Would prefer it to not be “hair” 'makeup" girlish oriented, but rather something challenging for her mind. I am her Uncle, and would like something maybe aimed at DIY outside of Lego if you know what I mean. Budget is small, maybe 39.99? Can move either way if needed
Advice, much needed as a 36 y/o male with no kids
Ask your sibling if it would be ok, to take her out to a museum or something similar.
Or aks them what she currently is into and try and get her something you know she’d love.
Would be lovely, unfortunately I live a few states away, so I can’t don’t that this time. I appreciate the thought though
I’d say experiences is still a good answer, its what we ask for when it comes to the kids. They have tons of toys already, they don’t need more, and I’m too particular about tech for my.kids for anyone to buy them tech (without it just getting returned).
We go to animal preserves, science centers, art museums, renaissance fairs, etc. Tickets only for the kids, its more like “pick an event/activity” than anything else I guess.
Sometimes we wait for family to visit so they can go too, sometimes we just take lots of pictures.
Aside from that…
- Rock tumblers are great, but loud, so talk with parents first.
- There are some great kits out there to learn to sew.
- There are electronics kits for kids that basically snap together in different arrangements for different circuits
- Marble kits (where you build different layouts) can be fun
- Terrariums with guides are always a good option IMO
- Magnet blocks are also really fun and can be reused a bunch
If she likes drawing a big set of decent-ish markers could go a long way.
Something like that.
She needs a sword. It’s educational.
I once bought my niece a marble run. I got some shit for it, because I guess some people just don’t get it? But she loved it, and my 6-year-old daughter now loves marble runs too.
My daughter also collects rocks, so a rock tumbler was a big one for her.
Another gift for a niece I got shit for was a drum. She loved it. She was so excited that it was a real instrument. My brother always said he’d get me back, but my daughter got a full-ass drum kit for Christmas, and I think it’s great.
Oh, and make your own slime kits are huge right now. It’s science-y, DIY, and kids love slime.
I once bought my niece a marble run. I got some shit for it
By her parents? Either way, who the hell criticizes a gift to someone else? Especially if the recipient ends up loving it!?
It was good natured. I wasn’t offended.
I just think it’s funny how some people are all about marble runs and some people just don’t get it. No in between. Personally I’m all about marble runs.
I think the problem with the marble run is the constant “rrrrrrr tick-tick rrrrr tick rrrr”, but aside from the noise it’s a great toy and a core component of any child’s toy box. It’s also the start of many Rube Goldberg machines running through your living room.
Maybe not in the “smart mind challenging” category but there are plenty of craft kits for your budget: paint canvases by numbers, make your own accessories with clay, bead jewelry, basic engineering kits (build your own robot types), dig your own fossil kits, build-this-or-that-with-LEDlights, gardening kits for kids, etc.
My point is to expand your horizon a bit, it’s perfectly fine that you want to cater to her intelligence and not just go for something girly in a cliche sense. But she can also enjoy crafting stuff.
Board games. Catan junior, Loopin Chewie, Robot turtles, Tsuro, Abracada…What?, camel up.
Regular price
Catan Jr, didn’t know that existed I’ll have to look into what games are around. I know her Dad taught our parents how to play Settlers of Catan a number of years ago before she was born, so that’s something that she may have parents/grandparents to play with. She has a brother that is 2 years younger, so maybe they’ll be able to play that together soon enough.
Ticket to Ride: First Journey and Qwirkle are also good choices for that age range. Qwirkle is great because it’s simple but fun for all ages. My kids loved it when they were young and still play it frequently at 16 and 25.
Sudoku book, maybe? If the likes making things, origami paper and an insteuction book? OH, I remember as a kid this toy that was short plastic sticks with magnets at the end and ball bearings ao you would make structures and stuff with em, fun to play with and suits the vibe you’re looking for I think.
https://www.smartgames.eu/uk/one-player-games/iq-gears
My boys love this game.
Loads of replay value.
Awesome to also have it to teach others how to play. If she has that teaching spirit, this game is great.
I was about that age when I was gifted a microscope. No idea if you can still find them that cheap, though
Microscopes are definitely available in OP’s price range.
In my area’s thrift stores, $500 microscopes are available for $10, no joke. People buy them for their kids, kids never use them, into the box and off to the donation center!
ant farm
Modeling clay and good quality paints.
Artistic, technical, no real “rules”, and a good amount of skill building.
Thinkpad thin client with Gentoo
Charades for kids. It uses her creativity.
There are also kits for learning about electricity for kids of that age. For making a light switch or making a doorbell buzzer and simple things like that.
i had those as a kid, with clamp boards where you could plug in resistors, transistors, switches, diodes, a spool and in later editions even simple IC’s, speakers, lamps, a potentionmeter and so on; was powered by a 9V battery and you could build a radio, flipflop’s, alarm circuits and so on; i spent countless hours with that, was called Elektro Technik by Kosmos. They still have similar stuff on https://store.thamesandkosmos.com/ from what i saw, even if there aren’t as many expansions as i had, but instead there’s more robotics stuff (which is probably more fun for kids anyways)
Found it, this was the comment you were pointing me to right? I’ll save it and I’m going to dig through all these sites/suggestions on Friday night/ Saturday to narrow it all down. Those do look cool! Thanks
Now that sounds amazing, any kits or companies that sell something she may like
SnapCircuits!
They have a bunch of different kits, there’s like a music one that’ll even let you make a circuit that plays music from a phone.
They are absolutely a WONDERFUL introduction to electricity for a kid.
Is she too young for an Arduino starter kit?
https://store-usa.arduino.cc/products/arduino-starter-kit-multi-language
Edit: the great thing about these is that you can eventually add a raspberry pi to the mix for even more functionality and learning fun!
