Gift ideas please for little boy with severe Downs Syndrome

[Rhubarb0oooo]

My nephew turns 8 in a week and I want to buy him a suitable gift. He has severe Downs Syndrome so I want to get him something that he'll love and can actually play with, unlike many other toys. They do tend to have a house full of toys however, but I can't really get him a book. So does anyone have any ideas of something inexpensive that won't be just chucked on the toy pile?

does he have a keyboard? i get a bit fixated with 'improving' toys and it's the first thing i check for gifts now - all that fine motor practice and music to boot!

They pretty much have everything like that. My sister has 4 kids in total and they are very spoilt, so I wanted to get something a little different that was just for him. Would he like a light sensory gadget I wonder?

is there anything in particular he enjoys doing? You could hand make him a voucher for an afternoon out somewhere with his favourite aunty, take your camera and make him up a little memory book of the time out.

there are some really cool ones... difficult without knowing him though, and some of the sn stuff is wildly expensive.

on a cheaper note, loads of the kids in our sn group loved the pocket money stuff from hawkins bazaar - the flashy light thingys, and the daft squishy tactile toys. actually, saying that, my nt kids loved them too... and they often have cool light stuff, especially coming up to christmas as well... might be worht a look?

Unfortunately my sister no longer speaks to me, so sending presents is the only contact I have. Although this was as much my choice as it was hers, ours is a very destructive family and in order to protect myself and my own family I had to cut some of my ties. We do have each other's addresses though and so I want to make sure her children know that I'm still around.

I wanted to order something from Amazon to be sent to him. He does like music but also loves special effects like flashing lights and so on. His attention span isn't great though and he soon moves from one toy to another.

Maybe I could get some sort of light to go in his room? What are those lights that you touch and the electricity sparks follow your hand?

i was thinking swimming, ninja i bet they don't get to the pool v often with 4 kids inc 1 with sn . followed by pizza?

oh, maybe not.

some of those are quite fragile - i wouldn't let my 8yo have one in her room tbh, unless you can find a robust one! they tend to look like they are easily broken (but very cool).

It also depends on how severe you are talking and where his issues are. My son is 10 and has severe down syndrome too. I have loads of problems trying to work out what to buy him for Christmas and birthdays. He's quite often gone without, without that sounding too harsh. Iv'e wasted ££££££££££££'s on him. It also depends on what he's into and what he likes. It also depends on how much your spending.

I know it's expensive and i'm sure I have seen this cheaper, but I'm thinking about this , to use with social stories in etc. HTH.

amazon look to have some lava lamps, but not sure on robustness?

If you type "Special Needs Toys" into amazon, hundreds of toys come up from the online shop of the same name. The sensory/lights stuff starts from under a fiver.

you can get some good fibre optic lights that are v cheap and my DD with Down's syndrome loves them, she is 9.

Ooh thanks, didn't think of typing in special needs toys. Good heads up on the fragility of things too.

I like the idea of a talking photo album - how cool is that?

You're welcome, we've found their shop very useful. The talking album does look great - we have one for the same price range that only allows 3 minutes - that one has 100 minutes!

I second multi sensory toys, something that vibrates, lights, or glows in the dark. Or some toys for the bath? fibre optic lights sound great. A disco ball? they are great fun for any kid.

I might print that off and insert it into an envelope for my sister, she might find a few gift ideas herself from there.

Just found a light strobing fan that he can hold and might get him a bouncing light ball to go with it. Lots of ideas on Amazon!