Best Homeschool Gifts
For Christmas

Wasting hours struggling to find the best homeschool gifts for Christmas this year? Christmas shopping is sadly going to be a totally different experience and many of us will be stuck trying to pick from a bewildering array of small online images with reviews that aren't always ones you can trust. So I asked 3,000 homeschooling families to help out with their top choices that are both fun and educational.

Please note that the product links are affiliate links so if you buy you will pay exactly the same price as you would have done but I get a small percentage of the sale (which usually adds up to about a cookie.)

If you would prefer not to support this site in that way, just go to Amazon and search for the book yourself.

THE WINNERS

Board Games

We love board games!  They are brilliant for a special Christmas present and bring the whole family together over the festive period.

Here are the Top Three: 

#1

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Best Overall

• Easy to learn
• Great for the whole family
• Teaches geography in a fun way
• Quick to play
• Map art well designed
  
• Age 6+ to adult

#2

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Homeschool Favorite

• Fun cooperative game for all the family
• Educational - as you play, you learn the herbs that help an ailment
• Beautifully designed
• Age 4 to adult

#3

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Hard to beat a Classic!

Simone from my Courageous Homeschooling Facebook group was excited to discover there is a Christmas version of Monopoly.

Board games are top of the list for best homeschool gifts; they are a wonderful way of bringing the whole family together over Christmas.

Best Board And Card Games To Teach Math

If you want to slip math into Christmas without anyone noticing, board and card games are the way to do it!

Science

I am certain that science is easier to teach at home than at school.  After all, the main thing you need to awaken is curiosity, which is what lies at the heart of everything.

One of the most exciting kist I've found is this Smart Labs Squishy human body model.

It is aimed at 8+; I suspect younger children would enjoy it too. The kit has:

• 21 realistic vital organs, bones, and muscles
• 12” clear plastic human body model, stand, 9 squishy organs, 12 plastic bones & muscles, forceps, tweezers, body part organ-izer mat
• STEM anatomy/Biology book
  

Please note that these links are affiliate links so if you buy I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Animals: Becoming A Vet

If your child is dreaming of becoming a vet, I have the perfect gift for you.

It's highly recommended by Jodi from my Courageous Homeschooling Facebook group. Because she knows it's hard to decide whether a book is any good or not she's posted lots of sample pages for you to see.

Best Gift For A Fellow Homeschooler

If you have a friend who is struggling worrying about whether they can cope and how they are going to go about teaching their child, I have the most brilliant gift you can give.

Full of inspiration, reassurance and encouragement from 5,000 homeschoolers, the Courageous Homeschooling Handbooks will bring a sigh of relief to anyone who is struggling.

Christmas Books

Christmas isn't Christmas without some seasonal books to celebrate!

Here are some of Bianka's favorites:

David Attenborough

David Attenborough has hero status in our homeschool.  We watched him so often it felt like he used to pop in for tea every afternoon!

And in terms of learning, you couldn't hope for a better introduction to help your child see want an amazing Planet we live on and encourage us all to look after it.

When my children sent David Attenborough some of their homeschool drawings, he took the time to hand write letters to each of them individually.

Animal Dynasties was a great favorite of ours:

If you are like me, you've watched all his amazing nature programmes along with your children. This year he has something he feels obliged to tell us about how he's seen the Planet suffer.

If you as an adult, like many of us, are worried about climate change, forest destruction, animal loss and the dying of the seas and want to find out what to about it, this is his Witness Statament.

Crystal Art Set

Kelly from my Courageous Homeschooling Facebook group has been enjoying Crystal art:

It looks great as a Christmas craft that both adults and children (age 8+) can do.

You use the magic pencil (included) to lift up the coloured resin gems and place them on the corresponding numbered dots.

Board Games - Allie's Top Choices

Allie from the Courageous Homeschooling group has picked out her top choices for best homeschool gifts.

She owns all of these and particularly recommends No Stress Chess.

They all look fun to me!

Classics

Always good to have some classics among the list of best homeschool gifts for Christmas! Wolves often are a child favorite, so White Fang is a perfect choice.  Little House on the Prairie is an enduring tale, as is William's favorite Jules Verne 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Coloring Books

Coloring books are really popular so I have slipped in a few for you to enjoy while the kids get on opening their Christmas presents.

The fabulous animal coloring book is by our favorite artist Tim Jeffs  who has been a great supporter of our daughter Catherine's homeschool art.  Wonderful book from a highly talented and modest artist.

Crafts And Activities

Crafts over Christmas are such a good idea to calm things down and give the children time to get creative.

Sew Cool is a threadless sewing machine.

It is simple to use with no needles to thread and no foot pedal - basically you just push the button and the machine starts.

There are 9 projects to make including a purse, a pencil case and stuffed characters.

We love Klutz craft kits which easily come high on the list of best homeschool gifts.  They are all generally very good quality and perfect for a crafty child.

Our special favorites are the ones on how to make friendship bracelets (you can see how to make them here) and window art, but all the kits are good value.

Here is the page we made about hand art using a Klutz kit.  Great fun!

And here's our page on how to make friendship bracelets - one of those eternelly satisfying homeschool crafts.

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs have to be one of the biggest hits in our homeschool, as you can see from this giant lapbook we made covering all our living room walls!

We also enjoyed stories featuring dinosaurs.  If you think your kids would enjoy dinosaurs in space, check out Astrosaurs - William has the complete series! Z-Rex is for the slightly older as it is a bit more scary.

Best Homeschool Gifts: Encyclopedias

Usborne has some great encyclopedias - great if your child loves facts like my son!

Factual

National Geographic have a series of these which would make brilliant Christmas presents:

Globes

Having a great globe is one of the exciting things about homeschool!

And it's the sort of present which fills Santa's stocking.

Insight Globes have ones with animals on - even one with dinosaurs!

Sheila and Maddy have the political globe - Maddy says she loves the colors :)

My Mom who homeschooled me wanted to buy a special globe for the children to have and she chose an illuminated National Geographic one.

It's expensive but really beautiful.

Microscope

Monica from the Courageous Homeschooling Facebook group found this microscope which has less reviews so far but seems to be the more modern version of one which has great reviews on Amazon.

Thanks Monica.

K'NEX

K'NEX is one of the best homeschool gifts because it sparks an interest in how things work and constructing simple models.  The amusement park filled the top of our garden!

Lego

When you're looking for best homeschool gifts you can't go wrong with lego!  Here's another example of a toy which teaches so well and so much.  Every year a lego set was top of the Christmas list for my son William. And my friend's son wants to show off his jet fighter:

Lego teaches so many skills; here is a page with more than seventy different learning activities.

Snap Circuits

Snap Circuits are a fantastic way to get hands-on with science and have fun with buzzers and bells.

Magic

You have to blame William for these!  We acted as the (sometimes unwilling!) audience.  If your child loves magic, a good kit is a really exciting Christmas present.

Magic Kitten

Magic School Bus

Science Books

You'll notice quite a few of these are human body books - but then the place we live in really is fascinating.  We turned it into a project making blood from jelly beans as well as our own eye here.

Theodore Gray is mad - in the best sense.  He absolutely loves the elements and does some really daft things with them - and in the process he awakens an interest in the Periodic Table which will never dim.

Space is amazing; William is responsible for getting me interested as I have to say I didn't know much about it.  But an early project making a solar system with a cotton wool sun and leading on to a Voyager space probe got me hooked.

Brian Cox is a wonderful presenter and - like many of us over a certain age - rather a hero of mine! His books are aimed more at teens.

Story Books

Mog the Cat will always have a special place in our hearts, Judith Kerr's stories are so gentle and amusing.  You have to read Mog at Christmas to find out about the walking Xmas tree!  Asterix and Tintin are all-time Christmas favorites; you might find (as with William and Catherine) that the cartoon style of short sentences encourages reading.

Old Bear brings back happy memories of the children being very young; you will love these cute stories with Old Bear the wise one always there to protect and look after his friends.  A definite must for best homeschool gifts for little ones!

Michael Morpurgo has to be part of any list of best homeschool gifts. He is one of the most talented story-tellers anywhere and, since his stories always include animals in some way, ideal if your child is an animal fan like our two!

Animal Ark and Little Animal Ark featuring the vet's daughter Mandy bring reassurance that the animals will get looked after in the end.

And for little ones, what could be nicer than a homeschool Christmas  of Paddington Bear, Winnie-the-Pooh and Elmer.

My friend Diana recommends books by Eva Ibbotson:

Older Story Books

Warriors is Catherine's favorite; we have every single book and I can guarantee the latest in the series will be on her Christmas list this year!

Michelle Paver's Wolf Brother series is gripping and extremely well written; Alex Scarrow's Time Riders sneaks in a bit of homeschool history by the back door.

A few other highlights include the Indian in the Cupboard series and Peter Dickinson's The Kin.

Rick Riordan is a fabulously inventive writer who brings the Greek myths to life. If you can get your child interested, they will be great at quizzes forever - there always seems to be a question on Persephone and Hades, Theseus and the Minotaur or something similar which leaves most of us baffled!

The Hunger Games and the Divergent series are both hits in our best homeschool gifts for older teens.

And Harry Potter has to be on the list!

Special Gifts for Homeschool Friends

My gift book for a homeschool Mom is published on Amazon.  It's a great Christmas present - or treat yourself!

• Inspiring quotes to to sit on your bedside table to dip into whenever you need a boost of courage and confidence - and want to feel great!
• Quotes from the greatest thinkers in the world to show they agree with you and give you the strength to keep going.
• A book you can turn to over and over when the going gets tough (which we know it does!)
• Uniquely personal. Beautifully illustrated pages to write your own favorite quotes that speak to your heart.

Homeschooling Books

The best homeschool gifts include those that reaffirm your decision to homeschool.

• Homeschool Secrets of Success shows you how to avoid battles with the kids and keep learning fun.
• The Courageous Homeschooling Handbook is great for those starting out to give reassurance and encouragement.

This list of the best homeschool gifts is ideal when you are stuck for an idea for an unusual and special Christmas present.  I hope you enjoy these gifts as much as we have.

Want to remember this? Pin this Homeschool Christmas List to your favorite Pinterest board!

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