Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Holiday gift ideas

Same here! We also do Christmas the first day of winter break, because I'm opposed to wasting a week of break to boredom, when it could be spent having fun with new stuff.

DD7.5's getting:
- Laptop (Acer-Aspire Laptop / AMD V-Series Processor / 15.6" Display / 2GB Memory-Mesh Black-AS5252-V333 from Best Buy). Was going to be a 10.1 inch netbook, but I was unsuccessful in snagging one at a good price, so got this for ~$50 less than the netbook I'd wanted.

- Printer (Epson-Stylus 420), only because it was $10 when bought with the above laptop. And a second printer (HP Deskjet 1050, $20 from Walmart), which might end up being donated to her classroom instead of given to her - I just couldn't pass up the "deal."

- Fleece pullover hoodie and matching fleece gloves from the Children's Place sale

- Two Life of Fred books, which may be saved for her birthday, or for pulling out at random on a day she's feeling mathy. Books just seem to get lost in the shuffle at Christmas, and I don't know that she's quite to the point she'll enjoy them. Although she certainly enjoyed The Number Devil despite not having nearly enough math background to follow the explanations.

- FlingSmash for Wii, only because it comes with a Wii Remote Plus, and was cheaper than a Wii Remote Plus.

- Active Life Explorer for Wii. My parents have the predecessor game and like it, and this is supposed to have a better controller.

- Music for the lap harp my parents got her.

- A chess strategy book . She can beat me reliably with no strategy, because I suck at chess. But that also means I can't give her any pointers beyond "OK, now if you move that piece, I'm going to get your queen," followed by her saying "No, you won't, because I just got your king." My parents have loaned her my dad's really nice wooden chess set.

- A red flashlight, for reading in the backseat of the car after dark.

- A frog!

If you're in the Greater Washington DC area( they are located in Herndon, VA), I would recommend providing your DS/DD with a gift certificate or registration for one of the really cool science or math enrichment courses offered at PACE School of Mathematics. Courses, such as Rocketry, Geometry and Technology, Graphic Novel Computer Animation, Cool Chemistry, JAVA Programming and Aviation Science for Kids are all intriguing and appropriately challenging for gifted and highly motivated learners. You can visit their website at http:// www.pacemathematics.com or call their Community Liason, Tai Smallwood at 703-232-1669.

Edwin and Chris,

We've had really good success finding the high end legos on craigslist and e-bay. Like you said, they get built a time or two, collect dust for a few years, then parents decide to move them along. DS got a really nice Starwars collection not long ago.

Chris.... Tell me about Hexbugs, they are featured at the top of the list this year!

For those of you with Hexbug fans, the battle bridge set is on sale at woot.com today only. $17.99 + $5 shipping, about half of what you'll pay for it elsewhere.

Someone asked about MindFlex - we looked at this for a gift, but the reviews I read looked a little disappointing, so we passed. So far for my D8, we're looking at books from the Monster Squad series and Harry Potter years 1-4 Wii game (she's currently WAY into reading the series) and we're kind of stuck right there. She's at an age that "toys" don't interest her very much, but will probably add some crafting kits, as she like creating very much.

Here's an oldie but a goodie: balloon animals. DS is currently having a blast with them. A book and/or list of web resources, assortment of balloons, and a cheap pump or two would make a fine present for a kid who's never tried the activity.

The two main balloon types are 260 (2" filled diameter) and 160 (1"). The two biggest makers seem to be Bellatex and Qualatex, the latter of which we use; avoid no-name brands which may make ballons that pop easily, and aren't as easy to work with. The 1" balloons might be better for very small hands.

Wow - wish I'd got it for that price !! Ah well - I think it'll be one of the most played with toys this year for ds, so I'll try not to think about the savings I missed out on LOL

funny to read through this thread!I think all of our kids would get along!

I just got the Qualtex 260's on amazon for DD7! She recently became obsessed with twisting balloon animals and she can do it herself, scares me to DEATH and DS can't stay in the room when she is doing it lol And DS9 is getting the Hexbug Battle Bridge. I missed the woot sale too, well - I'd already shopped lol But they had the bugs 50% off at Target so I got a few extra and an ant for Ds, he really wants an ant! He is getting Perplexus also. My parents are getting him a laptop.

DS got Mindflex last year and it doesn't get played with.

Big hit of the day today... Crystal Climbers. I had something similar as a child and it was my favorite. I found this at goodwill today for a few dollars and couldn't resist. Both DS9 and DS7 are having a great time with it. It's 50% off at Lakeshore Learning, only $9.99 so if it's ok to share the link...
http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca|productSubCat~~p|XK467~~f|/Assortments/Lakeshore/GreatGiftsForKids/greatgiftsforkids/under10.jsp

DS9 also wants Elec tronic Monopoly,books, wii games and ds games.

OH, also... I just bought a Coprolite (fossilized dino poop) and a few small meteorite slices for DS9 from ebay

Last year the big gift was a Metal Detector

I made the boy make these santa's for the grandparents. The hubby said I'm safe from the child labor laws because it's just a few and I'm not mass-producing. We almost had a labor dispute, but the management won. I said, you cannot cut circles until you draw them first. When you've had more practice you can just eyeball it and cut, but for now you need to draw out your project before you use the scissors. Happy Hollydays!
http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad296/Hablame_today/c31891ac.jpg