Finding the perfect gift for a homeschool student can be both a challenge and a joy. Many homeschoolers tend to appreciate enriching toys and games, along with books and other educational material. Use this holiday season as an opportunity to invest in gifts for the homeschooler in your life that are not only thought provoking, but are also gifts to learn from.

For the Science minded homeschooler look into science sets, or impromptu experiment kits. A wonderful resource for children ages 8-14 is a Snap Circuits Kit. Enabling your child to build over 300 items, including a doorbell and a burglar alarm this is a gift that will be a source for continued learning and fun. Scientific Explorer offers a Tasty Science Chemisty Kit for children ages 6-11. If your homeschooler is a budding chef and scientist this is the kit for them! There is another food themed kit titled Ice Cream Science from Scientific Explorer as well. Add a little note to the gift that ensures you can taste the final products too!

A live butterfly garden is appealing for most all children, ages 4-14. This is a project to span time and lessons about metamorphosis. Insect Lore makes a nice kit for a lovely butterfly garden, and Fascinations also offers a fairly comprehensive kit. Called World Alive, the kit by Fascinations also offers your child the opportunity to observe first hand how the butterfly develops. Add a small notebook and butterfly pen to this gift and invite your homeschooler to record observations and share them with you along the way.

A telescope is a tried and true favorite for Astronomy loving homeschoolers. There are many reasonably priced offerings from Celestron's FirstScope to the Vega 360 from Educational Insights. Add an Everything Kids Astronomy Book for even more funa and learning! This awesome book has facts, puzzles and games that the whole family will love.

For future Meteorologists the Weather Gone Wild Hunt dvds by Nova are exciting and accurate. These make for an adventurous movie and popcorn night during the holiday break, and the whole family can partake in the fun. The Kids Book of Weather Forecasting is another great gift idea, especially for any child interested in a career in the Meteorology field. DK Eyewitness also has a fascinating book titled Weather. This is factual and encompassing. Your homeschooler will find this to be a valuable resource for future research as well.

For the adventurous homeschooler look into getting an erupting volcano model! Learning Resources makes an easy to use model, that children will find super cool. For Star Wars fans their is a Mustafar Volcano Lab to intrigue your child. This offers Science and pop culture all in one! For budding scientists wanting some more razzle dazzle, the Children's Volcano Science Kit erupts, bubbles and fizzes. Be sure to encourage your child to learn from this educational play. Don't forget to create a hypothesis and test it out. Record your results and be sure to let the person who gave you the gift know how it went. Taking photos can be a good idea too, as they can be used for dual purpose- portfolio scrapbooking and family mementos.