Present for super bright six year old who loves learning

[FreeBritnee]

I was wondering about the LeapFrog stuff that has the electronic pens and books but having researched it I think it’s aimed more at preschoolers.

Anyone else got any ideas?

If you've got an iPad you can get an Osmo and there are lots of different games and challenges that you can add onto it.

Good extra bits to add on if family ask what he would like.

6 is too old for Leapfrog.
We were on to Professor Layton puzzle solving games on the Nintendo DS by then.

Thank you. Some of the things we already have however they were for my older child and actually haven’t gone through my younger child’s hands yet. So I need to have a sort out.

I’m going to look at the leapfrog thing again. I’ve seen the 3D version advertised and need to see what it’s all about. He loves having stuff that’s just his, hence why I’m searching for something we haven’t already got.

I have seen some books that I think he’ll like. The Let’s Pretend range. www.wob.com/en-gb/books/roger-priddy/let-s-pretend-al-s-auto-workshop/9781843329725?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3Z3x74qY9AIVb4xoCR2VQQBeEAQYASABEgLfy_D_Bw

@PlanDeRaccordement

6 is too old for Leapfrog. We were on to Professor Layton puzzle solving games on the Nintendo DS by then.

I’m loathe to walk further into Gaming just yet. They have a WII and an iPad. I’m putting off the rest of it as long as I can.

@lobsteroll

If you've got an iPad you can get an Osmo and there are lots of different games and challenges that you can add onto it.

Good extra bits to add on if family ask what he would like.

I’ve seen the Osmo advertised. Need to look at that again.

Ok. But Professor Layton is educational in nature. Logic, maths, spatial puzzles.

Lego technic, there is more to it than normal lego. The younger sets start at 7+ but a bright 6 year old will be able to handle it. Or a 7 or 8+ normal lego set.

National Geographic Kids magazine. You can add a gift box to it at the moment which comes with a few other national geographic stuff including first issue which makes it a nice present to open. Especially when you tell them they'll be getting a magazine in the post box just for them every month!

My son at that age, use to like learning type things, always had lego, and meccano, and those boxes of science things, for doing simple experiments etc. He always had books, that were a bit beyond his age, like learning about things in the world in general. He could read well from aged 2, so always wanted books that were educational.

For instance,my late Husband was an aircraft engineer, working on jumbo jets, and had lots of aircraft books on the shelves, and our son used to read them a lot at this young age.

Meccano is an interesting idea. We don’t have any because my older child wasn’t interested. My younger child is really into tools and building so that might actually be right up his street!

Electronic 'learning' toys are usually a bit shit and more limiting, seeing as they only do one thing and they usually do it badly in a nasal American accent. A kid will get far more out of using their own brain to think creatively, rather than being spoonfed by some electronic quiz thing. Tablets and instant-gratification games stifle attention span, they don't nurture it.

Castle Logix is excellent, as are some of the larger marble runs - wooden ones are much easier to be creative with than the plastic snap ones, but Gravitrax is also very creative. Laser Maze. All spatial awareness and problem solving.

Personally I wouldn't choose a magazine subscription for a 6 year old. The first one is a small present and by the time the next one arrives they've forgotten Xmas ever happened 😂 I also wouldn't choose a fact book because if he has an iPad then I think he would look it up on Wikipedia or the like. Fact books also date very quickly. What is he interested in and what price range are you considering? The mode complex LEGOs in a movie of his choosing are popular. If he likes technology then I would be looking towards basic coding kits which start at that age range. They come with programmable r2D2 droids or similar characters which are very popular. If he's patient and open to learning then that present might grow with him. A game for his Wii that he likes? If he's already got an iPad then I would avoid the leap frog. He will outgrow it really quickly and he's already for the older version in a tablet. If he wants a tablet of his own then the android versions are much cheaper and will outlast a leap frog.

Gravitrax?

They have Gravitrax but don’t love it. It does come out, but not often. They love their magnetic building blocks. They have everything from gears and motors, blocks, geomax, things that slot together, Knex. Their Nanny has bought them a toy shop which doesn’t help!

I’ve just found Learning Resources Tumble Trax Magnetic Marble Run and that would definitely go down well with their white board. So I’ve stuck that in the basket. Nothing else is leaping out. I’ll go look at Osmo again.

@ilovepuppies2019

Personally I wouldn't choose a magazine subscription for a 6 year old. The first one is a small present and by the time the next one arrives they've forgotten Xmas ever happened 😂 I also wouldn't choose a fact book because if he has an iPad then I think he would look it up on Wikipedia or the like. Fact books also date very quickly. What is he interested in and what price range are you considering? The mode complex LEGOs in a movie of his choosing are popular. If he likes technology then I would be looking towards basic coding kits which start at that age range. They come with programmable r2D2 droids or similar characters which are very popular. If he's patient and open to learning then that present might grow with him. A game for his Wii that he likes? If he's already got an iPad then I would avoid the leap frog. He will outgrow it really quickly and he's already for the older version in a tablet. If he wants a tablet of his own then the android versions are much cheaper and will outlast a leap frog.

That sounds interesting. I’ve never heard of the Lego you’ve talked about. He’s very good at Lego and enjoys building the models but we have SO much Lego. I’m loathe to buy more. They love Playmobil so I’m heading more in that direction if anything.

DD (8 and pretty advanced STEM-wise) is currently playing with a Hotwires electronics set that was a present from last Christmas. She also likes building stuff and loved marble runs and so on at 6. She really likes the ThinkFun games, and is very into crafting and building - KNex, Lego technic, and indoor drones to fly have also been big hits during the last couple of years.

Lego do a set that’s designed to introduce children to coding:
www.lego.com/en-gb/themes/boost/about
If he likes lego and science/technology then it might be a good gift. It comes with an app so depending on budget you could get him a tablet that’s aimed at children to go with it- it would probably last longer and be more flexible than the leapfrog stuff and if it’s just his you can control what he accesses on it (you can also download a kindle app from Amazon onto a tablet so he can use it to read books/listen to audiobooks).

Goldiblox (or similar eg tinyurl.com/w583jh4u
Science Museum has some really cool stuff
Lego - always a winner in my experience
House4house (www.house4house.org/)

I think I would want to try and introduce new areas for a super bright kid so if everything has been a bit science-y I would try to think of something that was more word or aesthetically focused (or vice versa depending on previous exposure).

It might also be worth thinking about skills - learning to knit or cook or to make candles or mosaics etc might be activities you'd enjoy doing together.