Gift ideas for 6 yr old

[beebalmmama]

I'm thinking ahead for the holidays and can't think of anything to get for ds 1, 6yrs. I personally don't think we need  more toys. However  he really does have a lot of toys he's outgrown and isn't interested in any more. I guess if I look around most of our toys have been somewhat passed down to ds 2, 22months.

Currently he plays with legos and a basic hotwheels race track. He would LOVE more legos. But we got him a set for his birthday this summer and honestly he's not doing a lot of building with them anymore. He does play quite a bit with his hotwheel tracks on the weekend.

I bought him a Darda race track for his birthday, which we returned and exchanged for legos once one of the cars broke and he didn't play with the track. I think putting the track layouts was too complicated to do on his own. However, I found a $5 Darda track (bigger set) at the thrift store (thought $5 was worth it over the $45 we originally paid). It's all there but the track connectors and it will cost $20 to get the connectors online. Not sure if it's worth it if he doesn't play with it.

So I thought of maybe getting him a couple more pieces fo hotwheel track which he can add to what he got last year, or Darda track connectors. Other than that I have not clue what 6 yr old boys play with?!

He likes Bill Nye videos, cars, building and creating things. He doesn't enjoy art  or sports (even though he loves running and P.E., go figure).

Are remote control cars worth it or maybe an electric race car track? Our budget is pretty limited too, like $50 max.

[Just1More]

Probably unpopular here...but how do you feel about nerf guns?  or a rubberband gun? or a potato or marshmellow gun?

model rocket?  stomp rocket?

ball, glove, and bat

bow and arrow

tool set, real, including screws and nails and some boards to put together. they have kits for easy stuff kids can do.

[mumkimum]

Dd1 here is 5, so close in age - and while she is very into toys, we have so many and I'm often trying to come up with 'other' things to gift.

Own flashlight, possibly hand-crank kind

Kid alarm clock (lego has some cool ones - he's probably just learned telling time or is about to learn that)

Real tools (pp.'s idea is cool - montessori supply places have some real nice kid sets) - or, similarly, own kitchen tools for something he always likes to help with or can make himself

skateboard?

Books with a CD (where they read to you) 

nano bugs are cool too 

If he likes star wars, there are some cool star wars theme lego 'playmat/storage' containers I've seen out there (at thinkgeek?)

Last year we got dd some kid-sized snowshoes (from ll bean, I think) and those were a big hit.  

[pianojazzgirl]

If he's into Super Mario:

http://www.knex.com/mariokartwii/

[beebalmmama]

He does have nerf guns. I'm not a fan but he found two at a garage sale for .25 each. I was thinking of giving him more darts as a stocking stuffer though.

He's really resistant to anything "sports" related. We had a bad experience with starting soccer and so I think he might feel pressured. Although bow and arrow.....with real pointed ends? I'm not sure he's ready. Maybe a dart board though, don't they have magnetic dart boards?

mumkimum, I just recently gave him an alarm clock and have a few ideas for other stuff beyond toys. But I know he'll be dissapointed if he doesn't get toys. I don't even know what nano bugs are (I'll check those out). This is why I feel like this age is so hard, I don't know what's out there.

I found him snowshoes last year on CL and he's warming slowly to them, thinks it's too hard. He's not really that interested in his scooter which makes me think he's not ready for a skateboard yet. Plus with the snow here it's probably a bad time of year for it.

We are pretty resistant to exposing him to star wars and video gaming is not in his experience yet either, thank goodness.

I had thought about buying a large wood block set for the boys to share, like the standardized block sets. Do you think he's too old? We've never had a set and he still uses the little wood letter blocks to build roads and building for his cars.....I could spend a little more if it was a shared gift.

[ChiaraRose]

How about a perplexus, or magnatiles? They are kinda pricey, but maybe used.  A cool game, as in boardgame? Look around a mindware or rainbow resources for cool ideas? Ds is into anything pretend, so playmobil figurines are cool in any form.

Good luck!

[LynnS6]

If he plays with hot wheels, then I'd definitely get him some more, either to expand his set or to work in different ways.

I looked up some things and this looks really cool: Hot Wheels Wall set and it's not too expensive.

Would he be interested in marble runs? You can get a good plastic one (which I find actually are easier for kids to do than the wooden ones) for about $25.

This was a big age for board games for our son. Favorites were Uno, Monopoly Jr., Guess Who?, Mancala, Cranium Cadoo and probably a few that I can't remember. Goodwill often is a great place to get children's board games because kids outgrow them. As long as you check to make sure they've got all the pieces, there's no reason not to do used. I've gotten some great deals on kids games that way.

Lego makes a few games too that look interesting, but I've never played on. Some are around $30, which I find very expensive, but some like this one Banana Balance are around $10, and there's a Lego race car game for about $20.

[pianojazzgirl]

A really fantastic card game for that age is Sleeping Queens.  I have yet to meet a 6yo who doesn't love playing it.  My ds was also able to play (with slightly modified rules) at 3yo.

Another really great boardgame is Carcassonne.  They make a Carcassonne for Kids game which is excellent.  And at 6yo kids are usually just old enough to "get" and enjoy regular Carcassonne.

BTW these are both games that adults don't mind playing over and over (unlike so many kids games!).

If he's into puzzles you should check out the single-player puzzle games by Thinkfun and Smartgames.  Both companies make excellent games.

[pianojazzgirl]

Op - we are on a tight budget here too.  What I do (once I have an idea of what I'd like to get them) is stalk online classifieds (craigslist, kijiji, etc - whatever you have for where you live).  My kids are REALLY into Playmobil which is pricey new, but I've managed to find *really* good deals by checking often on kijiji (if you don't check often the really good deals get snatched up). 

Also, one other idea - what about a kick-butt sled (as in for down-hill sledding)?  One year I got Zipfys for dd and dh (ds was just a baby then!) and they loved them.  They also make ones with steering wheels which are tons of fun.  Also, does he already have skates for this winter?  You should be able to find either of those things used for not too much.

[mumkimum]

Marble runs are a good idea.  

Nano bugs are mini-robots (The nano ones you can get tracks for them, but you can also build your own - like with blocks or other toys.  There are also larger ones, some with remote controls, that sense objects and you can walk around.  They're pretty fun. . .).

We do have one of the lego games (smaller one, magicka?) and they're pretty fun.  

We still use our big set of blocks at older age, so I say not too little kid - you could look for a few figurines of some kind to go with it for your ds, animals and people are really popular to use with our blocks (and a little more 'older kid').  We have an assorted basket that 'goes with' our blocks.  Smaller sized wooden village blocks like these  are another idea.

There are science kits out there that work for 6 year olds too, if that's an interest.  Sunprint kits are pretty fun for that age also.