Gifts For Kids

So many kids absolutely adore pets, dogs and cats being the most popular ones. Some kids are fortunate enough to have a pet at home, while others just have to keep on dreaming. I would never recommend bringing a pet as a gift to a kid, of course. Pets have to be members of the family, and well, you don’t just pick out a family member for someone else, do you? I do think that pet-related gifts can be a charming idea though, and I’d like to cover some options there, starting with books!

One of Amazon’s best features is the ability to see what the best sellers are. So, I went and checked the best selling Cat Books for Kids and the best selling Dog Books for Kids. If you’re looking for a great gift for pet loving kids, visit either of these links and check out the current ones. 

Incidentally, I found it interesting that you have about double the amount of books about dogs, compared to books about cats. Being a cat person myself, with three cats living with our family, I admit it is a bit of a disappointment!

What an awesome idea for a game Radical came up with! Like all good ideas, it’s not very complicated, yet it makes the most of current technology, enabling a fun family game. The “Say What?” is a nice sturdy little gadget, lovely designed, with sleek colorful balls that can be pulled out of their sockets and re-placed in various sequences.

This gadget takes a common pop culture phrase such as “Life is like a box of chocolates” and utters it out loud re-shuffling the words, producing a Yoda style “chocolates box of life like is” sequence. Now it’s your job to re-assemble the sentence into proper English. It’s fun and challenging, and with various game levels, even younger kids can play. They do have some advantages over us, and once they get to know the prhases, you better watch out!

The “Say What?” is one of the most popular electronic games around - click here ot read more about it and order from Amazon.

My boys love building blocks of all kinds. My 6 years old in particular, is natural born architect who loves building very complex structures. He can go on for hours, delicately balancing blocks and stacking them up. And yes, I can go on for hours talking about my talented kids ;), so I’ll stop now.

If you have a little architect in need of building materials, then the a Kapla blocks set is the perfect gift for him or her.  These blocks look very simple. They’re all the same shape, four inches long, one inch thick, made of plain wood. The trick is the precise laser-cut which makes them such reliable building blocks, allowing kids with some patience, to build magnificent structures. There are even Kapla Blocks books with ideas for things you can do with these!

Highly recommended for young architects - click here to get these blocks from Amazon.

The Green Angle:

Well, these blocks come in a natural wood shade, but they certainly are green. Actually, you can get them in colors too, all water based and toxin-free. The blocks are made from pine wood, grown in sustainable woods and Kapla is committed to recycling every possible part used in their production. You could mention this along, as you gift this wonderful product - young designers love saving the earth!

Need a good summer days book for kids? Here’s a great choice for you - A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee!

Out on a nature camp, these boys (the ones in the book) prefer to spend their time indoors, watching tv and playing computer games. With my own two boys having wonderful weeks of playing video games and generally getting lazy and happy, this is one book I can relate to! It’s also a best-seller, so I am definitely am not the only one who likes it. Well, fortunately, there’s more to the book then video games, with wonderful humor, contrasting the world of the grown-ups with that of the kids.

The wonderful drawings and cartoonish style, along with the simple, yet sophisticated, messages and above all the humor, are bound to appeal to younger school children out there on their summer vacation. Agreat summer gift for kids that will allow parents and their children some quality time together, away from the TV and video game consoles!

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever - Click to Buy on Amazon

Finally, time to talk about those real cool gadgets for the older kids - the motorized ride-ons!

Yes, you do have motorized ride-ons for toddlers as well. Lil’ Buddys is the brand name you’d be looking for at that department, with small and obviously not too fast, motorized ride-ons for shorter drivers. They actually have a huge selection of models with some pretty neat designs. If you’re looking for motorized ride-ons for children aged 2-3 years old, definitely check out the Lil’ Buddys Off Road Cruiser, Lil’ Buddys My First Mow It Tractor Ride On and the Lil’ Buddys Police Ride On. Priced at under $50 at the time of writing this posts, these are sure to be instant hits with car-loving toddlers.

Now, when we talk about slightly older kids, pre-schoolers aged over 3 years old, then I’m afraid a bigger budget is required. That said, if you can afford these, here are the two most popular models out on the market (as rated on Amazon).

Take Fisher-Price, combine them with Kawasaki and add a super-cool name to the model - The Ninja - and that alone guarantees a happy kid at the receiving end of your gift. This model lives up to its name(s) too! Fisher-Price® Power Wheels Kawasaki KFX Ninja Ultimate Terrain Traction (quite a mouthful!) is this uber cool ATV for kids aged 3-5 and comes supported by raving reviews by buyers.

The price tag is actually relatively low for such a unique model, that really does drive through rain, mud and wet grass. At well under $200, this is a great value-for-money choice!

The second most popular model costs well over $300, but boy, if you can afford this, you’re going to make a little boy or girl real happy! The Kid Trax Red Fire Engine Electric Ride-On is the second most popular choice when it comes to motorized ride-ons, and I suspect it only comes second because of the higher price tag.

Easy enough to see what makes this such a popular model. First, the very concept of a fire truck is enough to get your average 4 yo real excited. Add to this the flashing emergency lights, a working fire hose, and lighted dashboard, and whoa! This nifty vehicle runs at two speeds, 2.5 mph and 5.0 mph (depending on the emergency!) and can reverse as well. What I really liked about this model is the fact that it has a passenger seat, as well as room for the driver, so you can easily take a sibling or a friend on for a ride! In short, a dream motorized vehicle!

The Green Angle

Fortunately, these motorized vehicles are all electric, so pollution by gas byproducts isn’t an issue. However, they do usually use internal rechargeable batteries. Make sure that the parents know how to get rid of the batteries in an environmentally friendly way.