What to give a 7-year-old that isn't a screen

Five ways of being 7, and the gift that suits each

• The one who never sits still. Roller skates or a skateboard with pads, a bike with bigger wheels, a proper skipping rope, an afternoon at a climbing wall. At 7 they have the strength and balance to learn something new in a weekend.
• The builder. Mechanical kits with gears, simple circuits with batteries and bulbs, a glue-together model, a small but real toolbox. Ideally, help them the first afternoon, then leave them to it.
• The reader. The first book in a series of short chapter books (if they're hooked, they'll ask for the second), comics, a reading torch for bed and permission to use it for ten minutes.
• The collector and sorter. A chest of little drawers for their treasures, a proper magnifying glass or binoculars, an album for minerals or coins, a guide to the birds in your area.
• The one who organises everyone else. A strategy board game for the whole family, a pair of walkie-talkies, a magic kit to put on a show. They need an audience, not toys.

If what they're asking for is a screen

There's no need to demonise it, but you do need to negotiate. A video game played as a family (dancing games, four-player racing games) is a shared gift; a console for their bedroom is something else. A split that works for many families: one analogue gift from the list above and, separately, an hour of screen time together at the weekend, with a set day and time, as if it were a ticket. What they want at 7 is time with you and to feel grown-up; the screen is just the quickest way of asking for it.

And does a personalised book still make sense at 7?

We'll tell you with our figures in front of us: our individual books are designed for children aged 2 to 8, and at 7 very few families order them. Up to October 2026, 11 covers were created at Iraya for 7-year-olds (7 for the dinosaur book, 3 for the siblings' books and 1 for the sock one), compared with 59 for 3-year-olds. At 7 an illustrated book is no longer the obvious present.

When it does fit, from what we see: when there's a younger sibling, because in The Mystery of the Torn Map and The Magic Button both appear with their faces and it's the older one who reads it aloud (they're for siblings aged 2 to 10, whatever the age gap); when they're truly passionate about the theme, cape and mask or a baby T-Rex; and as a keepsake marking the end of the picture-book years, the kind you keep alongside their drawings from infant school. When it doesn't: if they're already asking for “grown-up books” without pictures. In that case, a chapter book and you're done. It costs €39.99, as a hardback, and before you pay you see the cover with their faces. More ideas in what to give a 6-year-old, what to give an 8-year-old and, if they have everything, this other guide.

Our books

The Mystery of the Torn MapSiblings aged 2 to 10The Magic ButtonSiblings aged 2 to 10Super Hero Saves the CityAges 2 to 8The Princess and Fumarola the DragonGirls aged 2 to 8Dinosaur ValleyAges 2 to 8

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