Thought-Provoking Gifts For Young Kids? 458
An anonymous reader writes "Societal norms and my sibling's procreative endeavors have put me in the position of having to buy gifts twice a year for young children. What makes them happy are unremarkable bits of plastic. They already have innumerable unremarkable bits of plastic (from their parents and grandparents). My preference would be to get them gifts that challenge them to think creatively (or at least to think), which they'll be able to pick up and enjoy even after they outgrow their train/truck/homemaking fetishes. Beyond the Rubik's Cube, what thinky toys from your childhood are still in production? What new thinky toys have you discovered that work for the 5–10 age range?"
How about (Score:5, Insightful)
What's Wrong with Happy Kids? (Score:2, Insightful)
If "unremarkable bits of plastic" make the children happy, what's the problem with getting them unremarkable bits of plastic and making them happy?
Not everything is about you, hipster. Try being the "fun uncle" instead of the "odd uncle who's always trying to make them into something they're not."
Re:What's Wrong with Happy Kids? (Score:2, Insightful)
Making them into something they're not is what most parent do. Most of us call that : raising children.
Edit : Captcha was hopeful...
Wood blocks (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, right after Legos, a big heap of good old fashioned woods blocks were the best. Building towers, cities, etc is the best.
Giant refrigerator sized cardboard boxes too.
Get them a playhouse, and not a plastic one. Draw up plans, precut the pieces, and have them help you assemble it. Playhouses are a blank slate for childhood adventure to paint upon.
Re:What's Wrong with Happy Kids? (Score:2, Insightful)
That's pretty harsh, where's the attitude coming from?
I think he's looking for something better than plastic wallmart toys from china.
Re:What's Wrong with Happy Kids? (Score:4, Insightful)
Growing up is about "turning into something you're not". Otherwise you'd stay a child forever.
While the submitter does seem like a troll with his "unremarkable bits of plastic" thing, he does have a point that if everyone is giving them the same thing then (a) they are all trying to turn them into the same thing they are not (e.g. gun wielding/fire truck driving men) and (b) the children haven't had a chance to see if they even like anything else.
It's a risk thing too. You can give them the same thing as everyone else and they will thank you. Or you can give them a Rubik cube, a set of Lego, or something else and there's about even odds that they'll play with it for a day and forget about it, or they might start playing with it and you'll hear from their parents months later that they didn't drop it ever since.
These are children you're talking about. Give them a great big expensive toy and they'll end up playing with the box for hours instead.
Re:What's Wrong with Happy Kids? (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, because nobody should try to mold anyone else, especially not CHILDREN! Oh, Heavens No!
We can cut off their foreskins, but don't try to take away their TVs!
Give them the materials and the time.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Some of the most fun I had as a child was when I had the raw materials to do something- and conversely often the biggest frustration was a lack of materials.
Wood, rope, large cardboard boxes, tape, etc. Strangely rope seemed to always be in short supply. Hammer and nails. Much learning occurs when idle hands are armed with stuff :)
And actually I think the best gift you can give is time. One of the best times I had with one of my young nephews was building a swing- just your simple board and two ropes off a tree limb swing. We discussed how big the seat needed to be- actually measured some assorted butts!, how big the rope needed to be, we measured and cut, learned about knots, tied the whole thing up, and it got a lot of use for years. The designing, acquiring materials, building, overall a simple but enjoyable project with an immediate return, and a template for many other projects.
Later projects were a potato cannon, tree fort with crows nest, for-real play house (including wiring in outlets, windows, insulating, basically a small guest-house)... we spent an afternoon pulling cat5 to all the rooms in their house and putting in a router... soldered up a pong game and a couple other odd electronics kits. Next up may be firearms if I can get the parents to buy into that :)
Time, encouragement, and patience are incredibly valuable and are remembered. Not easy if they're far away or too busy with all the distractions kids have these days. Maybe my entire comment is out of date in today's world. ?
Re:C=3P or box (Score:5, Insightful)
Or, for really young kids, buy something really cool and BIG for yourself and give the kids the box. They will have more fun making that into a fort/dollhouse than all the paints and paper in the world.
Parents today often use writing/drawing as calm down methods, and the kids start looking at it as punishment. But at least these are creative devices, rather than passive entertainment devices. Kids bore quickly. Let them build the fort, then draw the fort.
Nothing with batteries.
Re:How about (Score:5, Insightful)
Seconded for books. Don't forget legos as well! Don't just buy the theme sets, buy the sets with tons of blocks and random pieces so they can get creative. I probably spent more time with my legos than anything else.
As for books, some recommendations appropriate for the double-digit ages:
You could probably pick up a few months (or years, depending on how fast they read) worth of good children's books on Amazon for less than the price of a game console. Plus books aren't laden with any of that silly DRM nonsense!
Simple. (Score:2, Insightful)
Time and attention from interested, intelligent adults.
Re:How about (Score:5, Insightful)
Books are great, and young kids are quite happy to read the same book over and over again but as they get older they'll tend to read it once or twice and move on. It might sound corny but maybe you could take the kid(s) to the library once a month/fortnight/weekend/whatever if they live close enough to you and your schedule allows it? A bit hard if you live hours away but spending time with an attentive adult is the next best thing to cheap plastic crap :)
My bike, books, lego, and computer are the only material things I can really remember spending a lot of time on as a kid. We got RC cars (which need charging all the time), motorbikes (which need fuel and adult supervision), and all sorts of other things but those 4 are the ones I really remember and that were always there and ready for me to play with (except maybe the computer... stupid computer hogging siblings!)
Re:How about (Score:4, Insightful)
What kids want isn't necessarily what they should get. Like most people, kids toy desires are mostly driven by marketing. There are tons of fun stuff they might enjoy (and actually be constructive instead of mindless entertainment) that they simply don't know about.
Re:How about (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How about . . . WRONG!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
"The problem with books is that if the parent is a religious fundamentalist type, you end up donating to the local circular file."
That only indicates that you insist on picking things that will insult the child's parents. The question was phrased by someone who wants to get what is best for the child, not someone who wants to insult the family.
Yes, it is inappropriate to give a child books with sexual themes. It is inappropriate to give a child books that belittle what the parents believe. Even if you worship at the Throne of Darwin, not everyone does. When in doubt, ask the parents advice. It will help you win in the long run. The child will reach an age where they make up their own mind. If you want to still be in the kid's life, then show a little respect.
It's the adult thing to do.
Legos (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A Fleshlight (Score:3, Insightful)
Really? A Fleshlight?
- No more invitations to family gatherings? Check.
Re:Let me tell you a story (Score:3, Insightful)
I learned that not shoveling shit (figuratively speaking) is important, if you can avoid it. Money was (and is, and will be) a very welcome side effect.