Gifts For Kids

Still searching the girls section, I cam across this cool little gadget. I used to keep diaries as a young girl, but there was no way for me to make sure they remain hidden, other than to, well, hide them. Kids today have other options, apparently. The latest rage is electronic diaries, where you can record your own messages and then protect your secrets with voice passwords! The diary comes with built-in voice recognition and according to satisfied customers, it does actually work.

Well, a bit too advanced for my 5 yo niece. I don’t think it’s the right age for her to have secrets from Mom and Dad just yet, but I thought it was well worth a mention in my blog here!

Check out the electronice diaries for kids - some gorgeous designs for these nifty gadgets that would make most girls over the age of 7 happy!

I think this gift idea is mainly for boys. Before I had kids of my own, I never thought I’d be saying that. I still argue that boys and girls should be given a selection of toys, not based on their gender, but I have come to realize, that at least in my family and among our friends, there is a definite gender issue when it comes to the toys that the kids themselves choose to play with.

My boys hardly ever play with dolls, for example. We did get them dolls, but they ended up being dismantled soon enough. With them it’s trucks, super heroes and now weapons too, sigh. Not guns yet, actually. I’m not sure if it’s a chivalrous streak in them, or just admiring the Power Rangers, but they’re all into swords. And as my 4 yo explained to me, with swords, they need to be long ones!

So, this post is dedicated to long toy swords, and boy is there a huge selection anymore! Many of these toys are proper gadgets with lights and sensors and special effects. Any of these is bound to be a hit with young boys -

Magical Jack Sparrow Sword with Sensors

Too cool this one! It’s a set of a long sword and a ring. As long as your kid wears the ring, the sword recognizes him (or her) as Jack Sparrow and issues a vocal welcome message. No ring on finger? The sword will be concerned and say as much!

Light Up Pirate Sword With Sound

Another cool sword that makes slashing sounds when you press the button. Jack Sparrow sure did make pirate swords popular!

Darth Vader FX Lightsaber
Enough of pirates, time for a classic saber sword! Admittedly, kids today may not even know who Darth Vader is, but this saber sword with it’s durable plastic blade and amazing sound effects is bound to become a favorite with just about any kid. It has a motion sensor, so the buzzing sounds are pretty realistic and go along with the sword movement. If you don’t want to be on the Dark Side, there’s also the Anakin Skywalker Lightsaber

Note - as a mom I can tell you that sword play should ALWAYS be supervised. These are toy swords, yes, but they can still cause quite a bit of pain. Kids must be guided about proper use, and about never hitting people with their toy swords.

Spending some time browsing the toys and games section at Amazon, I decided to see which items were the most popular. Sorting them by popularity, one thing sure did catch my eye. Among every conceivable Webkinz  critter, the Zingo card game and other fashionable kids toys, I found two classical items, that would have been a perfect gift for me back during my childhood, as much as they’d make a perfect gift for my kids today: Star Wars Lego models!

This all times classic is perfect for young boys and girls, and probably for their parents as well Lots of potential for quality parent-child time, so make sure the recipient’s parents are cooperative and not too possessive! Some of those models definitely are complex and challenging, so make sure the child isn’t too young. While the manufacturer’s recommended age group is six years and over, I think most six years olds would find these intricate models too difficult to put together on their own.

The most popular model?  this nifty 81 pieces model of a real cool Star Wars Imperial Dropship

Why this particular model and not others? I’m not sure really. I guess I’m not enough of a fan. But if you’re looking for a cool gift to make both kids and parents happy, especially parents who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s and were Sci Fi fans, this one has to be a winner!

And I do mean that in the nicest of ways!

Kites are the local theme in the gifts arena in our family these past few weeks. Five weeks ago, walking the aisles of our local Toys R’ Us, my husband discovered a treasure. A kite clearance sale where 20 kites were offered for a mere $10! Yes, you read it right, only 50 cents per kite. A fan of flying just about anything through the sky be it hot air balloons, RC planes/gliders, rockets or kites, he simply couldn’t resist the offer and came back home with a pile of colorful plastic kites.

He’s been flying them ever since then, whenever there’s some wind and available time. We’re down to about 10 kites by now, as five were given as gifts to other kite afficiandos, and five have come to their final resting place at the top of various tall trees in our town.

I’m not sure where you can find such an amazing bargain again, but I can tell you that those kites made for wonderful gifts for kids and adults alike. They were durable and flew extremely well, despite their low price (and our low expectations). Flying a kite seemed to thrill both boys and girls. I confess, my 37 year old husband probably enjoyed the kite flying more than our 4 and 6 yo kids. They loved it for the first 10 minutes or so, but after that, the excitement only peaked again when something dramatic happened (such as a kite breaking loose with the entire family chasing it - thank Goodness there are tall trees all around!).

Browsing through Amazon.com for some kite images to use in this point, my youngest son Dan was around and insisted on “kites with super heroes” on them, so consider this the top three kites, as selected by four years old boy with a passion for Superman and his pals: Captain America, Spiderman and Speedy from the movie Cars!

There were two things that bothered me about the kites. They were not environmentally friendly and they were not old-fashioned homemade kites. So, I’ll end this post with links to a few online pages that I found that teach you to make your own eco-friendly kites. These can make splendid gifts for kids of all ages and you can personalize them too!:

Make Your Own Homemade Paper Kite

Extremely easy to make paper kites