Present for 9 year old into maths and theoretical science

[MissPettigrewIsWFH]

I'm struggling for ideas. My goddaughter is about to turn 9 and is into maths and theoretical science (so not those lovely hands on science experiment kits) and I am looking for ideas of both birthday and Christmas presents for her. It should also be something I can buy eaily online as it will need to be delivered to her in France. Any thoughts?

My DC really enjoyed this at around 8/9:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/my-first-book-of-quantum-physics/sheddad-kaid-salah-ferron/eduard-altarriba/9781787080102

Don't be fooled by the title and illustrations, it made my brain hurt. There is also one on Relativity and one on the Cosmos which are also excellent.

Is she English speaking? If so, the Murderous Maths books by Kjartan Poskitt would be great.

Thank you @pastaandpesto - that looks fab. All the stuff I google come out with 'learning times tables' and the like which isn't quite the same!

Have a look on the science museum website they have some different bits

@SchrodingersHat - yes she is. Great call!

Thanks @Sirzy -good idea!

This was also much loved by my DS

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Large-Hadron-Collider-Pop-Up-Book/dp/1906506418/ref=asc_df_1906506418/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310867999190&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4102804585894468035&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006967&hvtargid=pla-494300413108&psc=1&mcid=698ca613dcdf3c62b2bd5924fd6d92f8&th=1&psc=1

This sounds like DS! And I have just bookmarked the hadron collider pop up book on Amazon, so thanks for that.
He got a water bottle with the periodic table of the elements on for his birthday which he absolutely loves. Also, I know you said no science kits, but he has some snap circuits which keep him entertained. Also, he's very into microbes (I mean, who among us isn't 😁), but still a 9 year old who loves cuddly toys, and someone has recommended giant microbes.com to me, I'm looking at plush E Coli!!!

A subscription to How It Works magazine. It's a very well-made monthly that does not feel at all childish. All my science-leaning dc thoroughly enjoyed from about 9 to 13yo. I also enjoyed it - I maintained the subscription for myself for several more years.

Good shout on the How it Works magazine, we also subscribed for a few years.

@Firstaidnovice there is a microbe book in the series I suggested in my first post!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-First-Book-Microbes-Bacteria/dp/1787081168/ref=asc_df_1787081168/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=525963498687&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17495894782441128704&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007183&hvtargid=pla-1367485872865&psc=1&mcid=1ea0e5b40f6232b3a198b1e9745c5db2&th=1&psc=1&ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=ba2decfb-4390-45d6-aa7c-12eac271c2ca

We have one of these and I can recommend the following

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Inventors-Handbook-Dominic-Wilcox/dp/000830615X/ so she can get her thoughts on paper...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Micro-Life-Miracles-Miniature-Revealed/dp/0241412757 - Because these minds are fascinated

Newton's Cradle for her desk. Ours loved his at 9! You can get colourful ones and ones that light up too

😁

https://www.presentindicative.com/ might also be worth a look

I didn't mean to add those Amazon tags to the link. that was automatically added by Mumsnet :/

The snap circuits kits are really good

Martin Gardener Books, e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Entertaining-Mathematical-Puzzles-Dover-Recreational/dp/0486252116?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&nis=8

I had a whole bunch of them from ~9-15 . I ended up doing a maths degree.

I was also going to suggest Present Indicative, they have some great stuff. My son loves the sets of dice / die, mixed sizes up to a 64 sided one - small, easy to post / transport.
Agree too on Murderous Maths, and for a step up from those this series is loved by my son, quite challenging but very good.

Set is a great card game. It appeals to mathematical minds. Really fast moving and fun.
Professor Astrocats do a good range of books on physics.
Code breaker is a good number based game.

Some fabulous ideas here - thank you everyone!

I don’t know if you know the xkcd cartoons but the creator Randall Monroe has a few books out and my similarly interested young teens have loved them - not sure if some would go over the heads of 9 year olds (as the more science you know the funnier it is) but it could well be worth a shout:

What If?: Serious Scientific Answer to Absurd Hypothetical Questions: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions https://amzn.eu/d/5VsLRes

My daughter loved maths growing up (still does, she's studying maths and computing at uni) and when she was a similar age she was given a copy of "The Number Devil" - it is a story but explores lots of mathematical theories. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1847080537/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

I would get her an open source scripting coding book for maths. Something about R or Python, both of which are programs that you can just download for free and have a go.
I bought my 10 year old a beginners Python book from amazon, he really liked it, and I thought it was a good start!

My DD loves these games...

https://www.happypuzzle.co.uk/family-puzzles-and-games/genius-square

And Genius Star. They are Logic puzzles.

Shes getting Genius Gems for Christmas

A little thing but sites like redbubble do a lot of science and maths art posters and stickers.
My brother has always been into maths so I get him a few stickers to put in his birthday card- he likes them and puts them on his laptop and in his room. More fun to give than just the big heavy books that he asks for.

Look for books called “Geometry Snacks” (and the sequel “More geometry snacks” by Ed Southall.

> Geometry Snacks is a mathematical puzzle book filled with geometrical figures and questions designed to challenge, confuse and ultimately enlighten enthusiasts of all ages. Each puzzle is carefully designed to draw out interesting phenomena and relationships between the areas and dimensions of various shapes. Furthermore, unlike most puzzle books, the authors offer multiple approaches to solutions so that once a puzzle is solved, there are further surprises, insights and challenges to be had.

The Present Indicative is a good website for science presents.