While the Fidget Toy and, more specifically, Pop It craze is not unique to this age group, I have personally witnessed many an eight-year-old Fidget Toy trade negotiation, hence its position here. Sensory Fidget Toys (think: all sorts of small plastic things you can squish, pull, twist, and pop) come in endless permutations and prices, depending on their makeup and quantity. This set of 38 pieces is $12.99. The same can be said for Pop Its, a subspecies of fidget toy, which, while slightly more geared towards girls, have plenty of shape and color options to suit boys, as well.
Kids can’t resist the suspense of building a tower and seeing whose mistake will crash it down in the game of Jenga ($19.99). Square Up ($24.95) offers fast-paced visual thinking challenges for one or two kids as they shuffle colored pieces around to match the pattern in the cube shaker. Guess Who is, in my humble estimation, one of the greatest siblings-of-varying-age games because they’re whether five or eight, kids love searching for and eliminating all the guys with red hair, or women with glasses.
The Flybar Maverick Pogo Stick ($48.99) may function just like the pogo sticks of your youth, but with rubber grip handles and foam-covered metal frame, it’s a lot more comfortable. Let kids cruise around the neighborhood on the Mini Cruiser Retro Skateboard ($44), which comes in nine colors.
Let budding young readers follow siblings Jack and Annie as they go on time-traveling adventures in the Magic Treehouse series ($11.95 for books 1-4). Of course, there is the end-all, be-all video game gift for kids: the almighty Nintendo Switch ($299.99). It’s not cheap (neither are its game cards, which average $60 each), but it’s guaranteed to inspire joy in a young gamer’s eyes.