Fancy pooling ideas and sharing suggestions on Christmas presents for your 7 year old ds?

[hmc]

Am being a bit disingenuous because I haven't thought of much for my 7 year old ds yet. So far I've got him a Star Wars 2012 calendar (he is always asking how many days until Christmas / his birthday / next holiday / school holidays etc) and a lego kit. Am pondering if there are any decent new Wii games out.....

What about you?

Going to google that David walliams book -sounds intriguing. Just seen a digital coin counting money jar in the yellow moon mag - will appeal to mercenary ds

Lots of great ideas here - greengoose love your list especially the antique toolbox.

Thanks for the Tower of Doom feedback charlieboo - can I ask what figure your DS uses with his? I've bought a few from ELC but just wondering if there are any other brands that are the right kind of size.

I love this thread!! Lots of fantastis ideas - I'm about to google the battery operated fork as a stocking filler.

DS hasn't written his full list yet which is driving me nuts but he wants lots of Dr Who toys, maybe some Lego Harry Potter, the Moshi Monsters Moshling game for the DS (out this week) and he has just mentioned that he would like a practical joke set and a chemistry set. I have bought virtually nothing so far apart from the Lego Harry Potter Visual Dictionary (we have the Star Wars ones which have been read and read) and the Lego Ideas book which is new and about a fiver from Book People. Just this week he casually mentioned that he'd like an electric guitar and a drum kit but that's unlikely to appear on Christmas morning......

I have already bought dd the David Walliams book. She has all the others and we have really enjoyed them. They have a touch of Roald Dahl about them I feel, added to by the art work.

Asking ds what he would like today, the Top Agent Playmobil stuff came top of the list. As I said, he got some for his birthday last week so it is clearly a hit.

The moshling game sounds interesting. Does anyone know anything about what you do in it?

I am getting the feeling that age 7 covers quite a broad range of ability and emotional development.

Iloveblue-He has a lot of the figures from elc that he plays with but he uses playmobil with it too and some other figures from star wars etc. I asked friends and family last year to buy the figures from the elc... They are really well priced and he used some Xmas money to buy the troll and the dragon which go with it. I'm sure your boys will love it.

Is anyone elses ds interested in WWII? Long shot I know (lol) butmy ds has been hugely inspired by a trip to bletchley park in the summer holidays. all the books I've seen are not really aimed at children and the pictures are s little too graphic. Does anyone know of anything suitable?

CharlieBoo, there are some Horrible Histories Second World War books which are aimed at 7ish upwards. DS has had them from the library and really enjoyed them. Quite gruesome in parts but I think that's the point of the HH books.

Re Moshling game, little bit of info here

CharlieBoo we have a very old codes and ciphers book that my DS (7) loves. Try ebay. Think we may have to head Bletchley way next summer my lot,big and small, will love it.

We have invested in a family sized scalextric set for the DS's as we have a big gap, 10 years, and it's something they actually both would like. It's expensive but we have lots of toys hidden in the loft that we have kept. I shall use them to bulk out the pressie stash. Oh that and an order from the book people - of course.

Thank you kikidee

I got ds some history books. They are currently under the bed he is sleeping in but I will have a look when he is at school and see what they are like. Ds has mental health problems so I have to be very careful what he is exposed to. He loves history, especially the Romans though. It is hard to find things that are intellectually stimulating but not too scary.

Charlieboo this looks quite good

Oooh! blue that looks good for ds - he is mad about the Romans. You have just reminded me to go and look at the history books we bought.

The books we got are called The Danger Zone and all have titles like "Avoid being a Roman Soldier". They are in a sealed pack so I can't look inside. these ones

Ours either came from Costco or The Book People and were about £9.99 for 10 of them.

This is a better link This will be where we bought them from.

Sorry carrots got your DS mixed up with charlieboo's.

Charlieboo
The Imperial War Museum has a shop here with lots of good stuff - 2nd world war playing cards, Enigma kit etc.

I love browsing museum/art gallery shops, they always have interesting gift ideas.

They look good carrots not sure how I managed to miss them when I did my Book People order.

Just some general advice to add to this thread - its worth looking at Amazon customer reviews of the products you want to buy even if you don't intend purchasing them via Amazon. I looked up 'build your own robot' (having seem it suggested on this thread) and there are several manufacturers. When I read the reviews on Amazon I was suprised to find that the Science Museum one was vilifed ( a lot said it didn't merit the Science Museum tag) - so I ended up buying an alternative make of build your own robot

There is a bad review on Amazon of the books I linked to. I took it that the person reviewing didn't "get" them and the way they are written to appeal to a young child rather than a history teacher. I may be wrong though.

I bought the robot from Langley and it does say at least 8 years old. Ds will do it with his ddad though who has a physics phd so I think he will get the necessary support It would be worth noting though if he was left with someone like me who is not technical whatsoever.

I have just thought, I have ordered a Rubiks Cube for dd. It would drive ds mental but the calmer more determined younger child out there might enjoy it. It would be good for a long car journey if you don't want them plugged into a ds or dvd the whole time.

And I was also wondering about an Etch a Sketch. What do you think? Anyone got one? Are your dcs interested? I used to love mine but I am a child of the 70's and had much simpler expectations of life.

blue the website you linked to has loads and loads of stuff that looks great. Thank you.

Thanks so much for this thread - was absolutely devoid of ideas this year having decided we simply can't fit in any more Lego.

Charlieboo just seen these on the Book People site WWII Cards might be a good stocking filler.

Charlieboo I found a hardly used Etch-a-sketch at a car boot sale recently and bought it for my boys. They loved it - but it only lasted a few days and then broke, and they're not particularly rough.
It seems they dont make them as robust as they used too

I have been looking at the reviews on Amazon and Argos and they all say they are not what they used to be. It seems they are now made more cheaply and it shows.

I might hunt for a vintage one on ebay

Yikes! Vintage ones are £££ and by the sounds of it don't work much better.

Yes, the vintage ones are pricey - I've been after an original Speak and Spell for DS2, as there doesn't seem to be a modern alternative, but they are also £££ on ebay.

I wonder if you can still buy Merlins on ebay