Toy Ideas for a 7 Year Old Girl

Coming up with ideas for Christmas or birthday presents for a 7 year old can be tricky. Here are a few affordable gift suggestions to inspire you...

	Bop It If you are one of the few people who have never experienced the addictive but highly frustrating game that is 'Bop It', the idea is to fulfil the commands of an irritating shouty voiced man correctly and within the allotted time (the commands being, hit it, twist, flick it pull it and bop it). Despite being noisy and occasionally exasperating it is great fun to play solo, with family or with friends and people can get very competitive trying to beat the high score. By 7 years old, most kids are coordinated enough for this game, and I'm not at all bitter that my son is better than me at Bop It. For more information, you can read our review here.
	Girl's Doodle Book I love the Doodle Book range (we have both Boy's Doodle books and I've bought many others in the series as presents). Each high quality book has over 100 pictures for you to complete, and the ideas are a lovely way to inspire your child to release their creativity. Pages in the Girl's Doodle Book include "what is the pony jumping over?", "draw your dream castle" and "what's in the magic forest". A really nice gift for anyone with the remotest interest in art.
	Write Your Own Story Book Usborne's Write your own Story Book is a lovely gift idea for 7 year olds who enjoy writing or who have aspirations of becoming an author (it is also very affordable at under Ł5 on Amazon). The first half of this spiral bound book is full of tips for writing an engaging story, such as writing from different character perspectives, creating story lines and setting a scene. The second half contains story themes to get them started. A wonderful way of improving their creative writing and keeping them occupied for many hours!
	Shape by Shape Creative Pattern Puzzle I really like toys and activities that siblings and parents will feel compelled to join in with and have a go, and Shape by Shape Creative Pattern Puzzle is one of these. The aim is to recreate the picture on the card using the tiles provided. It is recommended for ages 8 and up but Tiny Toy Reviewer #1 (who is younger than this) has spent a lot of time playing with it and has managed a few of the puzzles, so many 7 year olds will enjoy the challenges. That said, it is by no means easy and I'm sure many parents will be looking at the cheats on the back of the puzzle card when their children aren't looking.
	Pass the Bomb Junior If you are looking for a family friendly game to play, then Pass the Bomb Junior is worth a look. The premise of the game is very straightforward - you pick a card and each player takes it in turns to come up with a word associated with the scene depicted. But the excitement and pressure comes in with the addition of the 'bomb' as you have to complete your turn before the timer runs out. A 7 year old has the cognitive skills to do well with this game and will really enjoy it, but it is simple enough that younger siblings can play along too and it is also fun for parents.
	Make Your Own... There is a 'make your own kit' out there to appeal to every little girl. The Perfume Laboratory, Make your Own Lip Balm kit and Luxury Soap kits are the most popular sellers for girls of this age, with good customer reviews. Wild Science's Bath Bomb Factory is also well worth a look, although you really have to be careful to put in the correct amount of glycerine in to create a successful end product, and customers report poorer kit quality in comparison to others in the series.
	Science Kit If you like the scientific element of the products suggested above but would prefer something a little less overtly girly then there are plenty of good science kits available. At the cheaper end of the scale are the Science Museum sets which include some nice activities such as growing crystals and optical illusions. If you are looking to spend a bit more then something such as the Primary 2 Electricity kit (which costs Ł21) is worth a consideration, and will tie into the school curriculum as well as being enormous fun.
	Friendship Bracelets Friendship bracelets were the 'big thing' when I was in Junior school and they are still popular among girls of this age now. There are some nice kits available which will teach your child how to braid their own, using a variety of designs. One product I particularly like - and which I've purchased for other people's daughters in the past - is the Klutz Friendship Bracelets book. This spiral bound book comes with 10 different colours of thread, some beads for fancier designs and a handy clip on the back cover to hold their work in place as they follow the clear step by step instructions. A really good quality gift!