Gift ideas for child who doesn't like traditional toys

[Element]

I love to shop for gifts, but dd always baffles me and her 8th birthday is in 3 weeks. What the heck do you give a kid who only likes junk? All day long, she wants to play with empty shoe boxes, masking tape, jelly jars, flashlights, yardsticks, and things that can be thrown at other things. This child, given a choice between an iPod and an 8' 2X4, wouldn't even hesitate to choose the board. The other day she asked for a few feet of plastic tubing and when dh brought it home, her eyes lit up like it was a pony. The only actual toys she plays with are her bike, hula hoops, and jump ropes.

 

She already has all the standard toys (dollhouse, camera, Legos, Snap Circuits, kits for science and crafts) so I need some "outside the box" suggestions. I actually thought about putting together a "junk box" but I don't know what to put in it. Any and all suggestions are welcome, just keep in mind my $50 budget limit. Thanks!

[*Lulu*]

I would create a tinkering kit for her, complete with a starter set of tools.

[melbotoast]

I've seen a few of these pegboard marble runs around and thought they looked like a really fun idea. They would be good for a child who likes to tinker :)

 

http://www.smm.org/studio3d/mar_mach.html

http://www.ambrosiagirl.com/blog/diy-marble-ramp/

http://www.moebiusnoodles.com/tag/pegboard-marble-run/

[Element]

Yes! These are exactly the kinds of things she would like, and exactly the kinds of things I wasn't thinking of. Thank you!

[Eagle]

A whole bin of PVC pipes and various connectors along with a bed sheet to drape over any constructs (to make a fort).

 

I gave my ds a bin of pipe cleaners, beads, old calendars, wrapping paper tubes, stickers, sequins, pompoms, and several rolls of his own tape. He loved it! I add all sorts of random things (it is now 3 bins) and he just keeps building.

[lailasmum]

How about some more boxes-those sets for moving house are great that have a range of different sizes. Plus box rivets and a set of thick marker pens. Different tapes, gaffer/washi. Do scrap stores exist where you live? Here we can go to the scrap store and fill a bag with bits and bobs (packaging, bits left over from businesses, buttons, paper, tubing, tapes, fabric, glue, paint etc....) for a £1.

[KRG]

One year my son asked for bubble wrap--I got him one of those giant rolls for about $20--I know he had more than $20 worth of fun with it!

[Element]

How about some more boxes-those sets for moving house are great that have a range of different sizes. Plus box rivets and a set of thick marker pens. Different tapes, gaffer/washi. Do scrap stores exist where you live? Here we can go to the scrap store and fill a bag with bits and bobs (packaging, bits left over from businesses, buttons, paper, tubing, tapes, fabric, glue, paint etc....) for a £1.

 

We do not have those here, but I'm pretty sure that's what she would consider "heaven." :D

[Rosie_0801]

A power drill? :laugh:

 

 

(Ours is kept well out of reach of dd. She's dangerous enough with the nails and screws she puts into walls to "fix" them.)

[Spryte]

Hmmm, I think our kids might be soul-mates, right down to choosing the 2x4 over the iPod. :)

 

I totally agree with all of the above suggestions. Here are some more random ideas that I think my Tinker would love:

 

Supplies and instructions to make something like this.

 

Or this one, with pool noodles added, looks like fun!

 

Speaking of pool noodles, they have been a big hit here lately - you might add those to the tinkering kit.

 

Oh! And is she on DIY.org? She might love earning badges there, and you could start her off with supplies to make some of the projects you think she'd like.

[MomtoCandJ]

What is DIY.org about? I've checked it out some but what are the age limits? Are they computer badges or can you get an actual badge to sew onto something? Dd would love doing some of those badges.

[Starr]

Add some mini marshmallows to the pvc pipe and connecters. She can make marshmallow guns!

[LostSurprise]

a Smash book and a stack of photos/old magazines

 

 

 

Someone mentioned it on here last Christmas and I bought one for my 7 year old niece. She immediately started cutting out photos and making cartoons out of the people she knows saying crazy things. Older kids may use it more as a diary/datebook/doodlepage/photobook/real life pinterest page.

[zoobie]

Her very own toolbox (personalized) with tools, funky duct tape, scissors, LED headlamp...

[gardenmom5]

my friends husband was that child. one christmas - his parents gave him a broken motor (that they were told couldn't be fixed). he fixed it. he was older . . . . he was a master diagnostician about engines.

 

indulge her - do the junk box.

 

get old small appliances she can take apart.

old electronics she can take apart.

TOOLS to use for taking apart and putting things together in new and interesting ways.

 

by giving her things already in parts - she can learn about them by taking them apart. get her some "how to build your own . . . " manuals

 

you can always do duct tape in the cool colors. a "duct tape" store just opened someone. all they carry is duct tape. I gave my boys their own rolls one year as a stocking stuffer - they left mine alone.

[Mnemosyne]

You could put together a themed kit, maybe? Things that come to mind are Fort kits (PVC pipe, sheets/cloth, etc), Adventurer/Explorer kits (navigation tools, map, compass), Inventor kit (duct tape, popsicle sticks, wood glue, cardboard, bottles etc OR circuits, electrical tools, etc), Repair kit (for stuffed animals, maybe? Like a doctor's kit? Or even more for actual objects)

[Alte Veste Academy]

One of my DD's favorite gifts ever was this craft toolbox stuffed to the gills. It had sewing stuff, multiple pairs of craft scissors, craft paint/brushes, cardboard, scrapbook paper, all kinds of tape, wire...just everything. Her favorite item was her very own glue gun.

[songsparrow]

McGroovy's plastic box rivets are supposed to allow cardboard boxes to be joined together easily into bigger constructions. Makedo kits are similar, but also include plastic hinges. I've never used either personally, so can't tell you how well they work in reality.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Oh, and I wish this wasn't so expensive, but I have to recommend Steve Caney's Ultimate Building Book.

[lailasmum]

By the way those box rivets they sell are just plastic ratchet rivets. You can buy them cheaper from hardware/electrical supply companies or maybe even eBay.

[helena]

How about a refrigerator box? When my kids were about 8 we read Boxcar Children and found a free (massive) box on Craigslist to convert into a train car.

 

My FIL built a stage in the backyard with PVC to hang a curtain. My kids have played with it in all kinds of creative ways.

 

A rope ladder:

http://www.magiccabi...Rope-Ladder.htm

Outdoor canopy:

http://www.magiccabi...Daisy-Bower.htm

A tent:

http://www.amazon.co...words=kids tent

[Tammi K]

Long pipe insulation foam cut in half ( long way) make great marble track, too. You can run them all over the house not just down a pegbaord. Bonus - they only cost a few dollars each at Lowes ot Home Depot.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Every possible kind of tape, nails and a hammer, different lengths of tubing and board, a tarp. For Christmas we gave our dd a freezer and refrigerator box. Yes, an old box. She was thrilled and is still playing with them.

[unsinkable]

She likes to play with junk...I'd suggest NOT giving her a nearly empty toilet cleaner bottle and aluminum foil.

 

Just saying.

[Gentlemommy]

My 8 year old sounds exactly like yours. I've bought her all manner of toys in years past, but she still gravitates toward junk, outdoor or active type toys. A few weeks ago, we went to the hardware store to buy some little flowers to plant and I found a nice set of kids gardening tools. There was a shovel, rake, and hoe. The nice thing is that they are all tall, like the rake, and are very sturdy. They've made a big hole in the back yard, where they make mud, dig for worms, ect. They fill it with water and play 'pool' lol, they make it the moat around their castle, or a home for their pet alligators. Each of the garden tools was about $10, but they were well, well worth it.

[J-rap]

A subscription to a children's craft magazine, that would require lots of junk? :)

[msjones]

My kids got a lot of use out of the sheets I gave them to play with.

 

Also, I second the enormous box. And this book to go with it:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Christina-Katerina-Box-Patricia-Gauch/dp/1590789156/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367593803&sr=1-1&keywords=christina+katerina+and+the+box

 

The book is wonderful -- about a little girl who plays and plays and plays with an enormous box.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Oh, you know, she is old enough to really tend her own garden now! Years ago, DH built each of the kids their own square foot garden. They picked and planted their own seeds, then tended it. With your DD's enjoyment of building, she might like to build the box(es) herself. It was surprisingly easy.

 

My DD begged me to plant herbs this year. I cannot keep herbs alive to save my life. Seriously. It is terribly sad. I bought some for her. She repotted most and planted some from seed. It's going rather well. The look on my DH's face when he came home that night was priceless. "Really, Sweetie? You're trying herbs again?" (This is a fair reaction, because I've been failing at growing herbs since my very first try about 16 years ago. My last disastrous harvest was just last year.) :lol: DD's herb garden has been significantly more successful than any of mine have ever been.

[Susan in TN]

How about Snap Circuits?