I figured out Christmas but need a little help

[TechWife]

I am so excited. I figured out what to get extended family members for Christmas! We only buy for children who are attending school or younger, so no adults to buy for. I usually come up with some sort of theme and this year's theme is "family slumber party." I just have a few  of questions and thought I’d tap into the Hive for help. 

Each child will get pj's and fuzzy socks. What is a good source for pj’s for my Florida peeps? They are 6   & 8 year old girls and I imagine flannel pj’s wouldn’t be the best idea. 

Everything else is a family gift:

Movie: Either Hidden Figures (high school), October Sky(Middle & Upper Elementary) or Akela and the Bee (lower elementary), depending on the age of the kids

game: Settlers of Cattan for the middle & high schoolers, Ticket to Ride for the upper elementary kids. What game for lower elementary? Apples to Apples, maybe?

box of microwave popcorn

popcorn bowl

good quality hot chocolate mix

mugs

movie candy

maybe nail polish for the girls and water balloons for the guys - I'm not sure

 

Edited November 25, 2018 by TechWife

[ktgrok]

I'm in florida and buy most of my kids' pajamas from Children's Place. Easy to shop online, and they have ones that are 100 percent cotton. I avoid like the plague the synthetic fabric ones as they are way too hot for our climate. But the 100 percent cotton, even the long sleeves, are fine. 

[HomeAgain]

5 hours ago, kand said:

You might look at Hanna Andersson pajamas for the Florida girls. They have long john and short John styles in cotton knit. They’re running a very good sale on their pjs this weekend, too. 

These have been our favorite, but compared to others they can be pricey.  If you can get them on sale it's the way to go. 

[Janeway]

I do not think I would do water balloons for the boys. Since the girls are getting nail polish, it should be something artsy for the boys too. Otherwise, get all of them small nerf guns. Water balloons are loved by both genders and not only would make the girls jealous but would be a mess inside the house. Not sure if you live where it is warm enough to go outside to do it. But my daughter would cry if her brothers got water balloons and she did not. She would love nail polish, but she would want the water guns too.

[purpleowl]

Apples to Apples requires reading and has some words and names that I think lower elementary kids would be unfamiliar with. Unless you're talking about a junior version - I have only played the regular one.

Labyrinth is one that's fun for various ages and easy to adapt for younger ones - either they can play on a team, or they can look at all their cards and choose which one to do next rather than having to do whichever one is next in the stack.

Or maybe a cooperative game like Castle Panic would be good. It says ages 10 & up, but in my experience it is fine for younger kids, especially since everyone is working as a team to win or lose the game together. (The one I thought of first was Break the Safe, but it's crazy expensive now! It wasn't when we got it.)

[Pippen]

2 hours ago, Janeway said:

I do not think I would do water balloons for the boys. Since the girls are getting nail polish, it should be something artsy for the boys too. Otherwise, get all of them small nerf guns. Water balloons are loved by both genders and not only would make the girls jealous but would be a mess inside the house. Not sure if you live where it is warm enough to go outside to do it. But my daughter would cry if her brothers got water balloons and she did not. She would love nail polish, but she would want the water guns too.

Agree. This happened sometimes with my DD, who is the only girl of all the grandchildren. They'd get the fun toys.  She'd get the stuffed poodle. 

[TechWife]

You are all so much help as always! I'm going with Children's Place for the jammies for the youngest ones.

For games, the early elementary mom says they have been playing these games lately, so similar skill games would be good (they are 6 & 8 ) - Simon, Don't Break the Ice, Pimki Pop, Crazy Cube, Googly eyes, Greedy Granny & Silly Street. Any ideas for me? 

 

[TechWife]

Just an FYI - The Children's Place web site is running their cyber Monday deals. I just purchased several pairs of pj's for $6.78 each and some flip flops for my Florida girls for $2.98 each (the others are getting fuzzy socks).

[Kareni]

18 hours ago, TechWife said:

What game for lower elementary?

Two to consider ~

Rat-a-tat Cat

Qwirkle

Regards,
Kareni

[ScoutTN]

Game for youngers - Sleeping Queens.

I like small nerf guns for all! 

[Storygirl]

Apples to Apples Disney version is great for early readers, because the cards have pictures (scenes from Disney movies). We love it.

But we also love Sleeping Queens.

[TechWife]

OK - I have pajamas for the littles (well, those under size 16) for $6.78 a set. I have ordered some movies - Hidden Figures is $3.99 (going to both high school families), October Sky is $8.32 (going to upper elementary & middle school families) and Akeelah and the Bee is $9.69 (going to lower elementary family). Games are much pricier! One middle school/high school family is getting Settlers of Cattan, the other high school family is getting Exploding Kittens and Dutch Blitz.  Upper elementary family is getting Ticket to Ride, Lower elementary family is getting Qwirkle.

I still need a game for an upper elementary/middle school family. The boys play a lot of video games and the parents won't play board games with them (very much video games & tv are babysitters). Any suggestions for games that would be engaging, not take a lot of time and not require adult assistance?  I was thinking of Set, but I'm not sure. I looked through the thread on games and nothing seemed appropriate. This is for a 4th grader and a 6th grader.

I need to pj shop for the teens - I'm going to head to the Old Navy site next and see what they have. I'll look for fuzzy socks there, too.

I ordered some theater style popcorn boxes from Amazon for fun. I'm going to pick up some popcorn and some hot chocolate at the grocery store. I'll price movie candy, but it's not high on my list of things to get, honestly.

I don't think I'll do nail polish or water balloons or anything like that - it's hard to get things that people will all like, I think.

This is turning out to be a lot less expensive than many of the other things we have done through the years, honestly.

[lovinmyboys]

For the 4th and 6th grade boys I would get the card game Dragonwood.

[vmsurbat1]

For the boys, if it is just for the two of them, what about the classic Battleship?

I second Labyrinth--that is a great game for all ages.  We have lots of guests and everyone from age 6-60 has enjoyed playing it...

[Rachel]

My 5th grader suggests:

Quirkle, Ticket to Ride Jr, Catan, Chess, or Chinese checkers. He likes Battleship ok but said it takes too long (could be that his sister cheats). 

[AmandaVT]

Pyramix is a fun one for those ages. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pyramix-Three-Sided-Strategy-Game/dp/B00JRGG3ZE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1543246467&sr=8-3&keywords=pyramix

 

[Kareni]

12 hours ago, TechWife said:

I still need a game for an upper elementary/middle school family. The boys play a lot of video games and the parents won't play board games with them (very much video games & tv are babysitters). Any suggestions for games that would be engaging, not take a lot of time and not require adult assistance?  I was thinking of Set, but I'm not sure. ..... This is for a 4th grader and a 6th grader.

I think SET is a great game; however, it's a game that is best learned, in my opinion, by watching someone explain how it works.  Therefore, I'd likely skip it in this case.

Regards,
Kareni

[Jaz]

We like our battleship card game. I don't see the exact one on amazon but they have other sets.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

14 hours ago, TechWife said:

OK - I have pajamas for the littles (well, those under size 16) for $6.78 a set. I have ordered some movies - Hidden Figures is $3.99 (going to both high school families), October Sky is $8.32 (going to upper elementary & middle school families) and Akeelah and the Bee is $9.69 (going to lower elementary family). Games are much pricier! One middle school/high school family is getting Settlers of Cattan, the other high school family is getting Exploding Kittens and Dutch Blitz.  Upper elementary family is getting Ticket to Ride, Lower elementary family is getting Qwirkle.

I still need a game for an upper elementary/middle school family. The boys play a lot of video games and the parents won't play board games with them (very much video games & tv are babysitters). Any suggestions for games that would be engaging, not take a lot of time and not require adult assistance?  I was thinking of Set, but I'm not sure. I looked through the thread on games and nothing seemed appropriate. This is for a 4th grader and a 6th grader.

I need to pj shop for the teens - I'm going to head to the Old Navy site next and see what they have. I'll look for fuzzy socks there, too.

I ordered some theater style popcorn boxes from Amazon for fun. I'm going to pick up some popcorn and some hot chocolate at the grocery store. I'll price movie candy, but it's not high on my list of things to get, honestly.

I don't think I'll do nail polish or water balloons or anything like that - it's hard to get things that people will all like, I think.

This is turning out to be a lot less expensive than many of the other things we have done through the years, honestly.

 

 

Blink is a similar concept to SET but much faster paced.  Another option would be a poker set with chips.  Poker is more fun with more players, but they might have friends they can talk into it.  Another great game that works well with two players is Carcassone.  My 6th grade son and I looooove that game.  

[TechWife]

16 hours ago, heartlikealion said:

I’d do Dollar Tree for movie box candy. If you have that store. 

Bath soaps? if you need to toss in something extra. I’m thinking bedtime ritual — soap, toothbrushes, sleep masks, pillow cases. Lotion? Like the lotion/gloves for hands. Ultra usually has the 5 for $5 items! But if you do lotion look at the seals. One year some of mine were obviously used by customers. 

I bought games for that age range. I got ds a Mario game from Target. I don’t know, I think it’s a card game? He also owns the card game version of Minecraft, Oregon Trail and Stranger Things though they do look like a pain to learn. Maybe the Mario one is easier. At game day they were spending a lot of time making space and reading rules for OT. 

A few years back I did "bed time bags" with pillow cases, bubble bath/bathtub paint, toothbrushes, a book to read and a journal to draw or write in. I these ideas this might be too close to that.

[TechWife]

On 11/25/2018 at 10:10 AM, purpleowl said:

Apples to Apples requires reading and has some words and names that I think lower elementary kids would be unfamiliar with. Unless you're talking about a junior version - I have only played the regular one.

Labyrinth is one that's fun for various ages and easy to adapt for younger ones - either they can play on a team, or they can look at all their cards and choose which one to do next rather than having to do whichever one is next in the stack.

Or maybe a cooperative game like Castle Panic would be good. It says ages 10 & up, but in my experience it is fine for younger kids, especially since everyone is working as a team to win or lose the game together. (The one I thought of first was Break the Safe, but it's crazy expensive now! It wasn't when we got it.)

Castle Panic it is! Thank you so much, I think it will be perfect!