My geeky 15yr DS and the weirdest Christmas list ever

[FuckingHateRats]

My son has asked for: headphones (standard), dried mango, dried banana chips, microfibre cloths to clean his glasses with, and one of those blue BIC pens that have the four coloured nibs to make notes in his classes 🤣🤣🤣 he's also added refills for his pilot BtP pens (a very specific request).

I have bought the usual slippers, a (Primark) oodie, pringles etc.

He has significantly less to open than his younger sisters.

I'm thinking of ordering Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors amzn.eu/d/9NJkl9U THIS BOOK (he loves maths and coding so seems right up his street) but would love any ideas of (hopefully useful) bits and pieces he can open. He's asked for so little and says he is really lucky because he doesn't need anything🤷🏻‍♀️

He does not care about branded clothes, does not care about his hair etc, so things like aftershave and sporty t-shirts/joggers are out.

I have this issues 2 kids a girl and boy teen who I can bulk out with ps5 games, clothes and skincare , vouchers and bits and bobs then a 19yr old boy that has asked for one board game, lined a4 paper refil pads socks, a usb stick!

Cool list.

Science museum do sleepovers too! And there's an evening event once a month or so.

@ouch44 it was pretty impressive seeing the size of the discs to store what we'd consider tiny amounts of info today.

@beautifulyoungmind thank you! Hadn't come across pimoroni before but now trying to convince myself I don't need a robot mars rover. Amazing how much stuff has come along, when I did a degree in aerospace we didn't have any of this sort of stuff and I'm only in my 30s.

Have you printed the gchq Christmas card for him? www.gchq.gov.uk/news/xmaschallenge2022

Always a bit sus being expected to download something from gchq but realistically I am not interesting enough to be worth them hacking 😂

@Aspiringmatriarch I ordered from present indicative on Friday and it all came yesterday! I picked the fastest delivery option, but was surprised even so! Particularly as we are nowhere near them.

Fingers crossed then! I ordered the pyramid one last night. They only had one delivery option (free) so it may have to be an IOU on the day but I think DS10 will really like it and he's so difficult to buy for!

Maybe find some fun science memes and get them printed on t-shirts?

I'm still chuckling about velocirator=speedraptor/timeraptor...

Also, maybe see if there's any clubs for IT/science you could pay membership for for him for the year?

And if he has sisters, I'm sure a 'no girls allowed' sign for his door wouldn't be a miss. Lol

Thank you SO much for this amazing thread. Based on your recommendations I have now spent a bloody fortune!! 😂I think my engineer DH and geeky 13 year old DS will be over the moon though!

Your son sounds adorable. One of my sons hasn't asked for anything. My other son is still adding to his list!

Would it be tediously worthy to point out that boys (such as the OP's son) as well as girls should be reading about feminism?

How about this as a stocking filler:
www.calendarclub.co.uk/this-day-in-science-desk-calendar-2023-308022/

How about a hanayama puzzle or 2. About 12 each and are nice objects as well as being pretty hard to solve if you choose the higher levels. Great extra gifts for geeky men/ boys.

Also second a trip somewhere like a science venue or something to do with flight? One DS always asked for a trip to a gaming festival in Birmingham each year. Buy the tickets and reserve a hotel and put the details in a card.

My DS, also 15 and, hopefully, taking A level Physics next year as he wants to study Astrophysics at university (sure they've not been cloned @FuckingHateRats ? suggested Instant Physics by Giles Sparrow www.amazon.co.uk/Instant-Physics-Thinkers-Theories-Discoveries/dp/1787394174/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1HA0Z3UQGHGTZ&keywords=instant+physics+book&qid=1671374546&sprefix=instant+phy%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1

It explains loads of physics theory. Each theory is covered in just one page...I was treated to why Schrödinger's cat theory doesn't work this morning (oh the joy...)

Oh and my DS and his friend's love a four colour pen. They all compare which ones they got when they get back after Christmas. Very back in fashion in his school.

If you decide to buy a Rubik's cube, get a Bluetooth one. You can do challenges on it or race other players online. There are also tutorials for beginners.

Another vote for the What If? books they're full of geeky fun scientific facts

Also bought DD some freeze dried astronaut ice cream from Amazon as a stocking filler

Rather than buying him specific books, what about a Kindle? There are lots of free books available for him to choose from and you can also give him some vouchers to buy some as well, depending on your budget. I was cynical about a Kindle at first as I love paper books but being able to carry an entire library wherever I go is a game changer.

If a 15 yr old doesn’t already have a tablet, he’s likely to have one fairly soon and can read Kindle books on that, so I don’t agree a Kindle would be a good idea.

The Kindle is simply a much better reading experience. Like many people, I have both. For reading books, the Kindle beats the tablet hands down.

I'm inclined to think that kids who already spend a lot of time on screens - even moreso if their hobby (and maybe eventual degree and career) is coding, may benefit from reading actual books.

My teenagers all prefer real books to their kindles.

Thank you to those who answered about the Martian for a 17yrold. I ordered Humble Pi last night, thanks OP, and it’s arrived this morning. Much as I want to hate Amazon it’s made life very easy.

He might be a bit dated now, but I loved Douglas Addams' books as a teenager, if your son is interested in that sci-fi/comic genre that might be an idea.

Very similar to my 18 y/o Ds list.
It's a great list. I've added a professional lock pick set that's he learned about on his Cyber Security course. A couple of Tech Tshirts & (more) cables.
When Dd was 11 she wanted a kilo block of cheddar all of her own & (many) cube boxes of tissues to make a Fort with. She got both.This year she wants 3D sniper clothing & a BB gun (she'll get the clothes but a new Nerf instead). She's Autistic.

She might need a new bookcase!