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Me again

Little'un is 11 in 2 weeks (tempus fugit)

Any suggestions for a birthday present - something not bookish or educational (necessarily) - just loads of fun?

I guess this will be the last year before he just gets "$money"

I think robotics could be a lot of fun, if he hasn't explored that yet. I know a lot of kids get into building their own remote-control vehicles, which gets essentially into hot-rodding on the high end. Rocketry? How about a DSLR camera with a prime lens or two? I dunno. I'd be interested to hear what you pick.

Hi Iucounu
I saw on the other thread you mentioned the lego mindstorms - I know age appropriateness is inappropriate here but what is your sense of them? DS 4.7 played with them at a festival and thought they were super cool but I didn't get a good sense there of what you actually have to do - how much programing is there - how complex is it? DS is very intersted in how things works and robots and the like, but his growth is all in reading and science not yet in math - he is ahead of age there but not as startlingly as in the other areas. So I am wondering if we should just wait on them or if we could start with them. When did you start and what else was yours doing when you introduced them?

Thanks!

DeHe

My daughter just turned 12 today and last year I bought her a bunch of "toys" from thinkgeek.com.

This year she's getting dance lessons so that may not be as much help.

I got them a month or two ago, IIRC. My son has always been interested in robots (Bender from Futurama is his favorite TV character, etc.) and has been psyched for some time about building one. What he was doing at the time: had shown a lot of interest in his normal Legos, done some other kinds of kits, a little bit of programming, and before that a lot of talking and thinking and reading about robots, and to a lesser extent about programming.

IIRC the set comes with a lot of pieces from the "Technics" line (struts etc.), plus extra pieces including wheels, tank treads, a CPU, several servomotors, a sonar sensor, an RGB light sensor, and some other odds and ends. It also comes with a software disk and a few simple written instructions.

The software disk comes with a visual programming environment-- you can basically take a drag-and-drop approach to programming a lot of behaviors, inserting loops, etc. It also comes with plans for several robots, including starting programs for them to run which you can download to the robot via a USB cable. You can modify the programs, and save them separately, right in the visual programming environment, then download the changed programs the same way. Then you just push a button or two and the program runs.

There are step-by-step instructions for each pre-designed robot which are pretty comprehensive. Though the instructions do seem a bit challenging at some points, my son was able to put the robots together all by himself with no help. I would guess most bright kids could do it, too. I would say that the robots in the kit take a few hundred pieces, maybe, to put together, but the stuff he's building with the pieces now is smaller.

Later on, if your son gets more into programming, you can also program the CPU in C, Java, and some other programming languages, including one developed specially for the systems by LEGO, IIRC.

I think Lego did a great job with the set, in keeping things complex enough to be interesting but accessible to just about anyone. After my son has grown into Mindstorms a bit more, I plan on getting him some non-Lego robotics stuff, but this is a great introduction. I'd get it!

A longboard skateboard if hE would like to ride faster and faster down bigger and bigger hills. A motor dirtbike if there's somewhere around town for him to ride it. An electric guitar and amp. A giftcard to somewhere you can redecorate his room in his style right now. A chemistry set. A newer, cooler computer. A subscription to your version of the wall street journal and an account at ING direct preloaded with $150 to pick, watch, and buy his first very own stocks. A camera with exchangeable lenses and a book on taking action photography. A pair of season tickets to see the local sports team. A puppy. Does he already have a Wii.? A great cellphone.? Take him on a vacation and take lots of pictures. I'm going to quit now. The presents are getting more extravagant as I go on.
Eta: does he already have the Prismacolor everycolor pencil box?

Those are great. I would never have thought of the stocks idea, but it's fantastic.

Wow great suggestions so far. My suggestion is not so much fun but given he's artistically gifted and depending on what he values, I was thinking one of those beautiful wooden boxes of pastels, pencils or oils that could be engraved. Perhaps supplemented by something cheap, disposable and lots of fun. Especially if it's the last year you think you'll do actual gifts. My DH who's a talented illustrator still has the pencil box he was given when he turned 12.

ps DeHe you read my mind. I'd also been planning to ask lucounu about Mindstorms as my DS turns 5 in a few weeks. And thank you lucounu for the info - very helpful. I thought it might make a great combined birthday/Christmas present. He's currently trying to make his lego creations (including sets marked for age 10+ so consturction won't be an issue) work using his basic electric circuit kit. Hasn't a hope in hell but he's having fun. We checked out the Mindstorms box at the toy shop last week and his eyes were like saucers.

D2 (age 15) loved the Perplexus Puzzle Ball she got last Christmas. Everyone at our house has played with it a lot! It is like a maze inside a clear plastic ball.

I second the "redo" your room present. Make a budget, then let him go. Let him help paint and rearrange and make it his own. We did this for my DD at 11 and she loved it!