30 Gifts for 5 Year Olds That Aren't Toys (and Get Used)

If you only read one section, start here. These are the non-toy gifts most 5 year olds use again and again:

1. An experience or membership: zoo, aquarium, science center, or a term of swim, gymnastics or music lessons.
2. A subscription that arrives in the mail: a kids' magazine, a craft box, a book club.
3. A learning kit: a real cookbook and apron, a magnifying set, a seed-starting kit, a beginner tool kit.
4. Books: a set of early readers, a chapter book to read aloud, nonfiction about whatever they love.
5. Printables: a step-by-step drawing book, sight words, a kindergarten workbook they can work through.
6. "Big kid" practical items: an alarm clock, a wall calendar, a library tote with their name on it.

For a family doing a little learning at home, our Complete Kindergarten Bundle is the one-download version of the whole year.

What's inside the Complete Kindergarten Bundle: 1,043 pages for ages 5 to 6: the Complete Kindergarten Curriculum at Home (36 weeks of phonics, reading and math, planned for you), Good Morning! Kindergarten Warm-Ups, the Kindergarten Ready! Skills Kit, the Kindergarten Enrichment Super Pack, Sight Word Explorers: Kindergarten (52 words) and CVC Word Quest. Honest fit: this is a main gift for a parent who will sit with their child for 20 to 30 minutes a day, not a stocking stuffer. It's an instant PDF for US Letter or A4. Want to see the style first? Try our free printable book.

Five is the age when non-toy gifts stop being "for the parents." The CDC's 5-year milestones include counting to 10, naming some letters, writing some letters of their name, paying attention for 5 to 10 minutes during an activity, following rules and taking turns in games, telling a story with at least two events and doing simple chores at home (CDC – milestones at 5 years). Every one of those turns a non-toy gift into something they can actually use:

• Counting and letters make workbooks, calendars and cookbooks satisfying.
• Turn-taking makes real board games and lessons possible.
• Longer attention means a membership or class gets used, not endured.
• Storytelling makes chapter books and a journal a hit.

The AAP's school-readiness guidance makes the same point from the other side: readiness is as much about self-care, following directions and getting along with others as it is about ABCs (AAP – Is Your Child Ready for School?). Our kindergarten readiness checklist and what to teach in kindergarten at home go through those skills in detail.

1. A zoo, aquarium or children's museum membership. Five year olds love going back to the same exhibit and being the expert.
2. A science center membership. The push-button, hands-on kind. Pairs well with the enrichment pack below.
3. A term of lessons: swimming, gymnastics, dance, soccer or beginner music. Choose one, not three.
4. Tickets to a kids' show, a matinee or a children's concert, with a grown-up of their choice.
5. A real train or ferry ride to somewhere small and specific: a bakery, a lighthouse, a bigger library.
6. A library card ritual: their own card, a tote and a standing Saturday visit.
7. A kids' cooking or pottery class. Measuring, following steps and sitting with a group are all kindergarten skills.
8. A "day with Grandpa" or "day with Auntie." Planned together, written on the calendar, repeated.

9. A kids' nature or science magazine. Something with their name on the envelope every month.
10. A monthly craft or STEM box. Choose one aimed at 5 to 7, not 8 and up.
11. A kids' cookbook and their own apron. Measuring cups are math; following a recipe is reading.
12. A magnifying glass or beginner microscope and a notebook for drawing what they find.
13. A seed-starting kit with a sunny windowsill and a watering can.
14. A beginner tool kit with a real small hammer and a bag of golf tees for foam board. Supervised, obviously.
15. A world map or globe with sticker flags. Five year olds love "that's where Grandma lives."
16. A cooperative board game for ages 5 and up. Everyone wins or loses together, which suits children just learning to lose. The NAEYC's guide to play is a good reminder that games are learning, not a break from it (NAEYC – 10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play).
17. A screen subscription, with a plan. If you give an app or streaming gift, pair it with a family media plan so parents set the when and how long (AAP – Family Media Plan).

For a 5 year old who finishes everything and asks for more, the extra-challenge pack is the one to give.

What's inside the Kindergarten Enrichment Super Pack: 57 pages for ages 5 to 6 across six themes including space, dinosaurs and the ocean: 18 picture-math and graphing pages, 6 pattern pages, 6 odd-one-out logic pages, 6 big mazes, 6 symmetry drawing pages, 6 word-search reading pages and 6 sentence-writing pages. Instant PDF for US Letter or A4. It goes in a binder with a new pencil and feels like a "big kid" gift.

18. A boxed set of early readers. Short, repetitive and decodable, so they can read a whole book alone.
19. A chapter book to read aloud, one chapter a night. Five is when the bedtime story gets longer.
20. Nonfiction about their obsession: sharks, volcanoes, space, horses. Specific beats general.
21. A personalized storybook with their name in it.
22. A joke book. Kindergarteners have just discovered that words can be funny.
23. A sketchbook and a tin of real colored pencils. Paper that doesn't tear and pencils that don't snap change how a child draws.
24. Draw Animals A to Z (print at home). Twenty-six step-by-step animal drawings, one per letter from alligator to zebra, with a big space to draw your own. For ages 5 to 9, so it lasts. See the book.
25. Sight Word Explorers: Kindergarten (print at home). The 52 primer sight words (all, are, have, like, want and so on) with one page each to read, color, trace, write and find, plus review pages after every four words. See the book. Our guide to kindergarten sight words explains which words to start with.

If your 5 year old hasn't started kindergarten yet, the Kindergarten Ready! Skills Kit covers the things teachers notice on day one: cutting, pencil control, shapes, patterns, rhymes and beginning sounds, counting and first letters, with a "my first day" drawing page. For letter sounds specifically, see how to teach letter sounds.

26. A kids' alarm clock that changes color when it's time to get up. Independence, and a lie-in for you.
27. A wall calendar and a sheet of stickers. Five year olds are starting to use words about time, and marking off days to a birthday or trip makes it concrete.
28. A backpack or library tote with their name on it.
29. A photo book of their year. Looked at more than any toy.
30. Coupons for one-on-one time: a bike ride, baking night, choosing dinner, staying up 15 minutes late. Write them together so the child knows what's coming.

Buying for younger siblings at the same time? See educational gifts for 4 year olds and gifts for 3 year olds that aren't toys.

A PDF is a real gift when it has some shape. Pick one:

1. Binder and pencils. Print the book, put it in a slim binder with a cover page, add a new pack of pencils and wrap it.
2. Send it on the day. Any book can be sent from our gifts page: choose the date, add a message, and the recipient gets the download while you get a printable gift certificate to hand over or post.
3. Let the parents choose. A gift card works when you aren't sure where the child is up to.

All of our books are instant PDFs for US Letter or A4, so a grandparent in another state can print at home with nothing to ship.

• CDC – Milestones by 5 Years: the 5-year skills referenced above: counting to 10, naming and writing letters, attention span, turn-taking, storytelling and chores.
• HealthyChildren.org (AAP) – Is Your Child Ready for School?: school readiness as social, emotional and self-care skills as well as academics.
• NAEYC – 10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play: why games and play are learning, supporting the board game and experience suggestions.
• HealthyChildren.org (AAP) – Family Media Plan: the AAP's tool for setting limits on screen-based gifts and subscriptions.