marblesThe older my kid gets, the more time I find myself spending trying to convince her things from my childhood were so much cooler than anything she has on her list for Santa. Now before you roll your eyes at the desperate old lady, let me tell you, it's been working! I pull out something I loved as a kid, and what do ya know, she tends to fall in love too.

It's got me thinking. What if this Christmas we all mixed it up a little? Sure, get them some things from the hot holiday toy list. But what if we all went back to the basics and purchased some of the old standbys as holiday gifts? We loved them so much, why wouldn't our kids love them too?

Bonus here is a lot of these old favorites are pretty easy on the wallet! Need some ideas? Here's a whole list that is guaranteed to work:

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Marbles
Jacks
Deck of Cards (remember War?!)
Yo-yo
Paddleball
Jump rope
Chinese jump rope
Pick Up Sticks
Ball
Hula Hoop
Kite
Slinky
Sidewalk chalk
Frisbee
Pogo stick
Magic 8 ball
Dominoes
Checkers
Toy cars
Sea monkeys
Jigsaw puzzles
Cat's cradle
Jacob's ladder
Little Army men
Balsa airplane kit

What was your favorite game as a kid? What does your kid think of it?

Image via KaCey97007/Flickr