The best gifts for 8-year-olds are ones that encourage them to use their imaginations and play with friends

Gear

There are plenty of toys that let your kid just zone out, but ones that require kids to dream up a backstory do much more in the way of learning through play. They’re more educational, not to mention versatile, so your budding 8-year-old won’t tire of them so quickly. Getting them off their screens for a hot minute is an added bonus.

There are some 8-year-old milestones to keep in mind while shopping for toys. According to Stanford Children’s Health, 8-year-old boys and girls are still young enough to jump, skip, and chase each other around. They dress themselves and can groom themselves (sort of, but parents know better than to leave them totally unsupervised). They’re able to use tools, can count backward, read to themselves and enjoy it, grasp the concept of space, draw and paint, and they love collecting things. They tell detailed stories, and can engage in team sports. Their toys should reflect that.

Kids this age are learning how to relate to peers, adjust to social rules, and evolve from free play to more intricately structured interactions with their friends. And the games they engage in are elaborate fantasy role-playing games, in which they’ll work towards a shared goal. They want to be increasingly independent, even if they often can’t handle it. Great gifts for 8-year-olds will tap into these skills, like simple board games, science kits, and sports equipment.

And any parent knows that at this age, kids are more adept than lawyers at negotiating what they want, which is challenging at best. But on the flip side, being older means they are able to play for longer lengths of time, due to their heightened concentration skills. These are the toys and games that 8-year-olds will love.
Best Toys for 8-Year-Old Boys and 8-Year-Old Girls  Masterworks Art Case by Crayola
Just when you think screens are unavoidable, your kid will surprise you with his or her love of drawing.This art kit has everything your kid needs to draw superheroes, ninjas, animals, soccer players, or fantastical creatures. You'll be pleasantly shocked by how much time they'll devote to getting the details just right.
Buy Now $49.99 Kid Made Modern Comic Book Kit - Kids Craft Kit, Storytelling for Kids
Speaking of art, kids use this kit to create their very own comic books or graphic novels. Marvel, shmarvel. This kit includes a DIY blank comic book, markers, stencil templates, rubber stamps, ink pads, bottles of ink, and a storage box. The only thing missing is the superhero cape.
Buy Now $19.99 TP Blaster Sheet Storm Blaster
A blaster that shoots toilet paper. Boom.This magical, or magically evil, blaster transforms regular toilet paper into high-powered spitballs that shoot up to 50 feet.
Buy Now $39.97 Glitter Dots Craft Kit by Crayola
Glitter is the nemesis of most parents. This crafting kit keeps glitter where it belongs.Instead of it winding up in your bed, the crafting kit makes sure glitter stays on your kids' artwork. You get 84 glitter dots, one roller, nine roller cutter attachments, and a slew of other stuff you need to run your own art studio.
Buy Now $12.56 Avengers Marvel Endgame Articulated Electronic Fist
Every self-respecting Avengers fan needs one of these to keep on his or her dresser.Each of the six Infinity Stones throbs with its own glowing light, and there are straight-from-the-movie sound effects. The hand can also be locked in a clenched fist position, for a serious power pose.
Buy Now $84.99 Candy Making Science Kit For Kids by hand2mind
Instead of hitting the local candy aisle, kids can make their own edible gummies. Plus, his culinary set lets kids learn about chemistry.
Buy Now $34.99 Sphero RVR Coding Robot
It's the ultimate coding robot that's actually a tank-style all-terrain vehicle.This programmable tank on wheels is drivable right out of the box, packed with sensors, and built for customization. Kids use the app to make the vehicle do whatever they want. It has enough torque to go fast, make that very fast, and it dodges obstacles with finesse.
Buy Now $249.99 Telescope by Emarth
Get kids to explore the magic of the night sky with this starter telescope, and prepare yourself for endless Uranus jokes. Get kids interested in space with this fantastic telescope. It comes with an adjustable aluminum tripod. It's portable and thanks to its all-coated glass optical components, the telescope provides clean, crisp views of the sky.
Buy Now $85.99 Ravensburger Disney Villainous Board Game
This game capitalizes on what all of us know to be true: That the Disney villains are way more complicated and interesting than the heroes. Captain Hook, Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula, Queen of Hearts, and Prince John all star in this family-friendly board game. The object? Help your villain carry out his or her plotted scheme, but be careful not to get thwarted by cards in the fate deck.
Buy Now $44.99 Lego Make Your Own Movie
For the kid that loves Youtube and is always stealing your phone, this set will up their lego game and teach them the skills to become a budding cinematographer. The 80-page book includes 10 short sample movies that will get kids comfortable with the basics of stop motion animation, and from there they'll learn how to make original movies by drawing out a storyboard, setting up lighting and adding sound effects. It comes with six different lego figures, plus 30 lego accessories, fold-out backgrounds, and more. Phone or tablet required.
BUY NOW $24.95 Squishy Circuits Group Kit
Kids use play dough to learn the basics of electrical circuits in a hands-on way. This great set teaches electrical circuits with conductive and insulating dough, letting kids squish, mold, and sculpt the dough while learning about engineering and tech.
Buy Now $274.99 LEGO Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
Legos are a great tool for imaginative play. Harry Potter themed ones, even more so.
Buy Now $15.99 Magic Kit by Thames & Kosmos
Everything you need to learn and perform 100 magic tricks is contained within this kit. Playing cards change suit, money doubles and disappears, and viewers are amazed.
BUY NOW $24.95 Rival Nemesis Nerf Gun
Nerf's colossal motorized blaster holds a whopping 100 rounds.This dope-ass battery-powered Nerf gun lets kids unleash rounds at a velocity of 100 feet per second.
Buy Now $90.62 Kids Folding Hockey Goal Set by Franklin
By eight, your kid will be heavy into team sports, so get him or her this portable hockey set.Games for 8-year-olds ideally encourage them to burn off energy. This set is stupid-easy to set up, and includes everything kids need to play street hockey and knee hockey. That means two adjustable plastic street hockey sticks, two ABS knee hockey sticks, one street hockey ball, and two foam knee hockey balls.
Buy Now $28.79 Sonogenic Keytar by Yamaha
How dope is this: A keyboard can be held like a guitar and connects to your music library via the chord tracker app. Once you connect the keyboard to your digital music library, your kid gets chord data transmitted via Bluetooth or MIDI. And this means your kid can play music like a (sort of) pro.
Buy Now $329.99 Light Up Tracing Pad by Pinwheel Crafts
Kids can work on their concentration with this light-up tracing kit. The kit includes 10 sheets of traceable designs, 10 blank sheets, one graphite pencil, 12 full-size colored pencils, and of course, the LED-lit light-up pad.
Buy Now $19.95 Tabletop Mini Bowling Game Set by GoSports
You'll never strike out with this tabletop bowling game, which brings the alley to your house (minus the nasty shoes).Personalized bowling shirts are optional with this tabletop game, which is compact and includes one bowling alley board, one launch ramp, two mini bowling balls, ten pins and a dry-erase scoreboard. The premium wood surface is a bonus. See, gifts for 8-year-olds don't always have to be electronic.
Buy Now $45.26 Celebrity Fashion Famous Playset by Roblox
Just about every kid we know likes or loves or adores Roblox. Hence, they will like or love or adore this play set, featuring four iconic characters and loads of accessories.Best of all, this set comes with a redeemable code to unlock an exclusive virtual item on Roblox. So it's a double win.
Buy Now $29.99 DIY Slime Kit by Zen Laboratory
No, your furniture is not safe. Yes, slime is hella fun. And this set has everything your kids need to make a mountain of it. This jumbo non-toxic slime-making includes18 different colored slimes, three cutting/shaping utensils, two plastic straws, 12 vials of colored glitter, two bags of sugar paper, three bags of beads, and six bags of foam balls, for something we can only dub slime-a-palooza.
Buy Now $29.95 Hot Wheels id Smart Track Kit
This smart Hot Wheels racetrack connects with the app and gives kids a real-world, next-level racing experience.Toys for 8-year-old boys can sometimes be a bit too digital, but we honestly are hard-pressed to find a more intelligent blend of tech and old-school fun than this Hot Wheels set. When kids download the app, they can measure the racing performance of their cars. It's a unique and totally connected racing experience. Kids can even scan cars using the app and then race them.
Buy Now $170.99
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