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We bought our DD the pianowizard for X-mas. She is into music and though she wants a violin and has told me numerous times I thought it would be better to start with a piano. I don't know if anyone else has used the pianowizard or have heard of it but it has received many awards and is IMHO brilliant. There is a keyboard that hooks up to a computer and software. The kids learn through a video game and it has 4 levels. By the 4th level they are reading sheet music.

Another cure for the commercialism aspect of the holidays - actually buy your child one of the toys (preferably the least expensive one) that you keep telling him will not be that great in person. He'll soon realize that mommy and daddy are right about how the commercials are fibbing...

DS4 certainly still likes to watch commercials (for anything - not even toys), but he doesn't ask for anything anymore. I am having the darndest time getting the kid to write a christmas list!

(Of course, this all depends on your child's personality too.)

I know I'm a little late to this thread, but I wanted to put a plug in for another charity organization that I've used with my kids to offset the commercialization.

markmakers.org

I thought the site was very visual and although it doesnt have as many choices as some other similar sites, it was very easy for the younger kids (5 and 3 at the time) to really see and compare how they 'spent' their donation. There are a few charities that might require some, shall we say, uncomfortable explanations, but that's been the case on every similar site I've seen.

I've also always involved my kids in making their own donation to Heifer Project as well. It's one of the main uses for the charity money they save from their allowance. My DD6 last year even went so far as to raid a substantial portion of the money she had set aside for spending to be able to pick the donation she wanted. Very concrete examples and the specific stories can be used for a variety of education opportunities as well.

I see what you mean about the visuals and thanks for sharing it Prissy. We haven't started allowances yet with our daughters but DD6 liked getting wooden nickels at Whole Foods because we brought our reusable bags. She got to pick which local charity benefited and chose forest preservation because she likes trees. Hopefully these kinds of ideas will catch on.

I happened to see this thread last night as I was headed to the markmakers site to purchase the gift certificates. After I posted, when I went to make a purchase I noticed that they were not taking any new orders this year. The site apparently was run by a family and they didn't get enough participation to continue the investment so are shutting it down.

Sorry for the confusion!

Too bad the investment didn't work out. I'm going to show the site to my daughters before it shuts down. It's empowering to see all the different ways they can choose to help. It ties into the article Rosie wrote in another thread called the behaviour of gifted children:

I'd like to put in a plug for one of my favorite gifts for the gifted. Zome Tools has just undergone a makeover and they are now more durable. My kids have been enjoying Zome for six years now, ever since we first encountered them at a PG event and had to purchase some. Check out their products here:
http://www.zometool.com/s.nl/sc.7/.f

That Zomepad modeling software looks pretty interesting. We haven't purchased any zometool stuff, although, I've looked at it before.........hmmmmm......

Minnie,
I've started reading Con$umed and wanted to thank you again for mentioning it. Bill Moyers did an interview with the author and I was amazed at how it tied together so many of what I'd viewed as disparate concerns:
turning children into consumers, bottled water, alternative energy, PTA, Wal-Mart, citizenship, public transportation, school vouchers, debt to China, poverty, terrorism, immigration and corporate bailouts.
The amazing thing is that the interview was from a year ago but so much is applicable to our current situation.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12212007/transcript1.html

I love the focus on gifts that truly come from the heart. That's a great idea Minnie about your children making gifts for eachother. My DS4 isn't into all the commercialism yet...thankfully. He does like his TV shows..but thankfully most of them are DVR'd and we fastforward commercials. He really enjoys wheel of fortune. Anyhow, he told us that he just wants one thing for Christmas...to get a present for his little sister. I almost cried. Clearly he would be disappointed on Christmas if he had no presents...but it was still very thoughtful and he really is selfless most times. He said that he knows it would make her really happy and that's why he wants to get her something. A friend of ours came over and was asking DS what he wanted for Christmas and if he asked Santa...etc etc. I was a little uncomfortable because we didn't go see Santa (he never asked and doesn't seem all that interested) He never made a list or told us what he wants (we know what things he likes and leans towards). It just seems like with so many kids it's all about what they want for Christmas...and I "being good" in order to get gifts. I don't like that focus at all.