Best Minecraft Gifts for Kids

I’m not going to pretend to understand why Minecraft is so dang popular, but it is. When I asked my 5 year old what he wanted for Christmas this year, I promptly got a list of 5 items, every single one involved the word, “Minecraft.” While we do try not to let our kiddos become too obsessive, I also don’t see the harm in letting them have favorite things, so off I set to find some of the best Minecraft gifts for kids.

Plush Minecraft toys:

We got that same 5 year old a plush Enderman for his birthday in October, and he sleeps with it every night. He actually calls it “Ender-teddy.” I never would have guessed a little soft doll would be so well-received by a kid trying so hard to be into technology (with mom and dad thwarting him at every step.) You can find pretty much every Minecraft character in plush form for under $10 in most cases making Minecraft plush toys a great addition to any list of the best Minecraft gifts for kids—or Minecraft stocking stuffers even.

Minecraft Legos:

If you’re looking for ways to end the game-time-over fight, Minecraft Legos can be a great choice, because they allow kids to continue the game off the game. Initially, Lego had only released a few of these sets, but this year they’ve added a few new ones. They can, however, like all Lego products, be a bit spendy. The cheapest and smallest sets range from $8 to $15 with the more elaborate large set ups exceeding $100. Remember to shop around though, this is the season where toy sales abound and extra coupons are frequently found.

Terraria:

Who knows why this Minecraft-predecessor did not strike it big, but if your kids love Minecraft, they may like Terraria as a change of pace. Similar in game-play and design to Minecraft, this started out as a computer game, but can now be bought for some game consoles as well, including Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Playstation 3. If your kids destroy discs the way mine do, you can even download it from the Xbox store.

Minecraft books:

My kids love to read, so maybe my opinion here is biased, but I think Minecraft books are an awesome addition to a list of the best Minecraft gifts for kids. You can find both handbook-type Minecraft books and Minecraft story books.

Minecraft shirts:

Minecraft shirts can be a nice way to give kids clothes for Christmas without feeling like you gave a lame gift. I’ll apologize to Amazon here, I love their Prime shipping and use it like crazy, but in the Minecraft shirt world, Kohls has them beat. They have quite the variety and pretty much constant sales.

Personalized Minecraft Goodies:

Finally, if you remember my Minecraft coat creation, it’s rather simple to make almost anything a Minecraft gift. For example, you can use Minecraft stickers to make things such as Minecraft cars or remote control trucks. You can use Minecraft patches to make coats, hats, gloves and more. You don’t necessarily have to pay the high prices or limit yourself to what’s available as far as Minecraft goods. Though keep in mind, you can’t sell any of your creations due to copyright laws, so no trying to strike it rich. These little stickers and such used to make customized Minecraft goodies make great stocking stuffers too.

How to Make a Minecraft Coat and Other Personalized Goodies

minecraft coat
The back of my Minecraft coat

I have unique kids. Unique kids that requests bizarre clothing requests like, “Mom, I want zombie mutant shoes.” So, when my kindergartner’s zipper broke on his coat, I was actually kind of relieved when he asked for something I thought would be easy, a Minecraft coat. I mean, Minecraft has become insanely popular, I assumed I could find him a coat no problem. I was wrong. There was no such coat. You could find these silly Creeper hoodies that were ridiculously expensive, but no real, I-live-in-Alaska winter coats. So, we decided to make him one. In fact, you could personalize just about any fabric-based item to make Minecraft clothes, backpacks, and more—or most any other character or design you wanted using a, in my opinion long-forgotten and under-appreciated, method, iron on patches.

Finding a patch:

Luckily, the web is full of customized patch makers these days. You can find basically anything you want or even have personalized patches made. In my search for a Minecraft coat, I landed on the Patch Maker’s Etsy page where she offers a pretty fair array of super-awesome Minecraft patches. I picked out three for my soon-to-be Minecraft coat creation. An Enderman’s head, a Creeper against crossed swords, and the Minecraft logo itself. My total cost was $37 after shipping to Alaska.

Finding a coat:

Next, I needed a good coat for my Minecraft patches. I looked around locally, but found even basic plain coats ran $60 to $70 plus. I checked thrift stores and couldn’t find his size, so I eventually ended up on Amazon. Amazon can be a great alternative for some items in areas where retail prices can be high. I picked out a jacket which matched my patch selections well that was on-the rack locally for $80 for $17.99 with free Prime shipping on Amazon. I do recommend reading reviews when purchasing online, always checking the actual size chart for the item you are buying, and looking for patches first that way you know what colors to look for.

Customizing your Minecraft coat:

It took less than one week for both my patches and my coat to arrive even being in the oh-so-distant North. Iron on patches are very easy to apply. Simply heat up your iron, lay your fabric flat, put your patch where you want it, and apply heat for 20-30 seconds. After cooling you’ll want to check for edges that may not be fully attached. To fix these you can just apply heat a little longer. All in all my son’s Minecraft coat took me 10 minutes to assemble and cost me $54.99. Considering the price of popular brand items, especially Minecraft right now (like this $150 Minecraft backpack or $70 Minecraft hoodie) and the cost of kids winter coats in particular, I think I did fabulously well while creating a coat no one else at school will have for my child.