The best gifts for kids help them navigate the world, discover new passions, and show kids that you care about them, just the way they are. Over the past several years, we’ve interviewed experts, talked to parents and kids, and researched and tested hundreds of toys, games, and other gear to find special gifts for toddlers through teens.
Black Friday used to be the best time of year to buy just about everything for the holidays. But in case you didn’t notice the forests of Christmas trees cropping up in stores as early as September, the landscape has changed dramatically in recent years, and shopping early no longer means waking up at an ungodly hour to stand in line the day after Thanksgiving.
Mechanical massage chairs promise comfort, relaxation, and self-indulgence, but shopping for one can be stressful. You have numerous models to choose from—many of which merely vibrate, rather than knead, or tout dubious features like “air ionization,” “body scanning,” and “chromotherapy.” After testing 16 models from some of the top brands, we think the Osaki OS-Champ is almost as good as a real massage. This chair is comfortable to sit in and sturdily built, and it massages the entire body. Plus, it outperformed more-expensive massage chairs in key areas like heating and reclining.
If you’re an aspiring aerial photographer or videographer, a drone is your ticket to the sky. After test-flying nearly 25 models, we’ve concluded that the DJI Air 2S is the best drone because it combines a high-end camera with the latest autonomous technology for less than $1,000. We also recommend the DJI Mavic 3 and the DJI Mini 2. Pilots of all skill levels will find that DJI’s drones are exceptionally reliable and easy to fly.
When Covid or cold and flu season crashes through a community, thermometers can go in and out of stock, forcing many people to pay more than usual for “good enough.” Know this, though: Most fever thermometers will read your temperature accurately. The best ones are also fast and easy to read—so you can quickly figure out what to do if you or a member of your household may be sick. If you’re looking for a digital oral/rectal/armpit stick thermometer, our pick is the Vicks ComfortFlex. If you want an in-ear thermometer, we recommend the Equate Infrared In-Ear Digital Thermometer. And if you’d prefer a contactless forehead thermometer, the Hetaida htd8813c (sold as the iProven NCT-978 Non-Contact Thermometer among other names) is our top pick. We recommend the ThermoWorks Wand No Touch Forehead Thermometer as an alternate contactless option.
Ready to take on anything, teenagers are growing into their identities as young adults. They’re attuned to what’s happening around them and ripe for new experiences and challenges. And they value their friendships more than ever. Teenagers are also exploring and wrestling with more serious adult themes. “They’re starting to read more grown-up books, watch more grown-up movies, and play more grown-up games,” says Brian Mayer, a gaming, learning, and library specialist in New York City. But on the inside? Even as they start to engage more with the world around them (think: first jobs, community service, social activism), they’re still kids at heart, and they find joy in the silly and the absurd.
The ideal humidifier is one you shouldn’t notice. It creates a comforting indoor condensation level that soothes your skin and helps you breathe more easily, without turning the room into a swampy fog or leaving little drops of moisture on the walls. And it should do this without making the maintenance process too much of a burden. This sounds pretty basic, but it’s a surprisingly tall demand for such a seemingly simple device. After testing dozens of humidifiers over the years, we think the Wi-Fi–enabled Levoit LV600S Smart Hybrid Ultrasonic Humidifier is the best option out there: It’s quiet, durable, and easier to deal with overall than any other humidifier we’ve tested, with a 1.5-gallon tank that will last all day.
Santa’s elves have it easy—they have all the resources of the North Pole to craft everything from the perfect stocking stuffers to the most sought-after must-haves of 2022. The Wirecutter Deals team may not have pointy ears or a direct line to the man with the bag himself, but we can help you get a head start on your holiday shopping. From beauty gifts to video games to board games, these are the most giftable deals under $50 we’ve found this week.
At age 8, many kids are ready to level up to more-advanced toys and activities. A lot of 8-year-olds are playing team sports, getting involved in other clubs or hobbies, and tackling increasingly challenging projects on their own.
There is a little ritual I do before every run. After the required prelude of lacing sneakers, applying Body Glide, and patting pockets to confirm the custody of keys, I put in my earbuds, close my eyes, take a deep breath, and press play. In that moment, I shrug off the worries and responsibilities of the day. For the time being, there is only me, the music, and the movement. The act of propelling your body forward through space can have significant benefits to your physical and mental health, but the hardest part is taking that first step.
One of the pleasures—or problems, depending on your viewpoint—of listening to music on a turntable is that it takes a bit more work (some call it love) to make the pointy end of a stylus deliver sweet tunes to your ears. Whether you’ve recently bought a new turntable or are using a vintage model, you can probably make some adjustments—often for little to no cost—to help it sound its best. Doing so might also reduce the wear on your records, helping them last longer and bring you more joy over the years.
As 7-year-olds transition from being little kids to grade-schoolers, they start showing off their ability to engage in complex thinking. Some may be ready for toys and games that require longer-term planning, strategizing, and decision-making, so it’s a great time to incorporate board games that encourage problem-solving, said Brian Mayer, a gaming, learning, and library specialist in New York. “You want something that’s challenging for them and pushes them a little bit.”
I vividly remember the night Hurricane Ida hit New York City, in September 2021. My husband, Giovanni, and I were watching a movie as rain hammered menacingly onto our old slate-roof home in Queens. At some point, we paused the film to check on our basement. Bone-dry. About 20 minutes later, Giovanni went to check once more. When he returned, he wailed, “We’re screwed!”
Most 6-year-olds attend school daily, many participate in extracurricular activities, and just about all of them have strongly defined opinions about what they like and don’t like. Kids this age are also becoming increasingly aware of what’s cool among their peers at any given moment.
Nothing kills the Christmas spirit quicker than a conifer quarrel: the inevitable spat between two people trying to stabilize a newly acquired tree in a finicky, fussy stand. If you’ve opted for a real tree instead of an artificial one and you want to avoid that seasonal struggle, the Krinner Tree Genie XXL is the best stand available. We’ve had it as our pick since 2012, after considering more than 25 stands and testing five, and it’s held up for a number of our staff over years of use.. We also recommend a good pair of Christmas lights to go with your tree, real or artificial.
By the time kids are 5, they’re developing skills and more-specific interests that open up new gift-giving possibilities. Many 5-year-olds are starting kindergarten, and they’re exploring new subjects and ideas in school for the first time. Toys and kits that let them engage in project-based inquiry—such as performing simple science experiments and exploring nature—can help them make connections between what they’re exposed to in the classroom and what they experience out in the world.
The gift of booze is an excellent choice any time of year. But around the holidays, it’s especially welcome. A well-chosen bottle can bring good cheer or take the edge off after an awkward dinner-table debate. Whether it’s a big-ticket splurge or a thoughtful token, a little something for the bar always has a nice, indulgent feel to it.
The past 15 years have seen the vinyl format climb its way out of the dustbin of history and become a $1 billion category during the digital age. Americans purchased nearly 40 million new records in 2021 (PDF), and entry-level audiophile turntables are everywhere. If you’ve discovered a newfound passion for the vinyl experience and you want to improve your turntable’s performance—without spending a fortune on new gear—a few well-chosen accessories can make a positive difference.
A Dutch oven is a kitchen workhorse—it’s the one pot that can turn out savory soups and stews, braise meats until they’re fall-apart tender, and also bake crusty bread. A good Dutch oven will last for years, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. After spending hours searing, braising, steaming, and sautéing, we think the Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven cooks just as well as more expensive pots. With design details like roomy handles and a wide cooking area, it stands out from the other ovens we tested.
If you thrive on the competition and camaraderie of studio cycling classes and are intrigued by the idea of replicating that experience at home, a Peloton Bike could be for you. Becoming a member of the Peloton pack is an investment, requiring roughly $2,000 for the first year and more than $500 each year thereafter. And that’s for the base model. But for a set of indoor-cycling devotees, these recurring costs for live-streaming and on-demand classes make financial sense: Specifically, those who typically take four or more Peloton-style studio classes a week may find the at-home bike and classes to be a superior value in as few as four months.
Amazon is back with yet another heavily hyped sale—this one dubbed not Prime Day, but the Prime Early Access Sale. Whatever you decide to call it, this mega-sale offers plenty of Wirecutter picks at substantial discounts ahead of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. If you’re on the hunt for deals that will deliver cheap(ish) thrills on great products, here are the things we recommend that’ll cost you less than a C-note.
The best media streaming device connects you with the video and audio content you want in the fastest, most helpful way. We’ve recommended Roku devices since 2012, but Roku’s reign has come to an end. The Google Chromecast with Google TV is now our favorite thanks to a redesigned interface that better reflects how people watch video in 2022, and it feels completely modern compared with the competition.
Shopping for the holidays can be tricky if you’re on a tight budget. But a thoughtful gift needn’t be expensive. In fact, a small kitchen tool, new charging cables, or even a really good pair of socks can have a positive impact on someone’s life. At Wirecutter, we’re constantly testing items, and we often find surprisingly awesome stuff that doesn’t cost much. We’ve curated the best gifts for $25 and under so you can give well without spending a lot.
If you have a slightly larger budget, check out our guides to the best gifts under $50 and the best gifts under $100.
For roughly the cost of a professional haircut, you can buy a long-lasting tool to create and maintain your own short, buzzed, or shaved hairstyles at home. After dozens of real-world tests of 11 highly rated hair clippers—involving professional barbers and stylists, plus a panel of DIY-haircutting volunteers—we’ve determined that the Wahl Elite Pro High Performance Hair Clipper Kit is the best clipper for most at-home haircuts. Its sharp steel blades easily slice through fine, thick, smooth, and coarse hair without slowing down or clogging. And this clipper isn’t annoyingly loud. The Wahl Elite’s 10 included guide combs—the snap-on teeth that control how closely the clipper cuts, letting you trim hair to a desired length or get creative with styling—are the best of those we’ve tried over six years of testing.
Most hair dryers are effective at blowing hot air toward your head—sometimes quite fast—in order to speed along your hair styling from showering to whatever’s next. It’s the small differences between models that can make a big difference overall, particularly with daily use. After putting in 20 hours of research and spending nearly 50 hours testing 39 dryers, we’ve found that some dryers are far more pleasant to hold and use than others. Because it provides an excellent experience for the price, we think the Rusk W8less Professional 2000 Watt Dryer is the best choice.
Many 4-year-olds are learning to master their environments—and to negotiate boundaries, push limits, and question everything. Some of the best gifts for 4-year-olds engage their endless curiosity, rapidly developing physical skills, and desire to understand everything around them.
Historically, Black Friday has been the best time to shop for everything from electronics to small appliances. However, not every deal is worth it, which is why it’s important to plan—and in some cases, shop—in advance. As retailers jockey to catch the attention of holiday shoppers, early Black Friday sales are launching days and even weeks prior to November 25.
Air purifiers are fundamentally simple machines—little more than a fan and a filter—but a great one can improve your life by reducing airborne allergens such as pollen and mold spores and capturing bacteria, viruses, and smoke from wildfires and other sources. To qualify as great, however, an air purifier doesn’t just need to work well; it also needs to be robustly engineered and thoughtfully designed. To us, that means the air purifier should be powerful enough to clean the air in a large living room or playroom, quiet and dark enough for you to sleep near the machine in a bedroom, and inexpensive enough that it’s reasonable to have several units spread throughout your home. After nine years, during which we’ve tested more than 50 different air purifiers, we believe that the exceptional Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty is the best among them—as we have since 2015. That said, as strong as the Mighty is, its performance is not as singular as it once was, and in recent years many other air purifiers have closely approached our high standards. If you prefer the looks, cost, or other features of our also-great picks, know that they match this Coway model in purifying performance.
Puzzles can be a relaxing and meditative way to spend an afternoon—especially a drizzly or snowy one. When I was younger I didn’t really understand this, preferring to spend my time with more interactive or social games and activities. But over the past few years, when I didn’t have as many options to socialize with friends and found myself tired of staring at a screen, I became more open to the quiet, intense focus that solving a puzzle can bring. Conversations with puzzle-loving co-workers have only deepened this appreciation, so I’ve collected a number of their recommendations here.
If you just want a great laptop to do everyday laptop tasks, you should get an ultrabook. By definition, ultrabooks are powerful, thin-and-light laptops with long battery life, which means many of them are good—but not all of them are worth buying. After testing hundreds of laptops over the past eight years and testing 22 ultrabooks so far in 2022, we’ve found that the HP Spectre x360 13.5″ with 16 GB of memory is the best Windows ultrabook for most people.
