Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Christmas gifts--elementary age

We already have snap circuits which I picked up for $2 at a thrift store not knowing what they were.
DD8 in particular loves those so I should look at fancier models.
She also really likes Thinkfun type logic puzzles/games.
Anything in particular I should look at for her?

I'm at a loss in terms of my 6 year old. All he wants to do is play Minecraft or Terraria or other video games. I have tried Legos and he likes them for a while, but gets frustrated because of his fine motor issues. A lot of building toys just require too much manual dexterity. But he is very visual-spatial. He does like Rokenbok but it is ridiculously expensive.

This year my kids (DD8, DS9) are both getting a tablet as their big present... so the rest of their gifts will likely be some clothes, a few legos, and maybe some craft-type stuff. They both LOVE drawing, so I'll probably buy several pads of sketch paper and more pencils, crayons and markers. (Those constantly seem to vanish from my house.)

I'm getting them the Kindle Fire tables from last year... I think they are going to be super excited.

origami: YES! thanks, squishys!

I think gears gears gears are a building toy that don't take extremely fine motor skills (I mean some but not the same as lego)...if my boys couldn't get something apart or together with them they just brought it to me and I did it and they ran off and went back to playing with it...that might happen once a play session. I think they are so fun for the spatial kids.

If anybody has a GOOD origami book suggestion, I'm all ears. DD9 picks it up pretty easily even with bad instructions, but I'd like a good book. Hard models okay.

So far all I know is that DS5 really wants a Perplexus. DD9 will be getting nice hardback copies of Tolkien.

He also LOVES ThinkFun stuff--any new recs on that?

We are finding that we are ready for quite sophisticated games. Thinking of moving up to the Euro board games, but not sure which to get first. We have Forbidden Island and it has been a moderate hit, but they are ready for something harder.

I will plug our favorite card game, Gubs. You do need to be able to read, I think.

We have a large collection of Euro games and the kids love them. Right now they have been playing Aquadukt which involves strategy but doesn't have complicated rules. They also like the kids version of Settlers of Catan (although I suspect DD could play the adult version). DD likes the Downfall of Pompeii and thowing people into the volcano. Transamerica is another good one--not too complicated--the six year old does fine as well. Also Key Largo, Flash Point, Castle Panic, and For Sale. I bought Deadwood on clearance at Target and they love that one, but I personally find it kind of tedious.

Is there a brand of microscope that someone could recommend? Some seem more "toy" like. She wants the real deal:-)

We're doing a lot of experience gifts for Christmas this year. Cooking lessons, horseback riding, perhaps a family trip.

Blackcat, at that age my DS loved building with anything and everything. I agree with the gears suggestion, DS loved them at that age. Marble runs are great- there are many types and most don't seem to require much fine-motor stuff, DS especially liked the wooden block type and one that has stacking plastic tubes, chutes and other fun things. I would consider regular blocks, too- there are lots of cool types; my kids both liked keva planks (the contraptions set especially). Knex is fun, the larger size pieces (can't remember the name, kind of knex junior) are pretty easy to put together, but there are not as complex (read interesting) as the smaller pieces, and they can be pricey. The smaller pieces require a fair amount of dexterity. My kids liked tinker toys and Lincoln logs, too- good garage-sale buys if you can find them. Your DS might even like the oldies-but-goodies building stuff like sugar cubes and frosting, or marshmallows and toothpicks, or pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks and glue- we went through tons of Popsicle sticks, and it really helps when they are old enough to use a glue gun. You could even get into paper mâché, clay/play dough building, sandbox architecture, etc. Boy- don't get me started, I feel like I spent years doing this stuff (and yes, DS still does it but much more of it is minecraft and terraria now).