Educational presents for kids

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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Hi

My niece and nephew are almost 6 and almost 8, respectively.

What cool gifts (NOT toys) did you give your kids at that age? Educational preferably...

I've already got some clothes for them, and, each of them are getting a headlamp - you know, the light you wear on your head. Don't scoff, they steal their Dad's all the time so I'm getting them their own.

They already have a Wii, and besides I'm not thinking "toys" I'm thinking about something educational.

First thought was a big USA puzzle. I had one of those as a kid and loved it. I learned a lot about geography that way.

Thanks.
 
Erector set, or one of those electronic kits you can buy in RadioShack?
 
If they like to read, and if rich Aunt Liz can't buy a Kindle, buy them a Kindle book gift certificate.

There are around 100,000 free classic books!

Two highschool-age book-loving kids right here and going to have a device under the tree. It may be an HP Touchpad if not a classic Kindle. I set up the niece with the Kindle app on her iPod touch and laptop and she's reading the classics starting with "Around the World in 80 Days!" We found about 40 free classic books she was interested in right off the bat.
 
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caveat: I don't have children.

But thinking back on my eductional stuff: Are chemistry sets still available? What about erector sets?
 
Books. A microscope, a magnifying loupe, a telescope, a rock hammer, a field book on rocks, a picture book on clouds. As you can tell I am predisposed towards the earth sciences.

Or really super cool kite.

A bicycle! Teaches equalibrium, physics, mechanics, etc.
 
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I remember getting models around that age. Airplanes, cars, an engine mock-up, etc...

As for girls, I remember my sister getting the easy bake oven. I got my nieces dolls that the can accessorize and such. I had got them a make-up kit too, at which my sister was about to kill me for it.
 
Depends on the interests they have.

I don't buy gender stuff at all:

Musical instruments (no batteries)
Night sky projector
Chem sets
Do they still make Construx? (kinda like a mix of Lego and erector sets)
Simpler models (glue & paint extra)
Simple computers (not game rigs)
 
I had one of those as a kid and it was good. If I were buying today, though, Snap Circuits look pretty cool.

Cap'n Jack said:
Erector set, or one of those electronic kits you can buy in RadioShack?
Click to expand...
 
Hugg-a-Planet.
http://www.peacetoys.com/

I used to have one ages ago, with the Soviet Union and East Germany on it. I wish I still had it.


Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty.
http://www.puttyworld.com/

It's fun stuff. You can get glow in the dark, magnetic, color shifting, and others.
 
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http://www.orientaltrading.com
Wonderful, inexpensive ideas here.
We have bought flying toys, playing cards, puzzles, tents, puppets, magnifyers, wrapping paper among other things.
 
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Visit your local Science Museum or Edmunds Scientific. Lots of science stuff there. I like the indoor planetarium myself.
6 and 8 year olds like dinosaurs. You could give them bones, models, or books. You could start them out with some navigation stuff. Or how about a telescope?
You might also look at thinkgeek.com. Odd stuff for amusement.
 
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Really fantastic ideas! Thanks again everyone.

I was (am?) leaning to the Kindle because as Mike said, you can really fill 'er up.

But now a quandary: I may as well get the Fire, which has all the bells and whistles. I have the regular kindle but frankly it seems kind of analog to me. B&W? Limited uses? I have an iPad2 which I use daily, and the kindle I haven't fired up since... June?

BUT, if I get the Kindle Fire, is it just going to be another toy. Movies, games, blah blah. Will it be used for books. They have A LOT of toys. They don't need more toys.

Incidentally they have horses and both are avid riders. That part is "taken care of", though, I don't need to get anything horse themed. I was hoping to get something new and different and maybe spark an interest in something they don't already do.
 
Well if they love riding, they must love being outdoors too!

A used iPod touch / iPad with starwalk would be fun too!




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
What? No one suggested a copy of Flight Simulator (or X Plane)?

Educational, and aviation-related. :thumbsup:
 
woodstock said:
Really fantastic ideas! Thanks again everyone.

I was (am?) leaning to the Kindle because as Mike said, you can really fill 'er up.

But now a quandary: I may as well get the Fire, which has all the bells and whistles. I have the regular kindle but frankly it seems kind of analog to me. B&W? Limited uses? I have an iPad2 which I use daily, and the kindle I haven't fired up since... June?

BUT, if I get the Kindle Fire, is it just going to be another toy. ..
Click to expand...

The Kindle Fire is getting some negative feedback, but a lot is because it's designed to be an Amazon content consumption device and not really a tablet. But with some technical issues. I'd wait 18 months or so for a couple of later generations of the Fire.

The black and white Kindle(s) are the ones to get. That's e-ink which doesn't require power so it will work for 20 days between charges and screen is higher res than the Fire so you get more text on a screen.

I was going to make it the Wi-Fi version with no ads. My neighbor who has the last generation Kindle says, in spite of what Amazon says, the ads are annoying and it's worth the $30 extra to get the ad-free version.

Now. She says it has to be the 3G version so you can download books anywhere. I think that depends on the mission. For kids they can load up at home and just read outside.

So pick the smaller B&W version in ad-free WiFi only or WiFi+3G.

I'm going to try to bag a couple of 16GB HP Touchpads for $150 or less (they sold for $99!) It includes the Kindle App on WebOS that works fine.

They need some geek intervention to be made cool with Android. Those will have the geek who's sitting here.

Now we're into it being a versatile toy, too, so if you don't want that, it's not for you. Keep in mind that any Kindle also has a web browser and, I think, a few basic games.
 
I'm going to be the nay-sayer here. I would NOT buy a 6 or 8 year old any electronic device capable of connecting to the internet. Remember, they can accidentally run into some really bad stuff.

Building sets, a carving knife and book set, real books, etc... would be my suggestions.

Ryan
 
RyanShort1 said:
I'm going to be the nay-sayer here. I would NOT buy a 6 or 8 year old any electronic device capable of connecting to the internet. Remember, they can accidentally run into some really bad stuff.

Building sets, a carving knife and book set, real books, etc... would be my suggestions.

Ryan
Click to expand...

Agreed. Hands on educational toys are the way to go.
 
Kids book or computer program to introduce them to another language?
 
Looking now, I'm talking the $139 Kindle Touch with no ads.
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Touch-...d_t=201&pf_rd_p=1332079582&pf_rd_i=B002GYWHSQ
It would be nice if they had a Black Friday deal on that, but I'll keep tracking it.

I suspect that Amazon looses a bunch of dough on each hardware sale, but expects to get it back with content sales.

Checking the going rate on eBay I'm also not so sure I can easily find another deal on an HP Touchpad, as in I could easily make a $300 profit on the ones I have.
 
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I would echo the ideas to show 'em how to build something.

Electronics kits from Sparkfun might be good for the older kids. You'll have to get 'em a soldering iron and supervise its use, however.

Some are easy to build and seeing a box of parts turn into something that does something, is pretty neat for any kid.

Leads to Ohm's Law, a little simple math, etc.

If they really get a major interest going, expect at least one major piece of electronics in the house being destroyed by "I was trying to fix it!" around age 10. ;)
 
Re-topping this excellent thread, with a specific question (and thank you again for all the replies...)

They are a year older. Are there age-appropriate books you'd recommend? My nephew is the older one and my brother says he likes to read which makes me SO happy. My brother himself never liked to read (although our other brother does). I am an avid reader but no idea what to get kids... I suppose something a little older is OK because he can always read those next summer...

BTW, the mention of star maps - I got it myself, on the iPad - WAY COOL. Not sure what it is called, if it is the same one, but WOW.
 
It'll take me a while to remember the books I used to read at that age.

But here is a decent list of children's literature to start with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal

And for the younger set:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldecott_Medal


edit:

Here's one from the Newberry list that's airplane related:
http://www.amazon.com/Avion-Uncle-Puffin-Newbery-Library/dp/0140364870

and here's one from the Caldecott list that's airplane related:
http://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Flight-Channel-Bleriot-Picture/dp/0140507299
 
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Cap'n Jack said:
Erector set, or one of those electronic kits you can buy in RadioShack?
Click to expand...

Depends on how sharp the kids are, but don't underestimate either of these.

My kid decided he wanted a "snap together" electronic kit when he was 5. That's really too young, but I taught him about short circuits and bought it for him anyway. He still has it and uses it regularly, mostly to make various lighting circuits.

If you have the money, Lego Mindstorm is wonderful, but expensive. Less expensive is a webcam and animation software.

Erector sets are still around, but they have been merged with Meccano (a British/French form of the same sort of thing), and have gone off the deep end with way too specific kits. The high quality all-steel sets don't exist anymore.
 
TMetzinger said:
A nice globe lasts a lifetime and doesn't get old.
Click to expand...

Yes it does.

"Daddy, what's the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? Why can't I find Ukraine? What is Czechoslovakia? Yugoslavia?" Not a bad teaching point, but it's definitely old.
 
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You could get them one of my books and truthfully say you know the author.
 
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I know, get them a combined pair where both share both a camera and a simple Windsor oil starter set you see complete at Pearl Art for $15 and a gallon of gessau to 'erase' with. See who picks up what.
 
Wouldn't really make a good present, but;

I bought an app for the family iPad called "Stack the States". It's an educational game that teaches States and Capitols. My 9 and 7 year old boys LOVE it.

As a plus they can both identify all 50 States now by shape and by Capitol. Great app. Not sure the price, I'm thinking $4.99?
 
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