Gifts that Inspire Character Guide

MEANINGFUL GIFTS WITHOUT ALL THE MAYHEM

The holiday season is quickly approaching, and gift buying is causing quite a stir because of limited supply and slow-moving delivery. You want to give good gifts, but you have a limited timeframe to find something thoughtful. MVP Kids to the rescue! We have compiled a simple gift guide to help you put together themed gifts for all the special children in your life.

Look here for toy and activity ideas that, paired with our character-inspiring books, effortlessly create a low-cost, personalized, and meaningful gift! Kids don’t need more stuff, but a valuable, character-inspiring gift encourages personal growth and deeper relationships for the whole year to come! 

Note: MVP Kids does not endorse any specific items shown or listed that are sold elsewhere, but we are simply giving ideas for you to consider. Thank you for choosing MVP Kids as part of your holiday gifting!

Toddlers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Celebrate! My Senses

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Toddler’s backpack

  • Magnifying glass

  • Sketch pad for drawing observations (or other silly things that they will think of)

  • 💡Activity idea: Create a sensory bin of objects you collect from outside

Preschoolers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Out on the Trail

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Child’s backpack

  • Child’s binoculars

  • Walkie Talkies

  • Compass

  • Treasure Map

  • Doodle board or sketch pad for drawing and writing down observations

  • 💡Activity idea: Create a scavenger hunt as the gift—then find the items around your home, yard, or park

  • 💡Activity idea: Put together a kit of different snacks that go together in trail mix—then make it together

Elementary-aged

• 📚MVP Kids book: Olivia Uproots the Arrogant Weed

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Sketch pad and crayons

  • Paintable garden gnome

  • 💡Activity idea: Put together a kit of a glass bowl, rocks, potting soil, small indoor plants, and small special objects as the gift—then create a terrarium together

Toddlers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Celebrate! Our Community

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Community helper dolls or blocks

  • ‘Nesting’ buildings and vehicles

  • 💡Activity idea: Create a fun game of finding unused toys and clothing that you can donate to a local shelter

  • 💡Activity idea: Put together a kit of envelopes, stamps, cards, and craft supplies as the gift—then create the cards together

Preschoolers

• 📚MVP Kids book: I’m Part of My Community

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Community dress up clothes

  • Community vehicle (firetruck, construction truck, police car, etc.)

  • 💡Activity idea: Sign up to serve a meal at your local food pantry

  • 💡Activity idea: Put together a kit of cookie cutters, icing, and a recipe card as the gift—then bake your neighbors cookies together

  • 💡Activity idea: Put together a kit of envelopes, stamps, cards, and craft supplies as the gift—then create the cards together

Elementary-aged

• 📚MVP Kids book: Teacher’s Explain It All

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Chalkboard and chalk

  • Notebooks, stickers, and pens

  • Pretend glasses

  • Alphabet magnets

  • Workbooks

  • 💡Activity idea: Print out worksheets of different subjects as the gift—then after everyone completes them, allow your child to grade them
    

• 📚MVP Kids book: Police Protect and Serve

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Police badge

  • Toy police car

  • Magnifying glass

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up clues to a fun mystery that your child must figure out as a detective

Elementary-aged

• 📚MVP Kids book: Sarah Sizes Up the Insecure Ant

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Basketball

  • Ant farm

  • 💡Activity idea: Create a confidence journal and start it out by writing encouraging things that you love about your child. Encourage them to continue the journal by writing down what they think are their strengths.
    

• 📚MVP Kids book: Block Bad Sportsmanship

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Board games

  • Bean bag toss

  • 💡Activity idea: Create a kit of relay race items (blindfolds, eggs, spoons, water balloons, etc.) as the gift—then compete against each other

Elementary-aged

• 📚MVP Kids book: Hello, World! I’m a Programmer

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • STEM specific toy

  • Program to learn coding

  • 💡Activity idea: Use cardboard to create a pretend robots, computers, phones, etc. (either make them as the gift or create a kit to make them together)
    
    

• 📚MVP Kids book: Blake Rewires the Failure Circuit

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Beginners circuit board

  • 💡Activity idea: Create a kit of simple science fair prompts as the gift—then experiment together (e.g. paper mache volcano, baking soda experiments, mentos and coca-cola, etc.)

Elementary-aged

• 📚MVP Kids book: Stick to the Beat

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Kalimba or other musical instrument

  • Music book for the instrument they play

  • Karaoke machine

  • 💡Activity idea: Print out instructions for learning different dances as the gift—then turn the music up and dance together

Toddlers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Celebrate! Flying Colors

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Binoculars

  • Bird-identifying book

  • Butterfly-identifying book

  • Paint or coloring utensils

  • Butterfly costume

  • 💡Activity idea: Print out coloring pages of birds and butterflies to color together

Elementary-aged

• 📚MVP Kids book: Light of Kindness

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Solar system light projector

  • Glow-in-the-dark stars

  • Motivational kindness cards

  • Child’s telescope

  • 💡Activity idea: Print out a simple guide to constellations as the gift—then go out to try to find them in the night sky
    

• 📚MVP Kids book: Report, Jet Leader

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Toy airplanes

  • A manual for paper airplanes

  • 💡Activity idea: Print out a pretend plane ticket as the gift—then visit your local airport to watch planes take off

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up several sheets of plain white paper and have a paper airplane making contest

Toddlers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Celebrate! Counting Critters

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Insect catcher kit

  • Butterfly net

  • Bug counters

  • Counting board game

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up several images of insects as the gift and tell your child that they need to find a certain number of each insect image that you’ve hidden around the house

Preschoolers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Counting Critters

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Insect catcher kit

  • Butterfly net

  • Bug counters

  • Math practice book

  • Butterfly metamorphosis kit

  • Insect-identifying book

  • 💡Activity idea: Print out images of insects local to your area as the gift—then go on a scavenger hunt to find them together

Toddlers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Celebrate! MealTime

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Grocery basket and toy food items

  • Child’s apron

  • Child’s kitchen helper tower / step stool

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up the ingredients and recipe card for a tasty treat—then bake it together.

Elementary-aged

• 📚MVP Kids book: Full of Flavor

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Child’s apron

  • Age-appropriate cookbook

  • 💡Activity idea: Create a coupon for your child’s favorite restaurant as the gift and go together as a family.

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up different kinds of snacks. Blindfold everyone who is playing and have a blind taste test to see if everyone can guess correctly (i.e. sweet, salty, sour, savory, and spicy foods).
    

• 📚MVP Kids book: Annie’s Jar of Patience

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • A jar of kimchi for everyone to try

  • A personal set of kitchen supplies

  • Apron

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up an empty jar with a recipe for kimchi and prepare it together following each step (don’t forget that getting the supplies at the grocery store or farmer’s market is part of the process, too!)

Toddlers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Celebrate! Changing Seasons

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Child’s umbrella, rain coat, and rain boots

  • Child’s sunglasses

  • Child’s hat

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up pictures of different kinds of weather and have your child race to find appropriate clothing and gear for that weather

Preschoolers

• 📚MVP Kids book: A Year of Seasons

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • Child’s umbrella, rain coat, and rain boots

  • Child’s sunglasses

  • Child’s hat

  • 💡Activity idea: Wrap up pictures of different kinds of weather and have your child race to find appropriate clothing and gear for that weather

Toddlers

• 📚MVP Kids book: Celebrate! Feelings

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • MVP Kids product: Emotion Cards

  • MVP Kids product: Instill SEL at Home

  • MVP Kids product: Puppets

Preschoolers

• 📚MVP Kids book: I Know How I Feel

• 🎁Accompanying gift ideas:

  • MVP Kids product: Emotion Cards

  • MVP Kids product: Instill SEL at Home

  • MVP Kids product: Puppets