Seven year olds are characterized by a blossoming imagination, the beginning of more structured thinking, and a deepening connection with the world around them. According to Waldorf pedagogy, the child’s first developmental period ends and the second begins around the child’s seventh birthday. During the seventh year, the child is trying out their transformed physical, social/emotional, and intellectual capacities letting their unlimited and expansive imaginations take flight.
Gifts for 7 year olds and older kids appeal to this boundless creativity as well as their engagement in independent play. Ideal gifts for seven year olds will encourage open-ended play as they are old enough to interact with toys on their own and enjoy the wonderful and broad-reaching benefits of independent play. This age also thrives on community and social connection, so sharing gifts of natural, wooden and Waldorf toys that you and your imaginative seven year-old can enjoy as a family adds extra fun for everyone.
Best Toys for 7 Year Olds
There is still so much love of magic and mystery with this age and they are extremely capable builders. This DIY fairy house kit is a perfect gift for a 7 year old and has everything young fairy house enthusiasts need to make a home for a fairy, gnome, or woodland creature. There is even enough moss, birch bark, small branches, driftwood, seashells, pine cones, stones, feathers, twine, wire, and silk flowers for children to create rooms filled with furnishings and anything else that they can imagine!
As 7 year olds develop more and more hand eye coordination and ability to make things, this lap loom can support them as they learn the basics of weaving and go on to design more advanced weaving designs. A simple, fun and practical way to learn to weave, this sturdy and easy to use lap loom is crafted from a portable hardwood tapestry stand and makes a great gift for a 7 year old with a love for making.
Build, tinker, race, and roll! Marble runs make an amazing gift for 7 year olds as they allow children to construct, manipulate, engineer, explore, and experiment all while introducing them to a beginning understanding of physical principles. This large set is made by HABA in Germany using sustainably sourced wood and can be incorporated with block sets and set up in so many different ways. A great gift for 7 year olds that will keep growing with them for years of play.
You may call this classic instrument a lap harp or a zither, but either way, it is a beautiful instrument which is a developmentally perfect gift for 7 year olds who are beginning to read music and learn about sequences of notes and melodies. The zither comes with a case and several songs for kids to learn and practice to become zithering extraordinaires.
Give the gift of gardening and spark a lifetime hobby. This garden tool set is a perfect beginner set and will get your little green thumb digging their own patch before you know it. A great gift for 7 year olds who love being outside and enjoy helping in the yard, this set includes a small rake, spade, and shovel that are just the right size for smaller hands.
YippiYappa Crocheted Basket Game
7 year olds love playing with their family and friends and this perfectly portable game is ideal to bring everywhere from campsites to kitchen tables and the beach to the backyard. A great gift for 7 year olds because they will never tire of the 15 different games that can be played from this simple hand crocheted basket game.
A gift for 7 year olds that will celebrate their special place in the universe! This beautiful hand-painted box and cosmos created by Grapat contains more than 40 wooden pieces, including all of the planets, stars, and small wooden balls. In addition to inspiring hours of open-ended play, this stellar set can help spark an understanding of astronomy and can be incorporated into perpetual calendars.
Interlocking Wooden Blocks Construction Set
Gifts for 7 year olds take familiar toys and stretch them, just as these seemingly familiar blocks stretch into arches and curves almost magically. This giant set of interlocking wooden blocks from HABA uses a tongue and groove system to give structures the necessary stability needed to bend the rules of traditional block building allowing for dramatic arches and circles.
Leonardo Building Sticks Bridge Construction Set
Similar to the above set of blocks, this beautiful rainbow colored bridge building set from Grimm's Spiel & Holz also challenges the building norms but using Leonardo da Vinci's 15th century design. He created an ingenious method for building a self-supporting bridge without the need for ropes or fasteners, held together only by the pieces of wood. These rainbow-colored wooden Leonardo Building Sticks allow children to experience the brilliance of da Vinci's design and to experience physics in a fun and colorful way!
As children get more creative and comfortable with their art, this wooden easel makes a great addition to their "studios." A great gift for 7 year old artists who want a solid surface to paint on, this easel also has a roll of paper that children can easily pull down to create endless drawings and masterpieces.
A quintessential gift for 7 year olds, this magical and mythical game urges strategy, stealth, and bravery as players encounter giggling goblins, angry ogres and fearsome fire-breathing dragons! In this game of dice and daring, players collect sets of adventurer cards to earn dice but they must choose their strategy carefully since Dragonwood's landscape is always changing.
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