I feel like older boys are hard to gift. They are also hard to make things for. It's easy to fall into the video game slump, since Riley would basically play Wii all day every day if I let him. I don't - but he's playing it right now, so...MOVING RIGHT ALONG.
Here are my gifting guidelines:
1. Must be at least a little educational OR
2. Must be at least a little creative BUT
3. I really want both educational and creative.
So here's what we got him. Maybe this list will help next time you have to gift a 9-12 year old boy. For full disclosure, Amazon sends me a few cents if you buy any of the items from these links.
Random origami supplies. He likes origami (I think mostly because his friends do) so we got him this origami book
and this animal paper set,
and this regular origami paper set.
and this animal paper set, and this regular origami paper set.
Riley LOVES making paper airplanes, so we got this Fold N Fly Paper Airplanes Kit
. He really likes figuring out which types of folding make for the fastest airplanes, and loves fancy paper, so this set looked like the best of both worlds.
. He really likes figuring out which types of folding make for the fastest airplanes, and loves fancy paper, so this set looked like the best of both worlds. 
I got him some Guardians of Ga'hoole
books. I don't really get what is so fun or interesting about these books, but he really seems to like them, and I like owls, so I let him buy them. :) We're also into reading Roald Dahl, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, 
and The Mysterious Benedict Society.
Biographies are also hugely popular in our house. We like the "Who Was" series.
books. I don't really get what is so fun or interesting about these books, but he really seems to like them, and I like owls, so I let him buy them. :) We're also into reading Roald Dahl, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Biographies are also hugely popular in our house. We like the "Who Was" series. And, these might be my favorites.
I got him two paper toy books - Papertoy Monsters: Make Your Very Own Amazing Papertoys!
and Urban Paper: 26 Designer Toys to Cut Out and Build
. These books actually have paper toys inside that you can pop out, fold up, and play with! It's like origami/kirigami, but cooler. They also have blank templates or discs with blank templates so they can decorate their own monsters, but don't have to worry about the logistics of figuring out how to cut and fold them - that work is already done for them on the templates. Love them.
and Urban Paper: 26 Designer Toys to Cut Out and Build. These books actually have paper toys inside that you can pop out, fold up, and play with! It's like origami/kirigami, but cooler. They also have blank templates or discs with blank templates so they can decorate their own monsters, but don't have to worry about the logistics of figuring out how to cut and fold them - that work is already done for them on the templates. Love them. I forgot to snap a picture of it, but we also got the Snap Circuits Flying Saucer
to go with his other Snap Circuits
set. I highly recommend these sets. He really seems to like them, and I feel like he is learning about how circuits work when he plays with them, which is something I can absolutely NOT teach him about. Electricity and circuits baffle me, which is why I am a sociologist and not an electrical engineer.
to go with his other Snap Circuits set. I highly recommend these sets. He really seems to like them, and I feel like he is learning about how circuits work when he plays with them, which is something I can absolutely NOT teach him about. Electricity and circuits baffle me, which is why I am a sociologist and not an electrical engineer. I'm still considering one last gift. Have any of you played the LEGO Creationary Game
? It gets sort of mixed reviews, with most of the criticisms saying that it is hard, and doesn't have enough pieces. We can always add more Legos (Riley recently got this
set and loves it), but is the difficulty appropriate for a 9-year-old? Anyone know?
? It gets sort of mixed reviews, with most of the criticisms saying that it is hard, and doesn't have enough pieces. We can always add more Legos (Riley recently got this set and loves it), but is the difficulty appropriate for a 9-year-old? Anyone know? Only 6 Days Till Party Time!
I want that monster book for my birthday! How fun that your 9 yr old boy likes crafty (manly) stuff like origami and paper airplanes.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the gift ideas (just in time for my soon-to-be 8 year old)! I tried to buy the snap circuits but they won't ship to Canada. Damn!
ReplyDeleteOkay - done! Shipping to a friend :) Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have that Lego game but my son got the Lego Harry Potter Game and the Lego Ramsey's Pyramid for Christmas. I'm not gonna lie, the instructions they give for actual game play are lacking and we had to watch a YouTube video to figure them out. But once we did all that he loves the game. (He's 8) And they are pretty fun to play. My brother gave him a pack of Uno cards when we were visiting and that has been the biggest hit. Who knew! We play it almost every night.
ReplyDeleteWow. You are spot on! My nine year old also loves Percy, Wii, snap circuits, and origami (what's with that?). It IS really hard to MAKE for big boys but you do a great job. I used your tshirt idea to help my son make valentines for his class (black skull valentines -yes). Thanks for the additional ideas! Please keep the big boy ideas coming!
ReplyDeleteI just made this long comment about papercrafts and my comment didn't save or got lost in cyberweb. So to put it a little shorter, here are some links I used for a birthday party about papercrafts. Lot's of fun sites out there. Most need some adult help, but amazing things being created with paper. I'll put the links here for all your readers...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.marshallalexander.net/static.php?page=freetoys
http://www.macula.tv/papercraft/
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/1006/
http://papertoys.com/index.html
http://www.thetoymaker.com/2Toys.html
http://papercraft-world.blogspot.com/2008/09/printable-crafts-for-kids.html
http://toy-a-day.blogspot.com/
http://www.4shared.com/file/54550219/163beb4a/alien.html
http://papercraft-world.blogspot.com/
http://www.paperfoldables.com/
http://www.paperkraft.blogspot.com/
http://www.curiositygroup.com/flattoflight/elephant_final.pdf
http://www.papermodelz.info/
http://www.sasatoku.co.jp/hp/present/paper_craft/index.html
http://home.comcast.net/~kymcat3/characters/character018.jpg
and some for the girls...
http://marilee.us/paperdolls2.html#Printchildren
http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/betsy_mccall/index.html
http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/kiddles/index.html
So helpful! Those are my same criteria for buying/making birthday gifts, but I'm struggling as my friends' kids get older.
ReplyDeleteWe bought the Creationary game for our 3 boys (9, 7, & 5) and they love it. We did add some pieces, but didn't have to. It is a little long waiting for the person to build it, especially for my 5-year-old, but they all do a really good job with the building. My husband and I like playing with them, too, especially after years of Candy Land! =) It really is a good game, in my opinion. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteWe also love Snap Circuits around here.
ReplyDeleteMy 8 year old would love the paper creation books, but here's my thing with those (and why I'm the worst mother ever..) we always get in arguments about whether I can throw the completed projects away. What do you do with them?
We gave my nephew, 8 at the time, Creationary for Christmas. My sister told me the whole family plays it and loves it I think she did say they bring out their entire LEGO collection to build from, though.
I have more to say, but it's all equally lame anecdotal, and pointless, so I'll stop now. Anyway, great post.
like the gift idea...I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteSend Gifts To Pakistan From Australia.