“Take me to the stair steps!”

I can’t tell you how many times I heard that last week. There was inevitably a tiny index finger raised in the air and a look of pure sass and determination on Ellie’s face. We went away for a few days and she was in love with the hotel pool.

The two little flaws in our whole swimming and relaxing operation? Ellie can’t swim and I completely spaced on bringing any sort of floating device for her so that she could wander around on her own. Instead, I served as her water taxi, making countless trips up and down the pool. We escaped a few shark attacks, floated past a mermaid or two, and used the pool’s jets as “sinks” and “dryers.”

Even better than the pool was the beach, where she was much more free to join her sister on adventures. She may not have dived into the waves to collect rocks like Samantha did, but she collected buckets and buckets full of wet sand.

Needless to say, all of our water activities got pool and beach toys on the brain to better prepare for our next little adventure. And I already know one thing for sure: some baking sand toys are definitely getting added to our gear for my Cutthroat Kitchen loving ladies!

I think and talk a lot about not pigeonholing girls into what are typically thought of as “girl” categories. I’m the mother of two girls, so that makes sense, no?

I know that making girls believe they belong in certain categories (whether on purpose or by accident) can be seriously stifling. And I think the same thing is true for boys.

The whole gender neutral toy thing is sort of a hot button issue. There’s this whole should girls toys all be pink and purple battle that people spit fire over. I have a difficult time falling on either side of the argument because I don’t think either side is completely right.

Should girls only have pink and purple marketed to them while boys have darker more “masculine” colors aimed at them? No. You know why? Not all human beings are the same. Some girls (like mine) really like pink and purple. They have a pink and purple bedroom and I routinely joke about the fact that it looks like someone vomited pink and purple all over our house. There’s nothing wrong with that. They like it. Some girls really don’t like pink and purple. There’s nothing wrong with that either. They’re colors. There should be a variety available for the variety of personalities out there.

Then there’s the whole debate about boys playing with dolls and girls playing with trucks. As a mother whose three year old can frequently be found hammering away at her work bench while wearing high heels, I think it’s ridiculous that this is even a conversation.

I’m all for fun toys that let kids be kids, but if you give my kids something awesome that also happens to teach them a thing or two, you’re pretty much the bee’s knees in my book (sidenote: what the hell does that even mean? I’m just trying to say that you’re pretty fantastic. I’m just not sure what’s so fantastic about a bee’s knees).

What I’m trying to say is that gifts that make learning fun are genius. Without getting to preachy and boring, I just feel like it’s the sort of thing that creates a passion in kids that could turn into a lifelong thing—and that’s pretty cool.

Do you know a budding scientist? Or even just a kid who would love to do some cool experiments? I’ve rounded up ten science gifts for kids that are so fun they won’t even realize they’re basically taking part in a science lesson. Win.

Instead of heading to the toy store and picking up a mass-produced hunk of plastic that anyone with a TV could have thought of, why not step outside the box a little bit and get something unique and handmade? Aside from potentially becoming the cool relative who buys the awesome toys, you can also help small businesses make a little extra cash money money this holiday season.

Take a peek at some of the cool kids pieces I found on Etsy:

Armadillo Dreams toolbox set / Girlie Q’s pot holders and dish towel / Kat and Company jar of bugs sorting and counting set / Apple n Amos natural wood milk and cookies set / Rustic Patriot Girl slippers / Kitty Baby Love natural crayons / Keepsake Toys eco-friendly wooden balancing toy / A Shiny Beetle sushi felt food set / Bannor Toys cars / The Joyful Rabbit stuffed babushka

Now, don’t get me wrong. My girl has some things on her list that require a trip to the mall (or in my case, a Google shopping search) and I’m not about to disappoint her. All I’m doing is suggesting that you give some of these (incredibly awesome) options a little bit of thought.

I have a sneaking suspicion that they might just last longer than some of the cheap chunks of plastic you might otherwise throw under the tree–and most of them are friendlier to the environment too.