A five-year study by the University of Southern California found that kids’ brains develop faster if they play instruments. Give the gift of music with a kid-size instrument, says Aaron Goldberg, director of Athletic Bands, Big Band conductor, and a College of Fine Arts senior lecturer in music. “I once gave a tambourine to my friend’s two-year-old daughter,” Goldberg says. “For the next month, I got texts from her sleep-deprived parents: ‘Thanks for the tambourine, Aaron…’” Drums make for a great gift, too—“Anything on which one can easily create rhythm works,” he says.

May we suggest throwing in some earplugs for other members of the household, too?

Paul “Hutch” Hutchinson, a Questrom senior lecturer in management and organizations, is a veteran outdoorsman and outdoor educator. He suggests getting kids’ snowshoes, a hand-held GPS unit, or an introduction to the sport of geocaching. One year, Hutchinson (GRS’15) gifted his kids a trip to Smugglers’ Notch in Vermont right after New Year’s. “That way they had new ‘toys’ and a place to go use them,” he says. “Stuff is just stuff, but the memory is what’s more important, especially with outdoor activities.”

Hutchinson has another child-rearing tip for the holidays: every Christmas Eve day, he and his wife pack up the kids and lunch and head out for a walk in the woods. It helps ward off the “When is Santa coming?” questions and also gives everyone fresh air and exercise to help them fall asleep quickly that night.

Curly hot dogs, English muffin pizzas, and sushi salmon cakes aren’t typical recipes you would expect to see in a cookbook by legendary chef and Emmy Award–winner Jacques Pépin (Hon.’11). But in 2017, Pépin—the cofounder of BU Metropolitan College’s Certificate in the Culinary Arts and Master’s in Gastronomy programs—teamed up with his then-12-year-old granddaughter Shorey Wesen (COM’26) on A Grandfather’s Lessons: In the Kitchen with Shorey (Harvest) to entice a whole new generation to get in the kitchen and cook. MET’s Megan Elias, a MET associate professor of the practice of gastronomy and director of the program, recommends the book as a gift for the small (hungry) people in your life.

Imaginative play is super important for children of all ages, says Felice Amato, a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of art and of art education, who teaches the class Thinking Through Puppets. When gifting, she says, she looks “for dolls and objects that aren’t connected to books or movies, so that kids can use them to generate their own stories.” Puppets are a fantastic option, too. Look for high-quality ones (she likes the brand Folkmanis) that fit a child’s hand and “are responsive, so kids have a chance to explore how the puppets’ body language and demeanor communicate—not just words,” she says.

Amato also suggests nonplastic toys made of natural materials, such as simple wooden blocks, high-quality art supplies, a well-designed starter loom, or a dress-up box with fun thrifted items and accessories. Elementary-age kids may like miniature sets or a real stethoscope.

Janice Checchio, BU Photography associate creative director of photography, acknowledges that while this OM SYSTEMTough camera is expensive, she was able to get an older model for her eight-year-old son. “It’s waterproof, essentially indestructible, but also has settings he can eventually grow into,” she says, but cautions that a “Fujifilm Instax is always a fun, cheaper option, but kids will also run through expensive film wildly fast.”