Any good suggestions for a 5 year old boy?

[LunarSea]

Aaah - am devoid of inspiration for ds (5) this year, and the grandparents, etc have started to ask for suggestions.

Grandad bought him a Hornby train set for his birthday so he'll probably get some extra bits to go with that.

He may well get a basic digital camera from us, as he's fascinated with the idea of taking pictures.

But what else?

He likes
construction toys (but he has lots of Magnetix and Knex already),
anything vaguely mechanical/scientific,
any kind of outdoor/sports activites,
imagination type actvities (but we already have a castle and a pirate ship, and plenty of figures to go with them),
puzzles (but we've got loads)
dinosaurs (but we've got a sackful of them already)
colouring (but have plenty of pens/crayons/pencils),
pc games (he has his own PC but we don't have playstations or any of the console type things)

Other than Scooby Doo he's not particularly interested in any of the TV character branded stuff - so no superman/spiderman/power rangers type stuff.

Someone share your inspiration with me please, as I need a list of suggestions by the weekend.

hi, how about a pile of boxes and a pair of scissors mine spend more time playing with the things there xmas prezis came in than they do the prezis

there's some good stuff in the Science Museum shop. If you're not in London they have an online store.

Was thinking of getting ds this - it's a children's ATM but I need to go and see how big it is first!

We've promised ds a trip to the Natural History museum (he wants to see how big dinosaurs were!) next week, so might be able to call in at the science museum then. I like the look of the robo bugs on that site.

remote control tower crane,ny ds got one for his 4th b'day ,came with loads of other stuff.may be from argos.

I bought ds a remote control front loader digger from tkmax yesterday

Lego? Meccano? Worm farm?

Football goal.

bird feeder/table
bug box
ant farm

Bird Feeder is a good idea - have just spotted a wild bird feeding kit for £3.99 which looks like a good option.

For my ds's (5 and 6) this year I have got:

DS1: portabel dvd unit, planetarium from national geographic (doubles as a night light), DVD, hot wheels jumpy car thing (UGLY)

DS2- gamenboy micro (off Ebay LOL), bug barn (national geograophic insect catching kit- toysrus website has it), pirates of the carribbean goldfish tank, dvd

they get books as well

Like the bug barn- DS will think it's coll

Dont know if he is into bugs or indeed you want them in your house but we have ordered ds 4 stick insects with cage etc for £45 from smalllife.co.uk he is going to be thrilled he loves creepy crawlies

a watch
binoculars
a compass
globe
a totally fabulous solar system mobile (which I want very badly but cannot justify), see here

binoculars (or even a telescope?) are a good idea. And the bug barn - will have a look next week at the Natural History museum for those.

He already has a watch and we've got a globe and a planetarium (though ours isn't as flash as that mobile).

Some great ideas coming out now.

Tell you where I head for stocking fillers, birthday gifts now- millets. They do an outdoorsy range of things like binoculars, torchesd (which ultimately kids do love), watches, compass tool things, in kahki colours ofr boys and pinks for girls. When i've given them, my two older ones have been jealous as anything. I find this outdoors / natural world stuff is quite trendy atm, and I like that- far better than staring at TV's or power rangers (though mine do that too, of course).

The Fambosa 12v Dareway looks fabs and is in most top 10 of xmas prezzies this year.

Also have a look at Hawkins Bazare. They have some fab sciencie stocking fillers that won't break the bank

Hawkins bazaar have a shop in our town, but not where the relatives live, so I'll check that one out for stocking fillers maybe, rather than ideas list for relatives.

I spotted a telescope with tripod in our nearest big Tesco's at lunchtime for £7.97, so snapped that up for ds. It could end up being a very optical Christmas if we get him the camera, and the relatives go for the binoculars and the bug barn!

Hello Lunarsea
Oxfam sell scientific kits aimed at the 5-10yr old market - I always tend to buy them for any boys we know as I'm haven't a clue about boys of that age!
They have themes like Water Experiments, Bugs and Spiders etc.

didn't know that about OXfam- will remember that, Ta

Have got my ds who is also 5

a remote control car

dig a dinosaur (they "dig" dinosaur bones and put together)

books - how do dinosaurs eat and so on

cd player with stories/music cd

Foxinsocks - have just seen in the Asda Christmas gifts catalogue that they've got the ATM savings bank for £15 (£25 on the science museum site) - see here for an idea of size, AND they've got the voice controlled safe for £10 (£20 from the science museum).

hovely - they've also got a solar system mobile (not remote control though) for £7.50

thanks Lunarsea (I think you meant to type Argos, no?)

hovely - no definately ASDA - p56 of their Gift Guide.

I just put in the link to the pic on the Argos site because it's the same one and shows the size.

What's the best cd player for a child, do you think?

Depends on age of child - my dd (7) has a phillips from Argos around £25 and ds (4) has the cheaper bush one from argos £18.99. I personally couldnt see the point of buying them specific 'kiddy' ones as they were twice the price and most didnt have radios built in. Also they are mains so no more flat batteries and the sound quality is much better (which is important if your darling like to listen to music fairly loud ! Both mine take a fair pounding from the kids but seem fine so far (have had them around 2 years I think) but at that price they can be replaced if they go wrong. Or am I just tight?

Some one on another thread mentioned a constellation light thing that projects stars on the ceiling - from Argos. Looked good for the star gazers amongst your kids! Will try and find.