Posted by swistle on 20th December 2010
Categories: Gifts, Holiday
10 comments
The biggest gift-giving challenge of my parenting years: buying gifts for Rob, this year when he is 11-almost-12. It took me a month to come up with even the paltry pitiful assortment of possibilities you see below, but a paltry pitiful assortment is better than no assortment at all. (All images are from Amazon.com.)
1. Hexbug Nano. My 11-year-old and 9-year-old boys were so excited about this, they joined forces and saved their money to buy the habitat set, despite me saying desperately, “Wait! Wait! Don’t you want to wait until after Christmas to spend your money?” There’s a battle set I think they would have liked even better if they’d known about it, and if you want to spend more like $75 (the other two sets I mentioned are around $30) there’s the super-awesome 3D Elevation Habitat Set.
2. Rubik’s puzzles. Rob likes difficult puzzles like the 4×4 and the 360. William (age 9) prefers the easier Twist. They both love the Magic. If you try the harder puzzles, may I also suggest getting a book to help solve them? One of our funniest moments last Christmas was when Rob opened the 5×5 Rubik’s, tried to solve it, said, “I’d need a BOOK to solve this one!”—and then his next gift was the book. This year we got him this kerazy one (it says it’s a Square One, but a reviewer says it’s a square Two)—it’s not a Rubik’s, but it’s similar.
3. MP3. This is the main gift we got Rob this year: the 2GB SanDisk Sansa Clip (the 4GB is only $5 more, but we thought 2GB was enough for him to get started), and a $15 Amazon MP3 gift card (that link brings you to all the gift cards; the green one is the one that says MP3 on it).
4. Phineas and Ferb. This show is SUCH a hit at our house: the kids think it’s hilarious, but SO DO WE. Unusual. We considered a DVD, a Christmas DVD, a transforming Perry toy, a joke book (heaven help us), wall stickers, the soundtrack….but we went with the MP3 player instead, and got the joke book as a stocking stuffer. (We got the transforming Perry toy for William.) I think I might get the soundtrack for the car sometime.
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. These are a pleasing hybrid of “book” and “comic book.” Rob and William have both been on the library waiting list for the newest one (The Ugly Truth), so I got it for them for Christmas. I see that the Do-It-Yourself Wimpy Kid book is all the way down to $4.78—that might be a good set with one of the novels. (Also, notice that boys do not keep DIARIES, heavens no. It is a do-it-yourself! Like a home improvement project!)
6. Perhaps it is not on every 11-year-old boy’s wish list, but I think this crochet book is going to be one of Rob’s favorite presents this year.
My Son is 8 and has all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. He loves them and I love to read them too, they are hilarious!
Eric's Mommy | December 20th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
WAIT!!!! Rob not only knits but crochets too? How awesome and amazing! What a talent for any child/young adult to have.
Amy | December 20th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Thank you for the list!
My husband went shopping this weekend and came back with a present for one of our 11-year-old nephews: a slingshot. OH MY GOD. My brother-in-law and his wife are going to hate us.
-R- | December 20th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
So I got a hexbug for my 13yo brother.
Miss Grace | December 20th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
I have an 11 year old as well, and he is getting two of the items on your list — an ipod and the newest Wimpy Kid book. Sports/outdoor equipment usually tops his list as well.
Kristin Allen | December 20th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
My son is almost 10. These are great ideas. He loves the Hexbug Nano. Here are some other ideas (beyond lego sets, which he always wants)
1. I highly recommend the book “Vordak the Incomprehensible”. It had him giggling throughout. Very clever - basically an over-the-top how to be a supervillian self-help guide.
2. Another new book I love is “The Strange Case of Origami Yoda” by Tom Angleberger. You could pair it with some origami paper too - there are instructions for building your own origami yoda at the back of the book.
3. Phineas and Ferb is also out for DS, and my son loves it. We’re also trying a Professor Layton DS game.
4. RC helicopters - we discovered that Brookstone offers a 2 year warranty for theirs, so we have a nice helicopter, and they replace it if/when it breaks.
5. Nok Hockey - a classic - my son loves it!
6. Pitchcar - haven’t played but looks like super cool ricochet game
7. Formula D - great racing-themed board game!
Lynn | December 20th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Your kid is awesome.
Superjules | December 20th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Also, my 11-almost-12 year old niece wants only NERF GUNS AND MORE NERF GUNS for Christmas.
Superjules | December 20th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
We are such reading dorks in our family. My oldest nephew is 13 and for the last 3-4 years he’s gotten so many books from us: The 39 Clues books from Rick Riordan - He’s gotten these for the last 3 gift-giving occasions and he eats them up. The Artemis Fowl Series is good for this age, too. He also likes historical thrillers – Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson was a hit as was The Book Thief by Marcus Zusa. He also really enjoyed Hatchet & Brian’s Winter by Gary Paulsen.
For what it’s worth, this year my nearly 10yo niece got 4 of the Percy Jackson books also by Rick Riordan and my almost 8yo nephew got 12 of the Magic Tree House series from us for Christmas this year. We celebrate early with our extended family and they all LOVED the books.
Other easy gifts for my nephew – Bionicle LEGO and the big, elaborate LEGO sets – I watch for deals on Amazon; Ohio State clothing (he’s a super-fan) and gift certificates to Game Stop so he can pick out his own video games.
But, I love getting them hooked on series books because it makes future gift giving so easy!
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kakaty | December 20th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
We LOVE the Phineas and Ferb CD. My 6yo listens to it every night before bed! And many days I sneak it into the car for myself!
el-e-e | December 28th, 2010 at 9:45 pm