The most valuable gifts or great Christmas gifts for homeschoolers

I believe that gifts need to have meaning and value to the people you are giving them to, and some of the gifts that I find the most value in for my children are ones that help them to learn and grow.  I love that we didn't really think about it, but most of the Christmas gifts that we got for our children this year were just those, games and learning toys.  These shots were taken from Christmas day, which seems to me a lot of learning while playing!

The first shot I just love is this one of our 3 year old.  He got a cash register for one of his gifts.  So, we opened it, and it evolved into playing store.  I started by writing prices for different things, and showed him a little how punching the numbers in to add them up made a total.  He then did the same, he typed in the number 15, and then priced all his "items" for sale with a 1 or a 5.  So cute!

He loved playing "store" with his new cash register.

Lego building is definitely learning while playing at its best (or funnest).  This boy spent probably 6+ hours building this set.  He was determined to do it, and didn't give up.  I was so thrilled to see that dedication.  He got frustrated at times, but he problem solved and fixed things (sometimes with a little help from Mom and Dad).  He is learning to follow directions, perseverance, problem solving skills, and fine motor skills all the while.  I am definitely a fan of learning with legos, and so are my boys!

His finished spaceship!

This was another "most played with" toy on Christmas day. Aaron received citiblocs for one of his gifts, and he instantly loved them.  Even April played with them for quite a while!  These are great to build with.

Another one that they had a lot of fun with, water marbles!  Or as Alex calls them "squishies."  They had fun watching them grow when water was added to them, and running their fingers through them.  Maybe we'll try to figure out the science behind them someday soon.

These are pretty cool, and neat to feel.

We had a nice and very blessed Christmas. I'm excited to have some new games and learning toys added to our collection for the kids' enjoyment this year.

Desiree