THE FAMILY GIFT GUIDE

The 5 Christmas Gifts Grandchildren Still Play With in February

Most of what goes under the tree is in a bin by New Year's. These five were not.

Gift Guides↗ TrendingChristmasBy Miss Sarah
Last updated September 21, 2026
A grandmother and her grandson at the kitchen table, the boy tracing in a Groovd copybook
(Image credit: The Family Gift Guide)

Want a present that is still being used after the tree has gone out?

Buying for a grandchild whose parents have said no more plastic?

I teach kindergarten. Every January I see which Christmas presents come back in a backpack and which are never mentioned again. Everything below was still out in February. First, the four I would leave on the shelf.

Four presents I would leave on the shelf

  1. $40 of plastic that lights up. Wins Christmas morning, loses January. Under the bed with a wheel missing by the time school starts back.
  2. A $150 tablet, or a learning app on the old one. The app teaches letters on glass. School asks for letters on paper, with a pencil. Parents find that out in February.
  3. A $4 activity book from the dollar store. Thin paper, oversized letters, dotted lines too faint to follow. Coloring dressed up as practice.
  4. $50 in a card. Groceries by the second week of January. Nothing wrong with groceries. It is just not a present anybody remembers.

What grandparents usually buy, and where it is in January

The giftWhat it costsWhere it is in JanuaryWhat the child kept
A kids' tablet, or one more learning app$150 and upIn the parents' drawer with a cracked cornerLetters on glass, none on paper
A big plastic toy that lights up$40 to $60In the bin, battery cover missingNothing
A dollar-store workbook$4Filled in and thrown awayA fist grip
Cash in a card$50GroceriesNo memory of it
The Groovd Magic Copybooks$29.90On the kitchen table with a pencil in itA pencil grip, and letters that are hers

How I picked these: Six Januaries of written lists, then a month with each gift in front of my own class of 25, ten minutes a day, noting who reached for it unasked.

The winner: the Groovd Magic Copybooks. Under the tree it is a box with four books, a pen and a grip trainer. By February it is on the kitchen table with a pencil in it.

A closer look at the winner

Four books, a magic pen, six ink refills and a grip trainer, in a gift box.

The Groovd gift box with all four copybooks standing in front of it
Four books in one gift box: Alphabet, Number, Math, Drawing.
The pen following the grooved channel of a letter
The letter is grooved into the page. The pencil cannot leave the shape.
A child's fist grip on a crayon before, and a three-finger grip on the pen after
The grip trainer in the box. Before on the left, after on the right.
A child tracing grooved numbers with the grip trainer fitted to the pen
Fingers land where they should without anyone correcting them.
The Groovd Alphabet copybook cover
Alphabet. Capitals and lower case, one letter at a time.
The Groovd Number copybook cover
Number. Counting and writing 1 to 100.
The Groovd Math copybook cover
Math. Adding and taking away, in the same grooves.
The Groovd Drawing copybook cover
Drawing. Shapes and patterns, for the ones who are not ready for letters.
The Groovd gift box open with a copybook inside
It arrives boxed, so there is nothing to wrap.
Check discount availability →
The Groovd gift box, closed and open, with four copybooks, a pen and a grip trainer
★ Best overall
1. Groovd Magic Copybooks, set of four
9.8/10
★★★★★4.9
See reviews on Trustpilot →

The one present in my class that came back in a backpack every January I kept the list.

  • Four books: alphabet, numbers, math, drawing
  • Letters grooved into the page, the pencil follows the groove
  • Ink fades in about 10 minutes, every page reusable
  • The ink fades, so a page she is proud of will not survive the afternoon. But that is what makes it magic to her.
$29.90$119.60View the copybooks
The Groovd domino train laying a line of colored dominoes across a wooden floor
The loud one
2. Groovd DominoFun Train Set
8.9/10
★★★★★4.9
See 149 reviews →

The train lays the dominoes by itself. The child plans the route. The whole family ends up on the floor.

  • The train lays the dominoes in a line by itself
  • 60 dominoes in the standard pack, 120 and 180 available
    $49.97View the domino train
    A child building a house from Groovd magnetic blocks on the floor
    The floor one
    3. Groovd Magnetic Building Blocks
    9.2/10
    ★★★★★4.9
    See 109 reviews →

    The wow on Christmas morning without a screen. The first tower happens before breakfast.

    • Magnets in every block, snaps together without help
    • Sets of 48, 80, 128 and 192 pieces, all compatible
      $39.97View the building blocks
      A toddler working the zips and buckles on the Groovd activity board
      The one for the bag
      4. Groovd Montessori Activity Board
      9.0/10
      ★★★★★4.8
      See 149 reviews →

      A two-year-old cannot do much with most presents under a tree. This one they can, and it goes in the bag to every restaurant until spring.

      • 15 activities on one board: zips, buckles, laces, buttons, a clock
      • 7 themes: life skills, alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors, animals, weather
        $44.99View the activity board
        A Groovd learning crate opened on a table, with the toys inside laid out
        The subscription one
        5. The Groovd Learning Box
        8.7/10
        ★★★★★4.9
        See 234 reviews →

        One present is over by lunch. This one arrives again in February, and April, and June.

        • Pick the child's age, 2 to 9, and the crate is packed for it
        • One crate every other month
          $29.97View the learning box

          I did not expect a workbook to survive Christmas morning

          A boy grinning and holding up the Groovd Number copybook
          (Image credit: The Family Gift Guide)

          Last Christmas my granddaughter opened a light-up unicorn, a doll's kitchen and a set of four books in a plain box. I know which one I expected to be forgotten by the time the turkey came out. It was the box.

          By New Year's the unicorn was under the bed. The alphabet book was on the kitchen table with a pencil in it, and it still is.

          The ink fades, so the same page is new again

          A girl at a table writing her name in a Groovd copybook
          (Image credit: The Family Gift Guide)

          She writes a page, has a snack, and it is blank again. One set lasts the year for that reason, and it is why the reviews keep saying the same sentence: she asked for one more page.

          By January her grip had changed. Her teacher noticed. Neither her mother nor I taught her that. The groove did.

          Why this year and not next: The hand learns whatever it does first. Between three and six a child picks up a pencil grip in about two weeks. At seven the same grip takes most of a school year to undo. The window closes on its own.

          Before you order

          If you only buy one

          The copybooks. In a box, ready to go under the tree, at $29.90, 75% off the list price. Sixty days to change your mind.

          Check discount availability →Click here to lock in the 75% off sale price before it ends →

          What people who bought the copybooks say

          Photos from buyers, grandparents first. The store sits at 4.6 on Trustpilot.

          See more reviews at Trustpilot →
          Sale
          The Groovd gift box with four copybooks, a pen and a grip trainer

          Rated 4.6 on Trustpilot

          UP TO 75% OFF FOR A LIMITED TIME

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          Ships in a gift box | 60-day guarantee

          Try it today. Sixty days to change your mind.

          Check with the parents before you order. One text about what is already on the list saves a double.

          About the authorMiss Sarah taught kindergarten in Ohio public schools for six years, then trained as a Montessori guide. Fifteen years in toddler and primary classrooms so far. She runs weekend parent workshops from a studio above her garage outside Columbus, has a granddaughter who turned four in March, and writes these guides for the grandparents and parents who ask her the same question every November: what should I actually buy. More about Miss Sarah →

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