Christmas gifts

Mo will be turning four right after Christmas.

I am planning on getting him a bigger bike, the Pee-Wee's Playhouse collection on DVD and some kind of kid type digital camera (he really loves cameras and I don't really like him to use mine).

Thats about it for us. He doesn't really play with toys much though - he's more the "you be the spider mommy and I'll be the spider baby" type of kid.

I can't believe it's time for Christmas shopping again!

At toysrus.com you can shop by age. This should give you a general idea of the kinds of things your children will like to play with.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/171280/ref%3Drd%5Ftru%5Fhp%5FSTE/002-8157582-1711247

Oh yeah ---- I'm also trying to get on an excursion of the Southern Pacific 4449 because Mo loves trains more than anything else. (http://www.4449.com/)

boomer, duckie and ducklet had a toy camera by chico that took real pictures and they loved it till they broke it. It uses film though, not digital. We got them both bikes this summer because they both have winter b-days and can't ride in the snow.

Duckie has a brio train set, I was thinking of getting him some pieces to expand it, but that's all I can think of for him so far. Colorbook, thanks for the suggestion. I've shopped by age on eToys but tthough it's hard to wade through the results, I'll try toysrus.

Have they both got all the good skating, skiing, toboganning, snowshoeing stuff?

Snowshoes are great for small people in snowy areas.

Oooh, good idea. My sister bought duckie snowshoes last year and they still fit him. I should get a pair for ducklet. They could use a good sled too. Thanks ehBeth!

I'm the outdoor winter gear gal, FreeDuck. hamburger and mrs. hamburger had me on skates before I could walk.

There is so much wonderful stuff. If you're thinking of going snowshoeing with them - think about getting some little binoculars - so that they can look at owls in trees, and stuff like that. I had my first bird i.d. book when I wasn't much past 5 - and there are some really good ones for children now - my favourite one is in English/French (covers a lot of things for the kidlets - the bird AND the word in French).

More great ideas. I'm originally from Florida so I tend to hibernate in winter and, unfortunately, the duckies suffer. I'm going to make an effort to get out more this winter -- maybe even take a snowboarding lesson. Both duckies are now old enough for some early ski lessons, it'll just be a matter of whether we have the time and money to take them.

Mo has a Poloroid camera now but the film breaks the bank. Thats why I was thinking digital.

Brio stuff is cool. We have a lot of that. Target sells a great knockoff at a very good price that fits with all the Brio stuff.

One thing Mo really loves is this toolbox that we filled up with realistic toy tools. That stuff has held his interest longer than just about anything else.

Some kind of easy care pet might be good - like a lizard or something.

Freeduck, hamburger and mrs. hamburger were immigrants to Canada, with no real experience of winter (at least not the way we know it here) when I was born. There are some rather sweet pix of hamburger in a sporty beret pushing a weeBeth around on her weeSkates. He looks a bit cold - now he knows about proper headgear in winter. :wink:

That's a great idea ehbeth...I want my granddaughter to explore...instead of sitting with Barbies in front of the TV. Can you give me a link to a child's bird book?

When our son was younger my wife and extended family always bought him non-violent gender non-specific toys. So we wound up with TONS of Lego. Guess what he built using the Lego? GUNS, lots and lots of HUGE GUNS. I never showed him how, that's just the ways boys are. Save the 5-yera old some time:

Colorbook, I'll look for a link.

that's funny, cjhsa. i used to build a lot of cameras with my lego. cameras and trucks.

My son can have more fun with a stick and a piece of string than just about anything else.

I liked stones.
For throwing at people.

I looked sooooooo sweet.
Ha!

My kids both love legos. My son mostly builds buildings and cars and trains with them. He may build guns when he's older but he hasn't shown the inclination just yet.

Lots of recommendations have been covered.

This would probably be more in the share category, but one of the most successful presents I've given ever was a dress-up chest for sozlet. I went out after Halloween and got a bunch of super cheapo costumes. (Not too late, now is about prime time if you can find them. I got several at Jo-Ann fabrics, the rest were from a local speciality Halloween shop.) I was purposely gender neutral/ mixed, a fuzzy bear costume, firefighter costume etc. as well as fairy wings and princess dresses.

I gave it to sozlet for her 3rd birthday, she still plays with it all the time. I have been adding things here and there. Great for imaginary play, and her friends love to come over and dress up, too.

Art supplies always go over big. (Also probably more shared, hmm. All of my ideas are for one kid.)

She has binoculars, loves em. We have just a regular pocket bird book, small but not for kids, with big pictures of birds and sorted by color. She really loves that.

Snow stuff definitely.

The dress-up chest was a great gift, soz. And great timing! 4 yrs. old is the peak of the dress-up years for most kids. My son is 10, and he and friends still dress up in the old Halloween costumes sometimes when we make them stop playing with the electronics.

I was thinking of something like that, soz. Ducklet must have worn her halloween costume about 10 times before halloween -- she loves dressup. So does duckie, especially if it involves hats. Our local toysrus had some play costumes out, super cheap, around the time we were shopping for halloween. They had a meter maid, a waitress, a doctor, and more, and they were all really good (meter maid came with a ticket pad!) I think I'll go back and see if I can find some more. I even have an old trunk I can use.