Present ideas for 7 year old who doesn't want toys...

[anothermnname]

Okay sons birthday in two weeks (turning 7) and we don't have a clue what to get him! All he has asked for is a fit bit type watch! He has asked for no toys as he has said he won't play with them (very matter of factly) and has said he would like days out instead!

On his ideal days out list was..

Carvery (which we will do with all the family on his birthday as we do a meal at home or go out anyway)

Go ape - we normally take the kids on a day out for their birthday so we will book this as his birthday day out just me him and his dad.

The local farm - again we would prob do this anyway so we said about going on his birthday weekend as a family day out as my other half has been working weekends for ages and has just stopped and we haven't had a family day out in ages!

Dad has mentioned about taking him to the local indoor rock climbing park as part of his present from him and I think we might do a trampoline park for his birthday with a couple of friends as a mini party.

He wants to be a pilot and loves planes, we thought perhaps a helicopter flight might b good fun? They are about £80 for two on the virgin days. Do you think that would be suitable? This probably would leave us with about another £50 leftover to buy some small bits for him to open...

We thought a snap circuit perhaps? He's quite clever, likes to read, less imaginative and more into building things, exploring materials such as putty etc. Any ideas of some good presents? Also starting to slightly panic about Xmas if we are finding birthdays this hard!!!

Garmin vívofit watch?

What about a subscription to a magazine he’d like? Or to something like a science kit or cooking box?

Don’t know where you are based but would tickets to an air show be any good?
We go to RAF cosford in June and you get to look round the museum and sit inside old fighter jets. There are usually helicopter flights available to buy too.

You could take him to a really good science museum (maybe London?) and let him choose some Science kits/cool science stuff from the gift shop? My 7 year old would like that.

The flight thing sounds good.

Or a London show? I think my kids would like School of Rock - hoping to go next year.

We have snap circuits and it’s absolutely fab btw. DS7 and DD9 take it in turns to make a circuits. It’s very good.

You could get books - Beast Quest and Astrosaurs are very popular here, as well as Tom Gates and the Wimpy Kid books. DD9 prefers David Walliams. Always good offers on The book people.

Thanks for the replies! We've seen a Disney garmin watch that he wants and I won a Mumsnet competition last month and got a Disney store voucher (was a bit put off with the £80 price tag) but will use that to get it!

The cooking box sounds good as he does love to help cook! Is there any children's ones you would recommend? We've had the guosto boxes before and thought they were good but obviously he would need something a bit easier!

He's goes annually to a air show with my dad (dad loves it now the boys are older as he has someone to take to all his favourite things), but the transport museum in London might be a good idea as we have never been and friends have said good things!!

Glad to hear snap circuits are fun! He's never really played much and I think these he would enjoy as like I said he prefers exploring thing haha! (Yes he's hard work!)

I don't think he would sit still enough for a show yet! He still struggles occasionally in the cinema unless it's something he really loves!

It was his brothers birthday last month and we got a 6000 interesting facts book which he has borrowed and been making his way through so I think a book or two is definitely on the list!!

Science museum trip sounds fab too (we aren't far from London it's 30 mins on the train to Waterloo) we haven't been for a long time to be honest!!

Just trying to think of some things he could open, as I think although he's not asked for 'stuff' if he just has 1/2 actual presents to open he might be a bit sad! (Even though he insists he won't!!)

What about a trip to Imperial War Museum Duxford? (That is if you are on the "right" side of London ...) Lots of different types of planes and a bit of history.

Rubix cube?

Microscope?

Telescope?

Chemistry set?

3d puzzle?

Does he like animals? DS2 is a bit like this and a couple of times we sponsored an animal for him at the zoo. He received a gift pack so had something to open which had a cuddly toy, information book, photos, certificate and tickets to visit. DS2 loved going to visit his animal and seeing his name on a plaque as a sponsor.

The DK Eyewitness books are really good loads of information sure you can find a relevant subject. Perhaps Meccano for construction. These are pretty cool too although he may require some assistance
www.timberkits.com

www.littlecooksco.co.uk/ has just been recommended over on the Christmas bargains thread. I've not tried it yet but just ordered for my DS7 as it sounds lovely.

We once got DS a voucher for 5 workshops doing different things, making an animated film, lego mindstorms etc., a couple of hours each which were valid for a year. Maybe good if you have something like that near you?

Chemistry set?

How about zookeeper/animal experience?

Visit to science museum?

My DS loves his subscription to the Phoenix - it’s a proper comic without loads of tat attached to the cover, some silly funny stuff and some longer ongoing stories. It’s £9.99 every mont for four issues if you subscribe but DS rereads them every single night so I feel it’s money well spent. And they’re educational too!

How much are you planning to spend? Seems like a small fortune.

Get him the watch
Take him to the carvery

Let others get him day trips and little gifts
Easy.

Thanks everyone will look all these things up!

Don't Really know why I am justifying how much I pay as not really anyone's business but we normally have a £200 budget for birthday presents which I think is pretty average for a 7 year old but like I said I won a voucher so won't actually be paying for the watch so £100 for presents, we will spend £30 on go ape on his actual birthday and then about £30 for dinner in the carvery. Will be about another £100 to take friends to the trampoline park. Perhaps this is a lot but we don't do things every weekend like some of our friends do (lots of them go to the farm/ trampoline park most weekends) as like I said my DH is usually at work on a weekend so we don't get many full days together it's only really birthdays or holiday times we get to do these things so we make the most of it!

I have a 9yo DD who sounds similar so things we have come up with over the years/will be doing this year:

Subscription to Whizz Kidz - fun science museum with experiments to do each month

Snap circuits (and looking at the Lego coding thing for this year)

Days out vouchers - I put together a booklet (scrapbook) with pictures of the various places I would take her that year. To be honest, we would have done quite a few of them anyway but she doesn't care. The plan was we did one a month. The added bonus was DD got an ice cream on each of these, whatever the weather (we're a have an ice cream from the freezer when we get home family)

Gift shop vouchers - on our days out, we never bother with gift shops. My parents supplemented the days out vouchers with a "gift shop voucher" which gave DD £5 to spend on each of our trips.

I'm sure there have been others. I'll try & think during the day. I'm also moving away from giving piles of stuff for Christmas and birthday just for the sake of it. For DD's upcoming birthday, she was in a quandary about how many to invite. We're off to a trampoline park so every guest is £14 so I said she could have two more if she wanted but that that would impact on her presents. She replied to say that there isn't much she wants so would rather have her friends at her party.

Does he like clothes yet? My ds loves getting clothes linked to his hobby so for your ds that might be a t shirt with a plane on or a pilots hat.

If he likes building things would he like a model aeroplane kit?

Yes to most of the things suggests so far though, magazine subscriptions go down a treat with my fussy ds (you can get aeroplane ones, science, all sorts)
Museum days out also a hit.

Good luck.

Do you have a computer? If so, what about starting to get airline simulator things? My DS (12] wants to be a pilot & he's been building up stuff for his own simulator for years. You can start with just the software but also add yokes, pedals etc later.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-Steam-PC/dp/B00V84CZEG/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1538557984&sr=8-1&keywords=Fsx

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThrustMaster-2960623-Thrustmaster-USB-Joystick/dp/B0002EAA36/ref=pdsim631?encoding=UTF8&pdrdi=B0002EAA36&pdrdr=8b7b86b8-c6ec-11e8-bfe6-efd9ebabc939&pdrdw=GJdwO&pdrdwg=7Z5II&pfrdi=desktop-dp-sims&pfrdm=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pfrdp=84a780ce-12ed-4544-a9d7-b922bd82349c&pfrdr=829XE2VY60J79CWBY3EZ&pfrds=desktop-dp-sims&pfrdt=40701&psc=1&refRID=829XE2VY60J79CWBY3EZ

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Saitek-Flight-Yoke-System/dp/B01MCXJWD1/ref=pdsim633?encoding=UTF8&pdrdi=B01MCXJWD1&pdrdr=8b7b86b8-c6ec-11e8-bfe6-efd9ebabc939&pdrdw=GJdwO&pdrdwg=7Z5II&pfrdi=desktop-dp-sims&pfrdm=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pfrdp=84a780ce-12ed-4544-a9d7-b922bd82349c&pfrdr=829XE2VY60J79CWBY3EZ&pfrds=desktop-dp-sims&pfrdt=40701&psc=1&refRID=829XE2VY60J79CWBY3EZ

You can buy Airliner magazine on subscription, think DS was about 8/9when he first got it so might be a bit young yet but maybe for next year.

Websites like zazzle & red bubble have plane related things (also search aviation/pilot) so you might find stuff on there for his bedroom (posters/pillows etc). They're foreign so you might not receive stuff in time for birthday but should be ok for Christmas.

If he likes reading, you can get a Haynes manual on Airbus A380 & Heathrow Airport which are quite interesting.

Could you go on a day trip somewhere via plane? Maybe somewhere abroad on a cheap flight or just an internal flight & a days city trip. Then you could maybe let the crew know he loves flying & see if he can visit the cockpit after the flight. I've learned on all our flights that there's nothing a pilot loves more than chatting to kids who are on their wavelength. I think my DS could spend his whole holiday happily on the plane chatting with the crew 😀

I would love to take him away on a plane! We went in August (only to Scotland to visit family) and he loved it but I'm pregnant at the moment and even an hour on the plane was dreadful for me plus I am not sure we could afford a trip away at the moment with birthdays and christmas coming up!

We don't have a computer just a laptop but he does have a flight simulator app on his dad and grandads iPad he sometimes plays! Tbh I am trying to avoid too much screen time (he is actually currently banned) as he is awful at sticking to the time limits/ regulating himself and becomes obsessed quite quickly in it all so was trying to avoid technology if we could (which is why it's even harder!!)

Not into clothes at all! Haha! Magazine subscription sounds like a good idea and a plane manual would be cool! He also loves animals so perhaps a zoo keeper day would be fab we have a zoo very local to us so perhaps I will put that forward as an idea for MIL or my brother as they will all be asking what to get too no doubt! 😂🙈

Going to sit down with DH tonight and show him this thread and we can look at the bits and order some bits in! I love MN for things like this I knew you ladies would come
Up with some Great and out the box ideas I wouldn't have considered! I was speaking to DS this morning before school and I mentioned again about only having one present to open and he agreed he may be a bit sad but still that there wasn't anything he could really think and was adamant he would like a day out of so I said perhaps I will get a couple of surprises that he might not have thought of to open and a couple of days out and he thought that was a good idea!

DS has asked for a watch too (he'll be 7 in Jan).
He loves his Snap Circuits, he can't read that well so can't do them on his own though he does try sometimes.

You can wrap up experiences so that he has something to unwrap. Make up vouchers on your computer and disguise them in different shape boxes.

We did a zoo keeper day. It was absolutely fabulous.

What about doing a few fast food vouchers that he can hand one to you when he fancies a kfc or macdonalds for example. Cheapish and gives him a bit of control over his food choices.

A gliding day might be more fun than a helicopter - gliders are just wonderful elegant machines, while helicopters are just turbocharged egg-beaters.

Depending on your local airfield options you might be able to do both and get a discount :)

Fast food vouchers he would love however he is type 1 diabetic so we don't want to encourage too much fast food and we tend to stick with days where he's been more active so it balances out atm!

DH said about a glider - I didn't think he would be old enough? and tbh the idea scares me! Haha! Plus I don't know if he could be trusted not to touch all the buttons etc! Where as in a helicopter one of us would be with him and could watch over him a glider is one behind the other isn't it? I saw a really cool aerobatics in a plane but you need to be 11 for that! And you can start lessons at 11 so perhaps only 3 more years of not knowing what to buy!! 😂🙈

What about a remote controlled plane (or car)?

That jigsaw which is a picture of a can of baked beans emptied on a plate. Not a huge number of pieces, but impossible to do!

Set of Biggles books.

Old fashioned pilot hat with ear flaps
Mini drone
Book on the history of flight. There are some nice kids autobiographies of famous people, there might be a flight one
DVDs on the history of flight or modern flight innovations
Model plane kits