I have TWO 8-year-olds to buy for, so I’m going to split it up into two posts. Today will be the things we’re getting for Edward. I dislike saying “Gift ideas for an 8-year-old BOY,” even though he is in fact a boy and there’s nothing wrong with that, because a ton of stuff the twins are interested in is neither “boy” nor “girl.” I’d hate to imply that just because I’m buying a gift for a boy, that gift would only be right for boys. So let’s call it “Gift ideas for an 8-year-old who is like Edward.” That’ll get the search results.

Scholastic 2013 Book of World Records (photo from Amazon.com). He saw this in the Scholastic catalog from school, and I made a mental note and then ordered it secretly.
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Elizabeth has been invited to her first sleepover. I went on and on to the other mother about how she MIGHT be too nervous to accept the invitation—but it turns out Elizabeth’s fine and I’m the one who’s nervous.

I manage stress by shopping—or by pretend-shopping (I was glad to find recently that I am not alone in this). In this case I don’t think I actually need to buy anything: she can use an adult-sized orange-and-khaki sleeping bag we already own, and she doesn’t need new pajamas. But I had some fun putting together a pretend kit anyway.

Hello Kitty sleeping bag and backpack and Hello Kitty sleeping bag (photos from Amazon.com). At first I preferred the one on the left—but it’s more expensive than the one on the right, and comes with a backpack we don’t need. [The prices/sellers keep changing as I'm working on this. At first it was $40 for the one on the left and $20 for the one on the right. I'd re-do the search for "Hello Kitty sleeping bag" before buying.] I’m a little tempted to get her one of these even though she could make do with the one we have, just because the one we have is sooooo much bigger than she needs AND FINE, BECAUSE I LIKE TO BUY HELLO KITTY THINGS.

3-piece pajama set (photo from ChildrensPlace.com). Elizabeth has some footed sleepers, and she has some of the snug-fit cotton two-piece type pajamas, but it seems like the best would be the style with looser-fitting pants and a t-shirt. She has some of that type, and also some Nick & Nora button downs that would work well.
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I hope that this post will not give you the impression that I disapprove of candy at Valentine’s Day, or that I avoid it. FAR FROM IT. I give my own kids a candy gift, and I like that they come home with a little assortment of treats from school, too: it’s nice to have a candy holiday in between Christmas and Easter, just to keep the spirits up in the cold sad part of winter.

But I know enough from seeing/hearing OTHER people discuss it that not everyone is of the same mind. For those who are trying to avoid candy for various reasons but still would like to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a gift for the kids, here are a few ideas:

Sticky Mosaics heart box (photo from Amazon.com). I have mentioned Sticky Mosaics often enough that you already know we’re fans at my house. This heart box is a fun project we’ve also given as birthday-party gifts.

Hide ‘n’ Peek Chocolates game (photo from Amazon.com). If you look at the reviews, you’ll see that a lot of people thought this was a good Valentine’s Day gift for a child, and that unfortunately there is one main problem with it: the lid doesn’t fit on right. So it kind of depends on how important that feature is for the game to be a success. If you’re going to store it in a bin anyway (if you’re like me and wouldn’t want to assemble the toy every time you put it away, for example), it won’t matter—but it might be disappointing anyway.
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