Are you looking for awesome 5 year old birthday gift ideas?! I’ve gathered several gift ideas that your kids are sure to love based on what my twins loved when they were 5! The best part? None of these require screen time, yet kids love them!
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5 Year Old Birthday Gift Ideas
Create an Amazon Wishlist First
Did you know you can create an Amazon Wishlist that you can share with friends and family? We have one for each child, and ourselves! We add items to the list all year and give the links to family who buy the kids birthday and Christmas presents.
It’s great because as people buy from the list it disappears so no one buys a duplicate. To add an item to the wishlist, just click on “Add to List” on any Amazon product page then select the list you’d like to add it to.
- My blog post: How and Why to Create an Amazon Wishlist
Hot Wheels!
All 3 of my boys have loved Hot Wheels since they were about 2-years-old but since they aren’t rated for kids that young I’m waiting to put them on this list. I feel they are one of the best gifts to give a kid as they’ll use them for years. My 8 year old still loves his Hot Wheels cars he started getting when he was 2!
Race Track
The Hot Wheels Super Speed Blast Away Race Track is sure to bring hours of fun to your 5-year-olds. Our twins got this for Christmas and all 3 boys love it, when they share. It can be a rather loud toy if the kids are rough with it but otherwise is a great toy.
10-Pack Hot Wheels
There are so many different variations of Hot Wheels out there! We have a lot of general ones like these and also a lot of police vehicles, etc. You can get them individually, in packs of 5, or bigger packs like the one below. This is a great gift for 5-year-olds or even younger kids.
Hot Wheels Single to Dual Race Tower
The Hot Wheels toy car track is a transforming race tower that can go from one to two sides so you can race your siblings or friends! Or just race two cars against each other on your own and see which one wins which makes it a great social skills toy!
Found It! Game
Especially around Christmas time, many of us are inside most of the day due to the severely cold weather. The Found It! game will help stave off boredom AND teach your kids without them even knowing it! Win/Win!! Found It! is the “Smart Scavenger Hunt” game that is for ages 4-7 and just takes 2 minutes to learn. Much better than some of the other games my kids have that takes me longer to learn and explain than their attention spans. Ha!
Our twins got this as a gift for Christmas and they love it! They can read the questions, for the most part, and then set a timer for them all to find what they’re supposed to. A timer isn’t part of the game but he likes to have it set.
Found It! isn’t just a scavenger hunt, it helps teach kids letters and words by having them ‘find something that starts with the letter P’ or ‘something that rhymes with horse’ and things like that.
Found It! also has outdoor and travel editions.
Ultimate Box of Crafts
Growing up as an only child, and female, I thought only females liked crafts. I continued this belief until I had my first child, a boy, and found that he too loves crafts! In fact, all 3 of my boys love crafts!! The Ultimate Box of Crafts is perfect for a little boy or a little girl who loves crafts as much as my kids do. It’s so great to have creative toys at such a young age for independent play and even while with others.
In all honesty, we don’t do crafts all that often because there is the whole getting crafts ready, laying them out, managing 3 littles with crafts, and then the cleanup…BUT with this kit, I feel like it would be easier as there are so many different options for them to choose what they want to do. I don’t even think I’d have to spend hours on Pinterest beforehand to come up with ideas. This ultimate box of crafts has shown to last us for years and is great for any age group over 3, as long as they no longer put things in their mouths.
Little Passports Activity Boxes
Looking for an activity to give this year instead of just another toy? Check out Little Passports Activity Boxes. There are several different activity boxes for different ages and interests.
My kids and I have tried out a few different Little Passports Activity Boxes including Animals Wild, Craft Discovery, and Space Quest, which I’ve written blog posts on. We have so much fun with them, they’re great educational toys! It’s great to have something that we can work on together while also learning instead of just another toy that is going to sit on the shelf (or let’s be real, the middle of the floor).
With Little Passports Activity Boxes you can buy one box at a time or you can buy a subscription, which ends up being cheaper per box and is the perfect gift that keeps giving!
The buttons below include links to my blog posts as well as a 50% off an annual subscription or 20% off any purchase on their site. The other button links to the Little Passports Gift Guide that will help you decide which one to buy for your little one!
Toy Rocket Launcher
We got our kids a Toy Rocket Launcher a.k.a. Stomp Rockets, a few months ago and it’s surprised me how much they love it! Often instead of riding around in their Cozy Coupes or bikes they pull out the stomp rockets rocket launcher and take turns. It’s great!
A great thing about stomp rockets is it typically is quite the physical activity as they stomp the rocket then run to wherever the rocket lands. If your child tries to catch the rocket as it falls, then it’s a great toy for building hand-eye coordination!
One word of caution is to try and do this in a rather open space and not near the road. We try to have them launch in the back yard where there is a lot of open space instead of the front yard with the road, trees, and close to the house, but it doesn’t always happen.
We do have a strict no going in the road rule though that mom or dad will get it if it goes in the road at all. Also, apparently, not only do kids get rockets stuck on the roof…my husband admitted the other day that he even got one stuck on the roof. Haha! So big open spaces are best for a rocket launcher, if possible, though it can be used anywhere.
Barbie Kitchen Playset
The Barbie Kitchen Playset looks like so much fun
to be able to use the included Play-Doh and molds to make different food items and then cook and bake them in this set that makes noises for the stove, oven, air fryer, etc. This set also comes with a Barbie doll and all the accessories needed to make wonderful pretend meals and goodies!
Barbie Fast Cast Clinic Playset
Barbie can do a lot more these days than in the 1990s when I played with Barbies, and that’s how it should be! I love that Barbie is now shown to be able to be a doctor, astronaut, scientist, etc. The Barbie Fast Cast Clinic Playset features Doctor Barbie who is able to help injured patients, with the help of Play-Doh, put a cast on their broken limbs.
She also can take x-rays, examine her patients on the included exam table, and help the patient put stickers on their new cast! The set also includes a little gift cart to help cheer the patient up! What a sweet gift to help kids learn to care for others.
Lego Classic Creative Brick Box
You can’t go wrong with more Legos, it’s a fact. The Lego Classic Creative Brick Box with 484 pieces is sure to inspire hours of fun! The box includes a booklet of ideas and more ideas can be found on their website, as well as on YouTube. It’s great to have a classic set that leaves creation to the imagination. Personally, I prefer to just build houses, whereas my 5-year-olds love following the directions and building animals, vehicles, etc.
This is a great gift for 5-year-olds and older kids. I still enjoy playing with Legos as does my husband. To be honest, we didn’t know what to get each other for our 9 year wedding anniversary so ended up buying this to build things together, as well as some other Lego sets. Yep, we’re dorks. 🙂
Legos are great for building independent play skills as well as pretend play and fine motor skills.
Lego Sets
Lego sets have different ages based on the difficulty of the set. Depending on the skill level of your child, they may be able to work above the age range on the box, but if you’re unsure of the child you’re shopping for’s skill, go with the age they are.
This particular small Lego Set is a favorite among my boys. We live in a suburb but they are huge into tractors.
Board Games
There are many great board games for 5-year-olds as they’re able to understand more now than when they were younger.
Board games are a great way to build social skills, turn taking, and involve the whole family. We love playing board games together as a family when they all are up for it.
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.