Gifts For Kids

If you’re looking for a gift for a young computer wiz, then the Imagine video games series might offer a solution. Myself, I love Sim style games, and sales statistics show that I am not alone. They are considered girly games, but my young boys, especially the six and a half yo love them too. These games are educational. They are not only non-violent and gore-free, they also offer some learning experience, by teaching kids about various professions. A few titles you may want to consider -

Imagine: Animal Doctor - simulating running a veterinairy clinic and teaching kids not only to care for the animals, but also some basic business skills.

Imagine: Master Chef - Nifty game for kids who enjoy cooking. They actually get into their virtual kitchen where they can follow recipes, “chop” up ingredients and prepare food.

Imagine: Fashion Designer - an excellent gift for a fashion oriented kid, allowing them to combine cuts, fabrics and colors to create their own clothing lines, and let’s not forget accessories!

Click on any of the three links to see the product page in Amazon. Don’t forget to hover over the product image, as it will show you screenshots of what the games actualy look like.

How about this for a unique gift idea for kids: A subscription to a high-quality entertaining children’s magazine. And what better than Highlights Magazine? It’s been around for ages, and it’s still the same high quality as always. Here, let me give you three reasons why Highlights makes a great gift for school kids who can read on their own -

1. Make them feel important - getting their own stuff in the mail is so cool.

2. Make them use their brains - reading itself is good for that, but this magazine is always packed with puzzles, riddles, science projects and so much more.

3. Keep them entertained - it’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s full of ideas of actual things to do - it will keep them busy in a positive way.

Oh, and I actually have a fourth - no advertisements in this magazine. A huge plus in this day and age when our kids are bombarded by ads literally everywhere.

This isn’t the kind of gift that you walk into a birthday party with. It’s not necessarily tangible at the moment of giving, so to speak. I do think it’s a perfect gift from loving grandparents to their grandchild who lives far away, a gift that keeps arriving once a month for a whole year, bonding generations together. All that at under $3 a month - less than a cup of coffee. Can’t really beat that, IMO.

Click here to get your subscription from Amazon

Still on the topic of pet related gifts, I thought I’d share some of the findings from Amazon in the clothes for kids and babies department. These items are so cute, that I think just showing the pictures is incentive enough to get them! If you’re looking for a gift for a little girl who loves cats, these would be perfect (warning: some of these are winter items, but I couldn’t resist including them!):

Birki’s Toddler/Little Kid Cat Woodby Clog

Kid’s Pink Kitty Cat Raincoat / Slicker

Western Chief Toddler/Little Kid Kitty Pink Rain Boot

White Cat Slippers for Toddler Girls

Infant Girls’ iTalk Disney Cat Talking Tee - White

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.