quite-reality-based costumes enhance imaginative play.
- Farmhouses. Farmhouses with animals let children build a world of animals, acting out friendships, problems, and other everyday events in their worlds.
- Play kitchens. Purchase a play kitchen and food to spark creative juices. This gift quickly becomes interactive, with adults and little ones creating pretend meals and snacks and hosting imaginative dinner parties only a 4-year-old could dream up.
Closing thoughts
The age of 4 can be such a fun year for parents and other adults who love a preschooler. Since 4-year-olds learn from play, toys are more than material items — they represent development opportunities. Books, pre-literacy cards, and games that build skills like memory and coding can all foster growth in a fun way.
Gifts for 4-year-olds don’t need to be “things,” though. Experiences like zoo tickets or memberships to little gyms offer memory-making opportunities, fun, and exploration. Holidays and birthdays can pressure parents, other family members, and friends to find the “perfect gift.” There’s no need to spend outside of your means, and ultimately, your involvement in the child’s life is the best gift of all.
