What are Hilary Erickson's top recommendations for techno tweens during holidays?

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson from The Pregnancy Nurse.

For techno tweens around the holidays, I like to mix pure fun with things that build curiosity and logic. Some of my top picks from my guide are:

• Pyramid Arcade (tons of strategy/logic games in one set)
• Nintendo Switch or DS with brain-building games like Professor Layton
• Snap Circuits and Tinker Crate for hands‑on electronics/engineering
• Robots/Lego Mindstorms or a Makey-Makey for simple coding and invention
• Good fantasy book series (Fablehaven, Rick Riordan, Survivors) to balance screen time

Would you like ideas more on the “STEM learning” side or the “gaming” side for your tween?