For several years, we have collected Christmas gift ideas from our faculty to provide parents with ideas for educational, developmentally-appropriate gifts that are not only fun, but also enriching. After all, these teachers are spending nearly seven hours a day with your children, investing in their holistic growth, and so they have a firm handle on what kinds of gifts will enhance these children's learning experience.

If you're looking for some inspiration, here is a classically-influenced Christmas gift ideas list, organized by grade levels and subjects.

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Preschool

Kindergarten

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

Middle School Aged Students

High School Aged Students

Mathematics and Logic

Science

Art

Chess

Books and Literature for the Whole Family

Preschool Gift Ideas

• Melissa & Doug create timeless modern classics, and these pattern blocks will keep your little one busy and engaged.
• Floor puzzles are fantastic, and some favorites might be this world map with animals or this traffic jumbo jam.
• Animals are always a hit at this age, so this Little People A to Z Learning Zoo playset - which combines alphabet learning and imaginative play - will be a hit.
• Start a family game time tradition this coming year and invest in some educational and fun games to bond over. Some great ideas include The Honey Bee Tree, The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, and Sound Bingo.

Kindergarten Gift Ideas

• Kindergartners love the Bob Books, and this is a great set that will help them build their reading skills with confidence.
• They love learning to read, and this game - which combines sight words and popcorn - helps them do just that.
• ABCs ad 123s go together, and these kids enjoy their numbers too. Foster that love of learning with this fun game that helps them polish their addition and subtraction skills.

First Grade Gift Ideas

• Many of our students love drawing, so art supplies would make great gifts. Consider:
• Crayola Crayons (Mrs. Strawbridge's favorite)
• Art paper or sketch books
• Coloring books
• Books are best! Here are some of our favorites:
• Early Readers (the "I Can Read"publications)
• Bob Books
• Dr. Seuss
• I SPY books
• Poetry books, such as Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill, The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (selected by Jack Prelutsky), and Lavender's Blue (nursery rhymes: Kathleen Lines)
• Carolyn Haywood's Betsy books
• Books that cover topics we discuss in class, such as Pennsylvania history, native Americans, planets and solar system, or Bible stories.
• A new "real" Bible (ESV or NKJV may be easier to read)
• Music/CDs
• Judy Rogers' Why Can't I See God or Teach Me While My Heart is Tender
• Steve Green scripture memory songs Hide 'Em In Your Heart

Second Grade Gift Ideas

• Second graders who are beginning their deep dive into history, ancient cultures, and geography will likely love some of the exploratory and educational toys from National Geographic, such as:
• National Geographic Shut the Box Game
• Around the World Touch-Pad Quiz Game
• All-in-One Adventure Multi-tool
• Voice Changer
• Some books that they might enjoy include:
• An Uncommon History of Common Things
• Ultimate Weird But True
• Atlas

Third Grade Gift Ideas

If your third grader is loving our studies of ancient Greece and Rome, and enjoying so many of the fun books we're reading in literature, they'll probably love some of these items:

• Narnia Stratego game
• Roman Empire Jingo game
• Beautifully illustrated D'Aulaires' books.
• Asterix and Obelix comic book series. Originally written in French, these hilarious translations chronicle the adventures of the Gauls vs. the Romans. Boys and girls alike enjoy them!
• Centerburg Tales, the sequels to Homer Price.
• The Wanderings of Odysseus.
• Roman soldier figures
• A mosaic kit 
• Greek and Roman Mythology Craft book 

Fourth Grade Gift Ideas

Veritas fourth graders are all about all things medieval, as they wade through European history together. Feed that love of the great Western Tradition history with some of these gift ideas popular with our 9 and 10 year old students.

• Rubix cubes of varying shapes or for an even tougher challenge, a Gear Cube
• Ticket to Ride: Europe (a strategy board game which coincides with our study of Europe in the Middle Ages History)
• Tabletop Trebuchet
• Leonardo da Vinci catapult 
• Medieval Toy Soldiers
• Medieval dress-up clothes
• Castle Playset
• Cathedral Puzzle

Fifth Grade Gift Ideas

Your fifth grader is enjoying the discovery and birth of America. Help your colonist really blossom in their knowledge and love for what they're learning with these gift ideas.

• Stranded at Plymouth Plantation 1626 by Gary Bowen. This engaging historical fiction story is about a thirteen-year-old indentured servant boy whose ship crashes en route to the New World, and who ends up becoming a Plymouth settler. Written in journal form, it tells about colonial housing, food, religion, clothing, family life, the strict Puritans, eight-hour Sabbath services, and more. Illustrated with copies of beautiful original woodcuts by the author.

  

• 1775 - Rebellion This exciting board game for 2-4 players, is about the American colonists battling the British for control of the British colonies in North America. It's more of a strategy game than a war game, is full of action, and easy to learn! 
• Sequence: States & Capitals (board game)
• Race Across the USA (board game)
• American Revolution Chess Set
• Cross Stitch Sampler Kit
• Quill & Ink Set 
• Revolutionary War Toy Soldiers 
• Toy muskets and guns
• Rubber Band Wooden Cannon
• Compass & Spy Glass
• Miniature Tea and Coffee Set from Salisbury Pewter (excellent doll play accessory)

Books and Videos

• Liberty Kids Video Series 
• Golden Book of the American Revolution
• The Matchlock Gun
• An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin & Noah Webster’s Spelling Revolution
• Childhood of Famous Americans Series
• George Washington’s World
• At the Battle of Yorktown: An Interactive Battlefield Adventure
• George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen From Both Sides
• George Washington: Spymaster

Sixth Grade Gift Ideas

• The Greek Code Cracker is a fun, sleuth book that teaches the Greek alphabet while students solve a mystery. The skills it sharpens makes this book a great way to prepare your child for our secondary school curriculum.
• Latin Christmas Carols is a great way to increase student's Latin vocabulary. 

• Another fun sleuthing book is Art Fraud Detective, which is a "spot the difference" book that has students spotting the art forgery through clues about the original artwork.

• A Kindle is a good gift for kids this age. Although we love the printed word, the Kindle has the advantage of allowing students to tap on a word and have it defined for them right there in context, thus increasing vocabulary and comprehension of a text. While kids could look up definitions of unfamiliar words in a dictionary, the reality is that they don't often take the time to do so. The Kindle makes this an effortless process. Also, for students with reading challenges, the Kindle can read the books aloud while they follow along with the words. In the hands of a parent giving a little oversight to the choice of literature, this can be a valuable tool!

Secondary School Gift Ideas

Books For Middle School Aged Students

These recommendations come from former Veritas Omnibus teacher, friend of our school, bibliophile and and classical education enthusiast Leslie Bustard.

Science

Grammar School Science Gift Ideas

• If your students love to try fun experiments, the Steve Spangler website has many cool gift ideas.
• Do your children love to tinker with science-y, even slightly geeky, gadgets?  The "Think Geek" site has fun stuff along this vein!
• Creation Science Book or DVD
  If you are interested in fining a good creation science book or DVD for your child, you may want to look at this website.

Secondary School Science and Robotics Gift Ideas

• Consider a trip together to one of the wonderful science museums close to home:
  • North Museum, Lancaster
  • Whitaker Center, Harrisburg
  • Franklin Institute, Philadelphia
  • Baltimore Aquarium, Baltimore
• Anti-Virus (by SmartGames)
• Ampersand Press Into the Forest, Nature's Food Chain Game
• Snap Circuits Electronics kits (there are many to choose from!)
• Lego Mindstorms for your robotics enthusiast.

Mathematics

Museums to visit

Give the gift of a mathematical family day trip for Christmas

• National Museum of Mathematics - New York City
  Ride a bicycle with square wheels, design and build polyhedra, and explore tessellations. This museum is small but packed full of fun mathematical content. Bring someone who loves mathematics along with you on the trip.
• National Cryptologic Museum - Between Baltimore and Washington DC
  Outstanding museum exploring the history of codes and ciphers. Play with German enigma machines. Most of the docents at the museum are former NSA employees who worked with the museum artifacts when some of them used to be top secret! The museum and guided tours are free!

Math Games

Find several great math games at SmartGamesUSA.com

Math Books

• The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities
  Great for students who have completed Algebra 2.
• Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics
  Also a good fit for students who have completed Algebra 2.
• Euclid's Elements.
  This is the cleanest and nicest edition available of the greatest geometry textbook of all time.
  
• Polyhedron Models by Magnus J Wenniger.
  THE definitive book on building paper polyhedra models by Father Magnus Wenninger himself. Beloved Veritas math teacher Mr. Seigenthaler began a tradition of building polyhedra with his geometry students, and it has become a favorite pastime for many Veritas students over the years.
• Zometool kits 
  Extremely versatile and creative construction materials. Several different size kits are available.
• Magnaforms
  Fun magnetic polyhedra pieces, described as an "Intelligent Magnetic Construction Set For Brain Development"
• Rubik's Cube
  ShengShou brand Rubik's Cubes (all different shapes and sizes) are the best AND CHEAPEST cube puzzles available.

• Logic Puzzles
• Sudoku puzzles
  Kids LOVE them!
• Mastermind is a fun (old school) logic game. 
• Escape Room board games are great for your logic-phase middle schooler
• Ticket to Ride is a fun full family game. Even little siblings can team up with parents or older siblings. 
• The SET game is easily accessible for all ages. While it is not directly math related, the recognition of patterns helps everyone with math concepts.
  
  

Art

Grammar School Art Gift Ideas

• Watercolor pencils for kids of any age who like to draw. These color like any colored pencil, but come alive when brushed with paintbrush dipped in water. 
  Watercolor paper
  Regular cardstock
• The sweetest beginner sewing and knitting kit. 
• Large Lap Loom, create your own textiles (similar to the one in the 5th grade classroom).
• Pottery Wheel for kids AND if the thought of that terrifies you a bit then read this and realize you’re not alone!
• KiwiCrate (ages 5-8) or the Doodle Crate (ages 9-16)
  Your child will get everything they need for a new craft or DIY activity every month.
• Mr. Sketch Markers, the best markers for grade school kids! They last longer than Crayola and they smell delicious! 
• Tempera Paint Sticks
  Get the richer color of paint, but without the mess of brushes and water.
• BIG Paper
  It can be a challenge to store and display BIG masterpieces, but for some reason BIG paper is SO fun and exciting for kids.

High School Art Gift Ideas 

For the more mature creators in Secondary School

Art box subscriptions give students a challenge with (potentially) new materials. Here are several options:

• Sketchbox subscription box
  This subscription box contains high quality drawing supplies that any budding artist would love. 
• Smile Create Repeat subscription box
  This is another Art Supply subscription services that sends the receiver art tools and materials along with instructions on how to use them. This is a great way to introduce your child to new art tools and techniques. 
• Paletteful Packs Subscription box
  Theses themed art boxes include everything your child needs to explore a new art medium each month. One month may be acrylic paint, the next graphite and charcoal, and more! 

Other suggestions for older students who are art enthusiasts include:

• Sketching set
• Colored pencils and a blender
• Water pens for watercolor pencils
• Watercolors
• Make your own Textiles with the Large Lap Loom.
• Screen Print your own shirts and more with this amazing kit!
• Jewelry Stamping set
• A Beginner's Calligraphy Set
  Get your child started on this wonderful art form, which may be of particular interest to students who enjoy activities like card making or illustrating.
• Ink and Pens starter set
• Grids for under the paper (helps to keep your angles and lines consistent)
• A “how to” art book, like Creative Lettering and Beyond

• Prismacolor Pencils
  These pencils are really nothing like Crayola pencils. The pigment is so soft and they are designed to blend together, so the range of colors you can achieve is endless. Perfect to use with those adult coloring books that are so popular.
• Prismacolor Illustration Markers
  These markers are also unique in their blending capability and you will find that they don’t make streaks when coloring a large area (the way cheaper markers do).
• Oil Pastels
  Not all oil pastels are created equal, and the prices vary widely, but this set is an excellent deal on Amazon and they are nice and soft.
• Art History Books
  Find inspiration, and understand how art has evolved through the centuries with lovely works like:
  • Art that Changed the World
  • Art: Over 2,500 Works from Cave to Contemporary

For the Chess Player

• Solitaire Chess Brain Game- If you can't play chess but your child does. 

• Magnetic Travel Chess - Put the screens away during holiday travels.
• Designer Colored Chess Sets - Who says chess has to be black and white? 
• Lego Chess Set- Combo of two great past times! On sale often during the holidays.
• Four Player Chess Set- Chess for the whole family on those cold winter days. This site runs a great Christmas sale in a week or two.
• Complete Designer Chess Set To Go- Bring everything you need to play regulation chess anywhere you go!
• Highly Economical Chess Set To Go- Everything you need to bring chess where you go for the thrifty spender! The timers on this site are expensive so you could go with this one instead of theirs and save even more.
• Giant Chess- Great for the backyard, basement, or garage!
• Chess Book for Kids- Great for those interested in reading about the game they love.
• Solitaire Chess- This one is really fun for kids to do on their own. The puzzles have been a hit for a lot of our chess students in the past.
• Harry Potter Chess Set - We have a lot of Harry Potter fans here that would love playing chess with this set.