The kindergartner on your list may be a bit precocious at times, but he is still a baby in your eyes. Help him continue to explore the world around him with some gifts that are sure to get him asking questions.

Among our favorites for the five-year-old this year are:

• A Make My Own Monster Kit from FAO Schwarz. The kit includes colored pencils, paper, and a detailed questionnaire from which you actually design your monster. The design is then turned into a plush monster, complete with a tag that explains the scary guy’s back story.
• Even though you cringe at the sight of a bug, your tot may love the creepy, crawly things. With the Talking Bug Identifier your little entomologist can ID the critter by answering a few simple yes and no questions.
• The Clementine Printmaking Kit comes with six all-natural paints, brushes, rollers, recycled paper and textured painting tools to help your budding artist create beautiful masterpieces.
• Create an indoor garden filled with beautiful butterflies with the Discovery Butterfly Canopy. The kit comes with a voucher used to order five painted lady caterpillars and the necessary food needed for the larvae to become flying beauties.
• The 170 pieces and 20 marbles included in the Deluxe Marble Run should keep your tot busy for hours. With ramps, bridges, a swivel track, spinners and a motorized conveyer, no two marble runs will be the same.
• Up your cool factor with your kids by introducing them to the Crayola Glow Station. Equipped with a light wand, a light-sensitive canvas, and cool stencils, they can design glow-in-the-dark creations like they’ve never seen before.

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It’s only natural for parents to think every scribble or brush stroke their child creates is a masterpiece, but if you are anything like me that means you have stacks of masterpieces you don’t know how to archive for safekeeping. A company called inkubook can help you create a classic bound book of art and photo memories that will give all those creations a worthy home. All you have to do is scan the pages, save them as a jpg, png, or gif file and upload them to the inkubook website.Prices start at $14 for a 20-page softcover book and $25 for a hardcover, but playing around with the book design on the site is free. It also offers a great volume pricing option, which is perfect if you want to make books to give as gifts for the holidays!

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Make your tot’s next coloring project 3D! This doll house size cottage is made from recycled materials and is easy to put together for an afternoon of fun and creative energy. Instead of yet another picture on the refrigerator, your tot will be proud to have this displayed in the foyer for all to see when they come to the house for the holidays. You can even get crafty and get fake snow and tiny Christmas lights to be festive. Of course, I am throwing that out there when I, myself, am not at all crafty and would never be able to pull that off. But Auntie can come over and make this into a super fun project! At uncommen goods for only $20.

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Can’t keep your kid seated at the dinner table? Maybe you should give Tribal Green’s Tot-Tye a tug. The organic cotton device ($28) ties children to their seats with two straps.

For parents in a bind, the Tot-Tye may provide temporary relief, but some wee ones would probably still manage to wiggle their way out of the restraint.

What do you think of the Tot-Tye?

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This new stroller designed by Worrell is the coolest thing I have ever seen. It is not out yet, it is only in the design phase and they have no time line for the launch. Which means, all our kids will be out of strollers by the time it comes out. The only information I have on this right now is that it will be affordable, it is extremely light and very versatile. Although from these pictures it is hard to see how versatile it can be and it looks so big! Even collapsed the chassis looks bulky. The outer “shell” is all neoprene and will come in many customizable colors. The baby hammock looks like fun but I’m not sure how well it will do after a feeding, looks like throw up central to me. Other than those minor details, this is one of the most original concepts for strollers. It is about time they reinvent the wheel for strollers, I love my bugaboo but have yet to find the one absolutely most perfect stroller (and I have 3).