Gift suggestion for 8 year old boy please

[Shufflebumnessie]

This may sound an odd request as I have an 8 year old boy too but they are very different in all respects and I'm struggling to come up with something that will be an acceptable gift.
The child I'm buying for isn't allowed anything superhero/Starwars/Disney etc.
He's highly intelligent and is probably well above average for reading etc. Books have to have an educational element to them (think Shakespeare for kids type books, no David Walliams or similar).
He likes arts and crafts but not sports.
Toys tend to be wooden / educational.
He likes Lego but has a ridiculous amount and parents would prefer he didn't get any more.

Any suggestions? Please!!

I keep seeing this on my fbook, looks great but expensive! www.turingtumble.com/ my ds loves plusplus

My ds loves his microscope and science kits.

Yes to Kapla, origami sets... or maybe Narnia books, a bug finding kit, a compass?

Science kit sounds like a good idea. There loads of different ones. I had one where you build a human model with all the organs, paint it and stuff. It was a woman actually and she could be pregnant or not.

How about a spirography kit? It's crafty, sciency and quite fun!

Magnetic build sets, magfitmers etc. My 8 year old loves that stuff. He's allowed nerf/Disney/a life and he still likes to play with magformers

Or something like this, my ds chose this himself and it's educational, with squishy bits!

Some stones, acrylic pens and some spray lacquer, which would be a start set for rock painting.

A3 mixed media pad and a watercolour palette (reeves does a set of ten or twelve in a tin, which comes with a brush. You can use the lid of the tin to mix, or amazon sells white plastic palettes for mixing for a couple of pounds.

Watercolour pencils.

Pastels.

The kind of pens that you can use to draw on glass (so make a design on a window, for example). They do come off, I promise. Leading brand is kitpas.

Those sets of magnetic rods and balls that you can make structures out of. You can never have too many of them, even if he already has them. You need loads to build something decent.

My 8yr old ds doesn't play with toys anymore but he loves actual games

Qbitz www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Board-Games-44002-Q-Bitz/dp/B0031P91LK/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Qbitz&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1591393659&sr=8-1

Triominoes www.amazon.co.uk/John-Adams-10637-Triominos-Sunshine/dp/B07GF9HXT4/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&crid=O4CKBJ6X9MGV&keywords=triominoes&sprefix=Triom%2Caps%2C222&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1591393717&sr=8-12

Rubik's Race www.amazon.co.uk/Rubiks-Fast-Paced-Strategy-Sequence-Ultimate/dp/B01C5U4PTY/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&psc=1&crid=1U9OWUVWA98QT&keywords=rubiks+race+game&sprefix=Rubiks+race%2Caps%2C215&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQUpSQVJSNjYzWkQ5JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTIyMTI1R0M2QzEzUlBXRUs3JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAyMDY3MzNDVjNIVDRNTUxaRFMmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1591393779&sr=8-1-spons

He also loves books about space/black holes but not pitched too young.

Disclaimer: he actually spends most of his times engaged in Minecraft/Pokémon/Roblox 😂

What's your budget ?

Thank you all very much. So many great suggestions to choose from. I'm going to show DS the list and let him choose something that he thinks his friend will like.