Anyone else struggling to find what their dc's have asked for?

[Doughnutsandflapjacks33]

Dd has sn's, she always struggle with writing Christmas lists and she chooses things that are almost impossible to buy, I try my best every year to buy her something she has asked for. She is almost 10 years old but some of the things she asks for are not age appropriate, so far this year she has asked for:

A Keytar - I can not find a children's version other than the paper jamz Keytar ( we havnt had great success with other paper jamz instruments ), and the real adult size ones are £160 +.

Build your own Bass guitar - a kit to build your own guitar, again £££ and probably very tricky for a 10 year old to build. She has a acoustic guitar which she loves but can't really play it very well.

A kitchen - sadly they don't make toy kitchens for very tall 10 year olds, I have compromised by saying she can have a popcorn maker but she's still asking for a kitchen.

Anyone else's kids asking for things that are tricky to buy? Or doesn't even exist

• signed photo of santa
• squashy banana that says "I'm a banana" when you squash it

that sort of thing?!
sorted the signed photo with eBay and a Sharpie. The banana was squashy but sadly did not talk.

Yes, because I can't find the list!

Ds2 (6) wrote his Christmas list and when I asked for it he said, 'I've sent it up to Santa' and when I asked him what he meant he just repeated himself. Apparently he just wants to see what Santa chooses and I can get him whatever I like and although he is playing it cool, I know it is a test and he will be sad. I have searched the house high and low with no luck.

Now all I can do is make an educated guess and hope for the best. Or, I might send him a letter from Santa apologising for losing the letter and asking him to resend it via me but that feels too deceptive. Bollocks.

Could you get her a set of cheap baking things from the pound shop and set them up in a space in your kitchen? Or even on a small table in the corner?

Kondos you could always create a santa name hotmail account. Get Santa to say he lost it/elves spilled elf tea on it /Rudolph ate it etc and he needs another one emailed immediately. Of course DS can do it in secret if he wants , you'll just type the email address in for him never done something deceptive like that not me last year at all

Doughnuts
My DD is special needs and loves her play kitchen which is getting too short for her. A local carpenter is, very cheaply, putting a wooden base on it to raise it up. Could you maybe but a wooden one from Ikea/asda and have the same done? I expect she would love it and it's great interaction and role play for them

I can't find a honey lemon figure, all out of stock.

Mummy pig
Amazon have honey lemon figures in stock. Bad reviews though

Thanks littlemouse, I might do that, she would love a kitchen, sadly she's not safe enough to mess around in my kitchen unsupervised, she is obsessed with washing machines, ovens and microwaves so I would like to be able to get her something in the way of a play kitchen.

Ikea used to make a proper all-in-one kitchen unit with a sink, fridge and hob. Unfortunately it's discontinued, and was probably way over budget. But if you didn't wire/plumb it in, would be cool for a 10yo...

Wow, like these but they are very expensive.

Think the ikea play kitchen on longer legs could be a winner.

No idea how much they cost, or what your budget is, but what about one of those mini beer/wine fridges? Could be part of a mini kitchen?
Also, it may be a bit young for her, but DS loved his mini kenwood chef. Although I never let him do it (!), you can actually use it to mix cake mix etc

Doughnuts - you can get realistic play kitchen 'branded' accessories which are great eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B007CJ0Z0M/ref=mpssa111?qid=1447436965&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=toy+braun+kitchen+set&dpPl=1&dpID=414P6wGix1L&ref=plSrch

Theo Klein or Casdon make them

The IKEA one is height adjustable.

Do you have any consoles? I.e. a Wii or xbox? You can get a Rock band game and a Keytar for that - they have them on ebay for about £15 and probably a similar price for the game. If you don't have one, a wii can also be picked up cheaply (about £20) so you could satisy the keytar request ;)

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nintendo-Wii-Rock-Band-3-Wireless-Black-White-MIDI-Keyboard-Keytar-NEW-/401022099936?hash=item5d5ec7a1e0:g:OjwAAOSwU~FWDoeL

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/wii-ROCK-BAND-3-Rockband-3-Solus-Nintendo-PAL-/221926393719?hash=item33abd80777:g:9NUAAOSwhcJWMhs7

And a Build your own Bass at a decent price - maybe someone could work on it with her:

www.tomtop.com/jazz-bass-style-4string-electric-bass-solid-basswood-body-maple-neck-rosewood-fingerboard-diy-kit-set-i1135.html?currency=GBP&lang=en&aid=gplamuk&gclid=CP772oeDjskCFRATGwodKXAI8Q

I've got a copy of the smyths and Argos catalogue and left them about. DS 5 has studiously gone through them with various levels of over excitement so now I have some idea.

OP - have a look at Pinterest at mud kitchens. You can normally get hold of pallets for free and could always advertise for someone who could make an indoor version?

RainbowRoses you should search for rare earth magnets like these

Opposite problem here, neither has any idea really.

Ikeahackers has a lot of ideas of how to make toy kitchens out of various ikea pieces. Might be worth a look and see if you can adapt some of the ideas to a real kitchen cupboard carcass or something. Or would she be happy with real kitchen paraphenalia (funky mixing bowl, spoons, chopping board) and a recipe book to use in the real kitchen?

The elephant on the anchor butter advert Ds4 absolutely loves it. He never asks for anything and I would love to get one for him.

Thank you, lots of fab ideas, the build your own bass guitar looks fab, that's exactly what she wants

That was very kind of you RainbowRoses I did have a look on their website but couldn't find anything. Very good idea to contact them directly though. Glad you got your magnets!

Play kitchen

There are loads of requests on the Anchor facebook site to buy the elephant but Anchor say there is no toy available to buy. They are definitely missing a big opportunity there!