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Looking for the best gift ideas for 4-year-olds this season? Whether you’re shopping for a birthday, Christmas, or just because, this curated list of top toys for preschoolers, open-ended play toys, and must-have developmental toys will help you find the perfect surprise. From STEM learning toys to creative play essentials, these high-quality gifts for kids are parent-approved, tried-and-true gifts, and guaranteed to spark imagination. If you’ve been searching for unique 4-year-old gift ideas or trending holiday gifts for toddlers, you’re in the right place! In today's blog post I am sharing exactly what I am buying my four year old for Christmas this year. 

• Lakeshore Learning Rocket Ship  - A fun open-ended play toy we are gifting our son this year. This rocket ship opens up and includes a few characters to play with. I think he will have so much making up stories with the rocket ship and using the rocket ship for pretend play. Another option is available here. 

• Magna-Tiles - Originally shared in my What to Buy a Three Year Old for Christmas blog post , but we love these in our house and need more! My kids will make a cool design or structure, and want to keep building but we are out of pieces. Cannot recommend this toy enough as a toddler gift idea. We play with these every single night! (P.S.  Get out your phone flashlight and see what cool shadows they make on the wall!)  Magna-tiles are great building toys and I feel like a great STEM toy to help with fine motor activities. 

• Hungry Hungry Hippo - Do you remember playing this game when you were a kid? A bunch of marbles are dropped on a tray and all the hippos are hungry for them! Push the lever on your hippo up and down to eat as many marbles as you can. My youngest definitely enjoys more of these "active" games over traditional board games (think things like Let's go Fishing or Don't Break the Ice)  I think he will love this one! 

• Lego Firetruck - 4 is when my oldest really started to get into Legos. Younger brother would appreciate having some of his own sets. Pick out one that fits your child's interests! 

• Goggles - Now that we are 4 we are in swim lessons and learning to go under water. A nice pair of goggles is a useful gift for kids. 

• Melissa and Doug Puzzle Race Track - One of my favorite unique gift ideas for a 4 year old. This is such a great gift idea for kids! This is a floor puzzle you put together but it isn't an ordinary floor puzzle. The puzzle includes a road throughout and two little cars that can wind up and drive through the road. I explain it in more detail in this video. This is my top gift idea for a 4 year old! 

• Magnetic Drawing Board - My older son received one of these drawing boards when he turned four and he still plays with it today! We are running into issues where they both want to use it at the same time so it would be great for each kid to have their own. These boards let you color with a little pen and includes stamps in different shapes. Slide the eraser when you are ready to draw something different!

• Little Blue Truck and Racer Red - Little Blue Truck is one of our favorite book series for kids and they recently came out with a new book! In this one, Little Blue meets a red racecar while out driving and is challenged to a race. The message of this story is to be a good sport.

• Sticker Wow -  This is an easy on-the-go activity for kids. It is a sticker activity book where you are using the sticker stamper to complete different activities (counting, matching, etc.). 

• Sonic T-Shirt  - I like to include a clothing item as a Christmas gift because I want my kids to have a chance to practice opening presents that maybe aren't as exciting as toys. However, I do like to do a clothing item with one of their favorite characters so it still feels special. My boys are both really into Sonic right now so this shirt is something they'd be excited to receive!

• 64 Piece Chalk - We love sidewalk chalk in this house and I just saw this 64 pack of sidewalk chalk in store for the first time last week. I thought it was so fun! It has different colors (even glitter). The most I've even seen in store is a 48 pack so this is something different and special.  I bought it immediately!

• Magnetic Alphabet Maze - This magnetic alphabet maze toy would be a great educational gift idea for kids and also a great STEM gift idea. Use the magnetic wand to direct the cars to their correct parking spot. In order to find their parking spot, the user has to match the lowercase letter to uppercase letter. So many cool benefits to this toy! You can choose between boats or cars. 
  

I hope you found this list of the best gift ideas for 4-year-olds helpful as you gather inspiration for your own holiday shopping. These are the exact gifts I’m giving my son for Christmas this year (or sharing with family to buy for him!), and I’m so excited to see how much joy and creativity they spark during this fun stage of childhood. If you’re looking for even more inspiration, feel free to check out last year’s gift guide for additional Christmas gift ideas for kids and holiday gift ideas for toddlers OR my stocking stuffer ideas for kids  blog post. Happy gifting!