It’s not easy to find the right gift for all the good little boys and girls on your Christmas shopping list. Luckily, the buyers at The Book Table in downtown Logan have done the research for you, looking at hundreds of new toys, games and top trends in play to recommend the best for the 2016 holiday season. Remember, kids learn through play, so they have taken care to include many educational and skill-building toys in our selections.

These toys and games can be found at The Book Table at 29 S Main Street in Logan. Click here for a list of the best adult, youth and children fiction books for 2016.

Best Games

Ages 2-5

  • The Sneaky Squirrel Game
  • Feed the Kitty
  • Hiss

Ages 6-8

  • Pie Face
  • Race to the Treasure
  • Poop: The Game
  • Bellz!

Ages 8-12

  • Exploding Kittens: This is a kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players take turns drawing cards until someone draws an exploding kitten and loses the game. The deck is made up of cards that let you avoid exploding by peeking at cards before you draw, forcing your opponent to draw multiple cards, or shuffling the deck.The game gets more and more intense with each card you draw because fewer cards left in the deck means a greater chance of drawing the kitten and exploding in a fiery ball of feline hyperbole.
  • Splendor: This is a game of chip-collecting and card development. Players are the merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy gem mines, means of transportation, shops – all in order to acquire the most prestige points. If you’re wealthy enough, you might even receive a visit from a noble a one point, which of course will further increase your prestige.All the cards you buy increase your wealth as they give you a permanent gem bonus for later buys; some of the cards also give your prestige points. In order to win the game, you must reach 15 prestige points before your opponents do.
  • Sneaky Cards:  This is a card game with individual mission objectives that create fun quirky, and engaging social interactions. Each deck contains 55 cards and five categories for the players to interact with: surprise, create, care, connect and Grow. Each card also features a tracking number that lets players track the cards and see them travel as they are passed from player to player.
  • Mysterium: In the 1920s, Mr. MacDowell, a gifted astrologist, immediately detected a supernatural being upon his new house in Scotland. He gathered eminent mediums of his time to help contact the ghost and investigate any clues that could unlock an old mystery.Unable to talk, the amnesiac ghost communicates with the mediums through visions, which are represented in the game by illustrated cards. The mediums must decipher the images to help the ghost remember how he was murdered. Who did the crime? Where did it take place? Which weapon caused the death? The more mediums cooperate and guess well, the easier it is to catch the right culprit.
  • Others: Googly Eyes, Watch Ya’ Mouth

Family Games

  • Ticket to Ride,  Rails & Sails: This game takes the familiar game play of Ticket to Ride and expands it across the globe, which means that you’ll be moving across water, of course, and that’s where the sails come in.The game includes a double-sided game board, with one side showing the world and the other side showing the Great Lakes of North America. Players start with a differing number of cards and tokens on which side they play, and each side has a few differences in game play.
  • Slapzi: It’s all about speed! Be the first to match all five of the right picture cards to the right clue cards and you’re the winner. A fast-matching, card-slapping, everyone-laughing picture game. SLAPZI is super simple to learn, and super fast to play.
  • Reverse Charades: This game flips the charade standard of one person giving clues to a large group on its head by splitting the players (six or more) into two teams, then having all but one person on a team work together to get that one person to guess as many words as possibly in 60 seconds. Each guessed word is worth one point; each word spleen or mouthed costs that team a point. After each player has guessed once, the team with the most points wins.
  • Others: Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit, Code Names

Strategic Games

  • Sheriff of Nottingham: In Sheriff of Nottingham, players will not only be able to experience Nottingham as a merchant of the city, but each turn, one players will step into the shoes of the Sheriff himself. Players declare goods they wish to bring into the city, goods that are secretly stored in their burlap sack. The sheriff must then determine who gets into the city with their goods, who gets inspected, and who may have their goods confiscated! Do you have what it takes to be seen as an honest merchant? Will you make a deal with the sheriff to let you in? Or will you persuade them to target another player while you quietly slip by the gate? Declare your goods, negotiate deals, and be on the lookout for the Sheriff of Nottingham!
  • Kingdom Builders: In Kingdom Builder, the players create their own kingdoms by skillfully building their settlements, aiming to earn the most gold at the end of the game. Each game, players will use a random set of Kingdom Builder cards (3 of 10), special actions (4 of 8), and terrain sectors to build the map (4 of 8), ensuring you won’t play the same game twice.

Best Toys

0-3 Months:

  • Manhattan Toy, Winkle Rattle
  • Melissa and Doug, Clean Up Set
  • Fat Brain, Spin Again
  • Oball, Go Grippers
  • Squigz, Pip Squigz
  • Melissa and Doug, Sing Along Nursery Rhymes Puzzle

3-7 Years:

  • Learning Journey, Piano and Drums
  • Scientific Explorer, My First Mind Blowing Science Kit
  • Great Pretenders, Color Capes
  • Playvision, Floof
  • Melissa and Doug, Wash, Dry and Iron
  • Melissa and Doug, Food Fun

8-11 years:

  • Diggin, Slimeballs
  • Learning Journey, Marble Mania
  • Hexbug, Jelly Fish
  • Geospace, Stilts
  • Geospace, Pogo Sticks
  • Westmin, Basketball Hoop Shoot
  • Toysmith, 4M Tin Robot
  • Elenco, Snap Circuits Arcades