In case you noticed, I didn’t post a homeschool week in review for last week. We ended up having some sickness go through our house so we didn’t do a lot on the school front so I figured I would combine two weeks and so I will share the next update at the end of this week.

Today I am continuing on with the educational gift guide series, here’s the list of the posts in the series:

+ The Best Educational Gift Ideas for Toddlers
+ The Best Educational Gift Ideas for Preschoolers
+ The Best Educational Gift Ideas for Elementary
+ The Best Educational Gift Ideas for Middle School (this list!)

 

 

10+ of the Best Educational Gifts for Tweens & Middle School

 

Telescope

A telescope has been on my to-buy list for years and this one has really good reviews. I am excited for studying more about stars and planets with a telescope.

 

Makey Makey

We have borrowed this kit from our library before, there are so many possibilities with the kit, you can even make bananas into a piano! The kit is something I want to buy my science loving boy when he is a couple years older.

 

Harry Potter Lego

Lego is my daughter’s most played with item. She will spend hours each day playing. I’ve told her she has enough Lego already so she is going to be blown away when she opens this on Christmas morning!

 

Sewing School: Fashion Design

We love the first Sewing School book and I know my daughter will love this next book in the series, she is really into the idea of making clothes.

 

Watercolor with Me

I actually own this watercolor book myself and I plan on going through out it with my daughter soon. The pages are thick so you can watercolor directly in the book but I prefer to work in a separate book. It is a gorgeous book and includes a number of different watercolor tips and techniques. Also, she just came out with an ocean version!

 

Colt Express

This is one of our newest games and we are all really enjoying it. It’s fairly quick to set up (after the first time where you have to assemble the trains), quick to play (I think it’s 15-20 minutes) and yet hilarious and fun. If you are against robbing trains and punching and shooting people this isn’t the game for you, but if it sounds like a smashing good time I’d highly recommend it. I think this is a game that everyone in our family enjoys a lot.

 

Castle Panic

We bought the kids this one for Christmas last year and it’s quickly becoming my favorite game. It’s a co-op game and all your cards are laid out for all to see which means even younger kids can play. We have the Wizard’s Tower expansion and really like what it adds to the game (we also have Engines of War and aren’t big fans of that expansion).

 

Code Names

Code names is a fun team game where you have to help the members of your team guess which squares are yours only using one word at a time. There are a few different varieties of the game, I’ve personally only ever played the pictures version and really like it. We play it as a family sometimes and there was awhile a few months ago where all the middle school kids in our church would play a few rounds before church started.

 

One Deck Dungeon

This is a new game that we bought for Christmas for our daughter this year. I really don’t know a whole lot about it myself, my husband is the researcher, especially when it comes to games, but it sounds like it can be played with one or two people, all the characters are girls and they are not “scantily clad”. It sounds perfect! I’m looking forward to playing it.

 

 

Kindle

If you have an avid reader I think a Kindle is a good option. If Kindle’s were a thing back when I was in school it would have saved me some definite muscle pains. I remember toting a lot of books in my backpack because my bus ride was a hour each morning and an hour each afternoon and I needed to make sure I had books to see me through! If I could have had a Kindle with a whole library of books that would have made my load a lot lighter.

 

BOOKS

If you are looking for some books for the middle schooler on your list (always a good idea), here are a few lists to choose books from:

+ Fantasy Books for Middle Grade
+ Classic Novels for Middle School
+ Eight Middle Grade Novel Recommendations
+ WWII Books for Middle Grade
+ Chapter Books with Positive Female Characters
+ Middle Grade Novels Even Adults Will Love
+ Classic Novels for Grades 5 & 6
+ Classic Novels for Grades 7, 8 & 9

 

What are some of your favorite educational gifts for middle schoolers?