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?

Love this thread. Have a 13 year old with similar interests, who is very hard to buy for... loads of leads here!

I'm clearly going to spell this wrong... kurzgesagt.org/ has brilliant posters and stationery and stuff!!! We've loved it over the years.

I second this. It's a great read.

I was just about to say this. Maths loving DD was obsessed with this book at that age

At that age mine loved Brian Cox's The Wonders of the Universe and The Wonders of the Solar System books. We had the DVDs too but it was the books they loved.

Lovely physics and maths notebooks at www.atomstoastronauts.com/

This is a good site for maths lovers

https://mathsgear.co.uk/

If she is learning English then try The Time and Space of Uncle Albert and the 2 subsequent ones in the series - they are children's novels but they are about physics. By Professor Russell Stannard. Or they may have been translated.

www.goodreads.com/book/show/1567832.The_Time_and_Space_of_Uncle_Albert

Depending on your budget I got a cheap telescope at that age that I still take out at events like when planets are particularly clear/close (in my 30s). My parents got it from Lidl.

works really well if she’s in northern France where there will be enough of the year where it will be dark within child waking hours. Came with a book - there’s lots of maths do to around star gazing.

My DC is similar - some fantastic recommendations on here, thank you! I now have over £100 of books that I know he’ll love in my basket…

That toy called Turing Tumble looks amazing. A sort of marble run that teaches computer science.

What an amazing list of recommendations!

How about a plasma ball? My daughter loved hers at 8, and still keeps it as an ornament/lamp at 15https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186154549491?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr=1&amdata=enc:1LcNWK8LHSducFVrZnzbwzw0&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-166974-033325-9&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=186154549491&targetid=2234729460846&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=1007446&poi=&campaignid=20726056443&mkgroupid=158140838554&rlsatarget=pla-2234729460846&abcId=9328547&merchantid=119241608&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjMKqBhCgARIsAPDgWlwNuW7yR4CR0AhdNzGh3GPRy2tOX3EgCqp7qINALBSWFTiwectDgtYaAii1EALw_wcB

I asked some maths teacher friends and in addition to the many good suggestions here someone recommended ”why don’t things call up” by Alom Shaha

> Using questions asked by children as a starting point, Alom Shaha (who has spent over two decades trying to help people of all ages understand this stuff) takes us on a tour of the “big ideas” of science from his unique perspective. His experience as a dad, a teacher and science communicator means he knows exactly what people don’t know -and especially the misconceptions and other intellectual hurdles which prevent us from grasping key ideas. Combining his proven skill for explaining science with storytelling and flashbacks to school experiments, Why Don’t Things Fall Up? reminds us that science is not just for scientists – it’s a human endeavour that enriches all our lives.

George's Secret Key to the Universe series by Lucy and Stephen Hawking and books by Christopher Edge are good chapter books with 'proper' science content - also the classic, Flatland by Edwin Abbott!

My daughter absolutely loved Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus by the mathematician Hanna Fry at 9. It’s not really a kids book but it’s lots of fun, not too complicated and a really mathsy kid will love it.

I was going to recommend it!