Gift ideas for 5 year old.

does he like trains? my 5 yr old loves trains and thomas items to add to his collection, also brio makes wooden trains that are not thomas if he has outgrown thomas.
how about a slew of art supplies?
my son is also starting to get into the "klutz" books (available at barnes noble and borders)
magnetix, like legos but much cooler, obviously made with magnets (available at toys r us & target etc)
K'NEX is also similar to legos' but made with plastic sticks and inserts (difficult to explain) and is a building toy, they have many different levels and sizes from preschool to advanced builder
5yr old boys can never have too many hotwheels etc ( they have playsets too)

toys r us is getting some movie tie-in's for the "CARS" movie that will be released in june,

good luck and if still in doubt, go hang out at the toystore on saturday and see what the kids are excited about... there is no better resource then a 5yr old boy shopping...

good luck and welcome home to the family

My now 6 year old was so into legos at five (still is). He could never have enough. They have so many special kits that I think legos are always a good gift. Bionicles are another lego product that are a little different. My ds also loves Transformers and anything Star Wars.

K'Nex would be a good gift if he already likes Legos and has a lot. It's a different type of building toy.

Magnetix are great, but if there are younger kids in the house maybe not yet. (Younger children have died from swallowing these magnetic toys.)

art supplies are always a hit around here.

ALso Playmobil stuff is great!

My kid's toys runneth over. I try to give "consumable" gifts that don't fill up other's toy boxes since kids today seem to have so many toys. Since they are moving back, maybe you could get him a gift certificate to some kid activity near where they will be moving, like an indoor play ground, zoo or children's museum? I like the art supply ideas too - they get used and used up! Also, bath art supplies are fun for kids (like soap crayons) and the mama may appreciate that if the kid is the type who is hard to get into the tub.

That is nice that you are thinking of your nephew!

~Tracy

Quote:
yes, there was just a recall on these. sounds pretty gruesome if swallowed. if more than one goes down they clump together since they're magnetic and have caused bowel obstructions or perforated bowels.

legos are very popular with dd1's boy playmates, but there are a lot of g-u-n-s involved with the bionicles, etc. i think the last gift for a boy we got was a bug catching net and container. art supplies are always good, too.

When my ds was 5 he was still all about his Thomas trains and track.
He also loved getting art supplies and books.

Lots of fabulous ideas already mentioned...

A few other things that my 5 year old loves are

- roleplaying/dress up stuff (hats, superhero capes and gear, spy gear etc)
- computer games (mostly educational type programs)
- playdough and various tools/playsets for it.
- musical instruments
- simple board games

there is a great website called www.letterbox.xo.uk or it may be .com i cant remember their stuffis fabulous

my sone got the roboty making pack and loves it they can make all sorts of robots from it and then they move

Children this age usually love playing board games.
Jennifer at http://www.playfulpixie.com offers some great cooperative board games.

Warm wishes,
Tonya

I highly recommend the cranium games for little kids. Balloon Lagoon is great for 5 years old. We have Cariboo, Hulabaloo (the first one w/o the dvd) and Balloon Lagoon and my 4.5yo loves all of them.

We also like the Orchard game by HABA...although it's pricey. I love that either everybody wins or nobody wins (the goal is for everyone to "beat" the raven together).

HTH

My son is 5 and I really appreciate the books on tape/CD we have. Our favorites are:

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Tales of My Fathers Dragon (CD set comes with all 3 books)
Charlottes Web by EB White (read by the author)

We also love Barefoot Book of Pirates Stories CD/book combination- folk tales of pirate stories from around the world

I strongly second the cranium games!

Balloon Lagoon is simply wonderful for 5 y.o. I gave it to my nephew and my SIL who had rolled her eyes at that "plastic toy" (up til now all of their games were wood or metal) admitted that it was the best game her kids had.

Binoculars
A magnifying glass
A book of easy mazes
Legos- kids really never can have too many, though parents may disagree

My 5 year old loves his art supplies, those books where you find certain things on each page, books in general, Legos, those Cranium games are great, board games.