Make your list. Check it twice—but not before reviewing our holiday gift guide. You won’t want to miss these hot-ticket items from eight popular local retailers. Whether you’re shopping for your children or grandchildren, nieces or nephews this holiday season, take some notes or tear out these pages for your shopping trip. That way, you’ll be sure your gift is a hit—all organized in a convenient, age-oriented round-up for easy gifting.
For the Tiny Tots
Pacifier is brand-new to the Edina shopping scene. Founded in Minneapolis, Pacifier is known for its eclectic collection of cool and modern baby gifts, and it’s a great place to find something suitably swag for the your chic baby cakes. Maintain tradition with classic wooden blocks with a unique twist. The Uncle Goose ABC Block Set comes handsomely embossed with four complete alphabets featuring languages like Norwegian or Japanese, numbers, math symbols and animal pictures. $42. Pacifier, 4942 France Ave. S.; pacifieronline.com
There is a great selection of 100 percent cotton shirts embellished with Oh Baby! owner, Mary Lauer’s fabulous designs for boys and girls. $59.95. Oh Baby!, 3509 Galleria; 952.928.9119; ohbabystyle.com
For your daughter, goddaughter, niece or grandchild, the Princess and the Pea wooden doll-bed set is layered with adorable fabric mattresses atop a cloth pea. The set comes with a doll and storybook. $98. Goodnight Moon, 5051 France Ave. S.; 952.285.5252; goodnightmoon.us
Personalize a gift for the new baby in your family with a hooded sweater in sizes 6–24 months. Each sweater comes adorned with a cross-stitched sailboat or bow. $36 plus $4 per letter. Goodnight Moon
The Neo Tobbles nesting sphere building set has colorful weighted spheres that can be stacked, sorted and spun for entertaining abstract play. Ages 1 year and up. $25. Creative Kidstuff, 3555 Galleria; 952.926.4512; creativekidstuff.com
Want a baby gift that caregivers will love too? The Serenity Star is a new nursery item that keeps track of time and room temperature. It’s also a sound machine for lulling baby to sleep with the soothing sounds of white noise, lullabies or heartbeat. It has a nightlight and digital feeding diary for parents to keep track of nighttime feedings, and its star shape makes this little item a lovely and appropriate holiday gift. $89. Goodnight Moon
The Brilliant Bear magnetic stacker may seem familiar to parents and grandparents who remember the old plastic stacking rings. But this toy is made of magnetized wooden disks that allow for easy stacking and is topped with a cute bear face. $20. Creative Kidstuff
Take tea parties to the next level with a delightful Parisian-style Djeco wooden macaroons toy treat set! $17. Pacifier
The Wilmer-Ferguson Learn and Play ball is a colorful soft fabric ball for baby with ribbons for tactile exploration and graphics that stimulate baby’s senses as it rolls. $20. Creative Kidstuff
For the Elementary Kids
Choose a few Catamini sweaters for boys and girls in beautiful colors. Some of these sweaters are reversible, for two sweaters in one. $99-$125. Oh Baby!
There are also Joe’s jeans for girls and boys ($49.95) and Frye boots for boys. $59.95. Oh Baby!
For the little Rembrandt in your family, Paint Your Plate has seasonal ceramic items for purchase that come with a certificate so your aspiring artist can return to the store to paint, glaze and fire their item. Popular this time of year are Holiday ornaments in cookie-cutter shapes. $6. Paint Your Plate, 5027 France Ave. S.; 612. 929.6666
Your aspiring little athlete will love their hockey-stick wall hanger, with hooks for hanging athletic gear and skates. $49. Goodnight Moon
Pick up a pair of fun silver sparkle Ugg Boots for that little princess in your life. $130. Oh Baby!
Spot it is a card game with 55 illustrated cards, with one—and only one—matching symbol between two cards. The illustrations are kid-friendly but it takes a sharp eye and a bit of speed to win. For ages 7 and up. ($13.99) There are also new specialty variation packs of Spot it with hockey or baseball themes. $11–$16.99. Games by James, 3180 Southdale Cir.; 952.925.9656; gamesbyjames.com
Let your darling granddaughter take a twirl in a cute re-cycled sweater skirt. $59.95. Oh Baby!
Doodle Dice is a dice game with segments of design on each die. Players line up the dice to create doodles that match game doodle cards. A fun and challenging game for players 6 and up. $10.99. Games by James
Not sure what to get? One of the most special gift items is a voucher for a Day Out with Grandma at Paint Your Plate. This voucher has no monetary value, since customers make purchases on the day they play, but the gift of time spent together is priceless. Paint Your Plate
For kids on your list ages eight and up, try Suspend, a balance game for 1–4 players. Unlike other stacking games where the pieces are stationary, each balanced rubber-tipped wire in this game can teeter and shift, requiring Zen-like nerves to accomplish a win. $18. Creative Kidstuff
Creationary Lego is a buildable board game with timeless Lego pieces for players 7 and up. This game is a great way for your Lego-loving child to show off their Lego building talent. $37.99. Games by James
For the Tweens and Teens
Pumpz premier shoe and accessory store allows mothers and grandmothers to pick up a little something extra for themselves after selecting a fabulous pair of SVEN clogs for kids. Pumpz has an exclusive partnership with SVEN clogs and Pendleton fabrics so that customers can customize their clogs by style and fabric. $85. Pumpz, 3335 Galleria; 952.926.2252; pumpzco.com
For grade-schoolers and tweens, Goodnight Moon has decorative bed pillows in a variety of colors that can be personalized with a child’s name or name and birthdate. $69. Goodnight Moon
Try one or a collection of My Little Dear headbands. Adorable and locally handmade with wool felt for children ages 2–12. Plus, they don’t any cause pesky pain behind the ears. $12. Pacifier
Engage the ’tweens and teens in your life with some family games this holiday season. Games by James offers the latest in party, strategy and card games, as well as puzzles. Learning and playing something new together is a great way to pass the time during vacation and unite the generations around the holiday table. Snake Oil is a game created by a Minnesota game maker for players 12 and up. Players invent their own zany two-word products from distributed word cards and get 30 seconds to pitch their product. Winning product inventors prove to be the best or silliest snake oil salesmen. $21.99. Games by James
For fun, your little one might like to wear a Me in Mind “Hero” beanie—as a simple beanie or pulled down over the eyes to unleash hidden super powers! $18. Pacifier
Snowman and reindeer ceramics in a variety of accessory pieces such as Cookie Jars, Candy Dishes, Plates and Salt and Pepper Shakers. Or consider ceramic dragon figurines. $18+. Paint Your Plate
For older children, the Sweets Kendama is a fascinating Japanese ball-and-cup game that challenges players to master increasingly difficult tricks; perfect for pursuing eye-hand coordination without the use of any video screens. Kids can perform what they’ve mastered and then pass it around for the whole family to try. $34. Creative Kidstuff
Mine Shift is a Mensa Select Award-winning game of strategy. Players use tiles to build labyrinth-like paths that are different each time. The object is to move all of your jewels into your opponent’s home tile. This easy-to-learn maze game is challenging and popular with adults, teens and kids. $21.99. Games by James
For the Furr-babies
Let’s not forget about our four-legged friends (sometimes the only “child” or grandchild in the family). Bone Adventure has festive items to make Fido part of the family holiday celebration.
Candy cane-inspired red-and-white striped scarf for dogs. $16.50, Bone Adventure, 5045 France Ave. S.
Latex Squeaky Balloon animal toys with Santa hats. $6-$10, Bone Adventure
Breed-specific magnet board for your human child who is in love with their pet. $15-$28, Bone Adventure
