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Asking family for Christmas gifts
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Good afternoon!
I know grandparents will be asking what to get our children for Christmas very soon, and I was wondering what some of you with younger (mine are 6 1/2 and 5) children would suggest to your parents/in-laws for your own children. Books, I know, are a definite given, but we already have almost all the books we need for this school year. I don’t want the kids to receive Christmas presents that they won’t be able to use for a year or more. I’ve been racking my brain to think of books AND things to suggest to grandparents for our children so that we don’t have another year of giving away Strawberry Shortcake dolls and twaddle books. I don’t mind e-mailing a list of book titles, but WHAT ELSE COULD I SUGGEST?
Neither of my children really has a “hobby” yet, other than playing pretend anything, anytime, anywhere. They don’t collect anything other than what they pick up on our nature walks. We can’t stand having battery-operated toys that make noise in our house. We don’t own any type of gaming maching (Wii, Nintendo, PlayStation), so video games are out (thank goodness!).
I also know my parents and in-laws well enough to know that they will most likely buy whatever I suggest, so I want to make sure it’s good!
For children the same age as mine, what would YOU ask for?
Blessings,
Lindsey
My youngest boys are 6 and 7. They LOVE Legos and K’Nex sets and get a lot of play out of them. They play for hours with a very nice set of blocks, building cities and driving their little cars and helicopters and rescue vehicles. We spend a good deal of time in the van going to violin twice a week and church, etc. (both an hour each way.) They enjoy having CD’s to listen to. They love Jim Weiss and we’re currently listening to some of the Lamplighter audio dramas.
Just a couple of thoughts off the top of my head…
Depending on their potential interests…. (yes, this tends to be things more for older kids, but younger kids can enjoy them…)
- Binoculars
- Magnifying Glass
- Telescope
- Microscope
- Stamp Collection Kit
- Montessori Tool Kit (actual tools, made for smaller hands)
- Handicraft Kits (of various types)
- Very simple Model kit
- Puzzles
- Art Kit / Supplies
- Board Games (probably simple ones, depending on your kids)
- Dominoes
- Sidewalk Chalk (depending on your weather in winter of course)
Just a few things from the top of my head….
I’ve been thinking the same thing. Here are some ideas from our list,
Art Supplies/Kits
Dress Up Clothes
Puppets (we have a small puppet theater the boys love)
Legos or other blocks
Camping Gear
Membership to local musuems
Magazine subscriptions (we love the Big Backyard and National Geographic for Kids)
Puzzles
Board games
Family movies (provide a list)
Hope this helps! 🙂
My mother in law records herself reading favorite books to our kids, complete with sound effects and music – they love this!
Also, gifts of time – doing something special together to make a memory.
Just a couple of different sort of ideas.
My mother in law records herself reading favorite books to our kids, complete with sound effects and music – they love this!
Also, gifts of time – doing something special together to make a memory.
Just a couple of different sort of ideas.
Mine love legos (mainly the only plastic we buy) and the real wooden tinker toys. They really don’t play with anything other than that.
Lots of great ideas already. The only thing else I can think of is a family membership to someplace like a local museum, nature center, zoo, swimming pool, etc. Or their own apron for helping in the kitchen. Possibly some animal habitat kits – like an Ant Farm or Butterfly Garden or something similar where they can watch a life cycle happen.
My boys want their own dusters for Christmas. Sounds good to me! They also really love blank sketchbooks with spiral binding. The nicer quality ones that they can carry all over and the pages don’t tear out. They use them for nature study and just regular drawing (and then I don’t have loose paper all over the house).
We already have TONS of Legos. And both my children have their own PlayMobile sets.
crazy4boys, I love the animal habitat kit idea! I’ve seen one for ladybugs and ants at Mardel, and I really think my kids would enjoy that.
Unfortunately, our zoo here is sub-par; we’ve been a few times, and they never add new exhibits or animals. We do have a science museum, and I think I’ll suggest a year-long membership to it.
If you want, keep the ideas coming! I’m going to pour over them later this week and send one great e-mail!
Thanks so much,
Lindsey
Linsey, you have some excellent ideas here! I second the magazine subscription. Our boys love getting this from Grandma and Grandpa every year; They enjoy Nature Friend Magazine as recommended by SCM.
http://www.naturefriendmagazine.com/
Also, educational games are great! Last year we asked for some Muggins Math games such as Knock Out – what fun!
Blessings ~ Heather
Where would you recommend finding a good, quality microscope and magnifying glass without paying an arm and a leg?
I love that idea, and know those items would be useful for years to come. I’ve never bought them, and don’t really know what I should be paying for equipment like that.
Blessings,
Lindsey
Great ideas, thanks for sharing. On the same topic, what kinds of ideas do you have for babies/toddlers? (Besides books!) I have the hardest time coming up with ideas for my 2 younger kids (ages 2 and 6m) since we have just about all the baby and toddler toys we care to have that were given to my oldest when she was those ages. We too don’t do noisy, battery operated type toys, computer games, and the ones this little we don’t even let watch movies and TV yet – we like more “classic” things and things that promote imaginative play. And b/c of where we live overseas family memberships to the zoo or a museum are out too, since there aren’t any! (Although I look forward to those kinds of things during our next furlough year!)
Thoughts?
Lindsey, Home Science Tools have affordable microscopes compared to others I’ve seen.
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