Educational Gifts for Kids that Don’t Cost a Fortun

It’s not that strange to see even young kids running around with smart phones these days, texting their friends, playing games, and even browsing the internet.  Yikes!  And although the worldwide web is an amazing tool that brings the power of the world’s largest virtual encyclopedia right to your fingertips with one small device, kids that aren’t supervised can get a lot more of an education than you bargained for when they go online – and the data fees could sink your budget.  So if you’re looking for some appropriate educational gifts for kids that won’t cost you an arm and a leg to support, here are just a few that are bound to please both your children and your wallet.

Let’s start with one that could be considered a bit on the pricy side, but is actually relatively affordable when held up next to the competition.  The Kindle is an incredible e-reader that could open a world of imagination and information to your kids.  While you can certainly load them up with books galore, this device will allow them to tote an entire library with them wherever they go.  And at under $80 for the standard version, it’s really not terribly expensive (especially when you consider that you can find many books in free PDF versions online, and some libraries are even starting to offer Kindle versions of classic books).  If you want to go a step further, you could go for the upgraded Kindle Fire, new to the market, which will also allow them to play music, movies, and games, as well as access the internet for free with a WiFi connection.  It’s a bit more expensive at $199, but considering that Apple starts their iPad 2 at $499 (and goes up from there), Amazon’s tablet is practically a steal.

However, not all educational gifts have to be technologically advanced.  There are plenty of board games out there that will help your kids to sharpen their skills of memory and deduction (Clue, Pictureka), hone their spelling and vocabulary (Scrabble, Bananagrams, Apples to Apples Junior), and even learn about math and money (Equate, Monopoly).  With a bit of searching you can find all kinds of fun games that will supplement your kids’ education without them even knowing.  You can also get puzzles and erector sets that will your kids play creatively and think outside the box.

But of course, the best educational gift out there is still the internet. 

The possibilities for learning opportunities are just limitless.  And considering there are ways to block certain types of sites so that your kids are never exposed to them, there’s really no reason not to take advantage of all the amazing benefits the web has to offer kids.  There are even low income internet options out there for families that would like this amazing communication and information tool at their disposal without the high cost of DSL!  So if you’re looking for a great educational gift that just keeps giving, a monthly subscription for internet service cannot be beat.