Presents for an 11 year old boy who says he doesn't want anything

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We're struggling to come up with Christmas present ideas for our 11 year old son (year 7) who doesn't seem to want anything in particular. He's not into football but he does love: history, myths, facts about countries (capital cities etc) board games, computer games, D&D, and he has a great offbeat sense of humour. He's a big reader.

If you have a boy who sounds a bit like this, what are you getting him for Christmas?

Thank you :-)

Has he read David Eddings book series The Belgariad? My grandson, about the same age, is enjoying them.
The board game HeroQuest has been reissued - I used to play it with my children - great fun (D&D type theme)
Depending on how mature for his age he is he might enjoy Gloomhaven. It started as a board game but it's really, really expensive however there's a Steam version now which can be played as a co-op game.

Civilisation for the PC - a game where you play as different empires in a race to discover civilisation. Very history based game

Also check out the board game flamecraft - might not be his thing, but the artwork is beautiful and its an interesting game if he had any interest in dragons. It's a lesser known one, never see it mentioned here so thought I would suggest

Is he into Stranger Things, lots of new merch out

100% agree with this recommendation

I was trying to 'quote' Crackspackle but it hasn't worked.

*You've just given me a present idea for my son, he loves Warhammer and I have never heard (or I don't think he has) of Warhammer World!!

My son is massively into anything World War I and II so over the years we have bought him model tanks, planes and the different soldiers and now Warhammer models. He spends hours building and painting them.
Or how about a trip to London to the World History Museum and to see all the sights.

If he likes Lego, the set of the great pyramid is fantastic. It says age 18+ but my 10 year did it fine. It is incredibly detailed, and history notes with it

Start some kind of savings account for him, give him that - show him that your present is investing in his future

Ds was similar. We also went with quite a few smaller things and also things like a Nike tracksuit - i would never pay that for "notmal" clothes but as a gift it was fine. And then money. He loves getting money!

In terms of board games, how about:

7 Wonders or the 2-player version
Trekking Through History
More or Less, History Edition

He sounds LOVELY 🤗

Hi, mum of 4 grown boys here. Sometimes they don't want something at Christmas or birthday time, then a few weeks after they suddenly badly need something. Maybe get a big box, put some cash in it, wrap the box and let him open that. Then when he wants something later he can buy it himself. You can always get a couple of little things for him to open. Then you still get that Christmas fun, but he gets to choose something when he needs it.

there are at least 30 core D&D source books he cannot have them all, buy them off amazon and they are usually 60% retail. The new D&D starter set is also a cracker I have heard. Also any sort of D&D notebook or campaign aid he would love, or a D&D play mat for figures / or a box of generic D&D figures to use in games

How about a trip to York to visit the Yorvik Centre ( vikings with a ride through a reconstructed York in the Viking age).

Your DS sounds exactly like mine. He also loves a lot of of the things suggested here - eg Age of Emores computer game, Warhammer (if you have a Warhammer store near you, you should go their with him and the staff will help him build and paint a figure and play a simple game and then give advice about options of what to buy. The store on Tottenham Court Road in London is great for that).

I know it sounds young, but my DS12 still really likes the Play mobile “history” range. Go to their website, click on the menu on the top left, then interests, then history.

What about a wooden map of the world jigsaw. The jigsaw pieces are in the shape of the individual countries. It also has all of the oceans, seas, US states, Canadian provinces etc. I have one and I love it (I love capital cities). It’s expensive but comes in a beautiful box and will last for ever.

My DS is older than yours, but started reading these when he was about 13 www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Collection-Mythos-Heroes-Odyssey/dp/9124360988/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=1J1ZJ1F30JI86&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.4WQTdf5vqO1gZcdA8ELd7h8b2V4XL2nmHLw-qYF5Lgc4NVc01kkAWCo0knmwcUxWGxORTgbKXU60gzXtPP1MEUpz6rvlZsRUzcpG3iG922scBAmtB0dQKDo5Y-xjO6AYWSIE_2YlXw0DiQUyF_kDAoOzreheTjHWo9VWT9z_OR9XI4I0rIsL8Eb59QgFu1roliTdNauCsKH20xjwXAHgyg.xQ4Cqq7XXd-WMwSVn8wM3Ib8DxZZ2hO0bhi2RBUTajk&dib_tag=se&keywords=stephen+fry&qid=1764325441&sprefix=stephen%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-2

I could have written this about my DS12, also in year 7, and into reading, acting, gaming, Greek myths, and has a brilliant sense of humour 😊

This has been the hardest year for presents as there’s nothing big he’d like. So far we’ve gone for

various books - some fiction, Guinness book of records (normal and gaming), Ripley’s believe it or not, money skills for teenagers, Star Wars coding projects for scratch and a book on Greek myths.
new Kirby air riders game with amiibo for the switch
magic 8 ball
Mini squishmallows
sushi go card game
Some new trainers and joggers
Mega land board game

Other ideas are wireless phone charger, phone holder, snack verse subscription, AirPods, hot chocolate maker, teenage shower stuff, uno spin, official switch pro controller, dr oatker pud in a mug.

Hits in the past have been
theatre tickets to see &Juliet, Percy Jackson the musical, and fantastically great women who changed the world
Various exploding kittens games
Afternoon tea vouchers
Just eat voucher
various uno games

we also did a trip to Athens at the end of year 6 which was amazing.

There are tonnes of D&D books (eg handbook, Monster manual), including a young adventurer's series he might like.
There are also fantasy series on which D&D is based by R Salvatore.
Plus you can do good D&D stocking fillers like cool dice, dice tray, map designer workbook, character development workbook etc. There is a card game which is great for D&D lovers about monsters (can't remember the name but it's on Amazon).
My older teen is very into D&D and that has been a great source of presents for many years!

Sherlock & Co podcasts: actually cost nothing but a lovely thing for kids that age.
You could also get him an Audible subscription. We're big fans of audiobooks in our house. Even though their reading age is advanced, they love audiobooks for car/train/bus to school. Darren Shan is a favourite. Mine also adore the new Harry Potter full cast edition (I genuinely had thought they'd be done with HP by now, having read and listened to every book a gazillion times; but this new version has them captivated again!)

The board game HeroQuest has been reissued - I used to play it with my children - great fun (D&D type theme)

This. Dc1 (almost 11) loves playing HeroQuest and has asked for his own copy this year.

Thank you everyone there are some brilliant suggestions in here!

We are already big fans of Catan and Dominic Sandbrook books so I can also definitely recommend those :-)

Echoing the gloomhaven suggestion (I have it, it’s hugely bulky and complicated) but there’s actually a child friendly version.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/291457/gloomhaven-jaws-of-the-lion

Ooh he sounds exactly like my 10 yr old son!! I'm in the same boat, we've got so far;
A kindle
A new oodie
Civilisation the Nintendo switch game (historical vibes and strategy based which will suit him, as Nintendo switch doesn't have Age of Empires)
For his b day he loved the Aquilla magazine subscription, the whole set of Percy Jackson, Small World the board game (it's got lord of the rings vibes, historical/mythical)

Seconding Eagle of the Ninth (Sutcliffe), as he's a reader. Also, if you're anywhere near London this might be too cheesy but I'd quite like to do this: https://pompeii-experience.com/london/

Board games:
Settlers of Catan
Ticket to Ride
Carcassonne
Brass Birmingham
Nusfjord
Are all ones we liked!

Willoughby Book Club subscription. They individually tailor each book to the interests of the recipient. We found them excellent for a similar dc.