[Mr Kino]

I so need help picking out a decent b-day present for a 7 year old boy. price range im aiming at is 20 to 40 dollars. sorry im so cheap these days but at least i want to get him something.

here are some ideas that crossed my mind, i thought about writing him a check so his parents would open him his first bank account, 40 bucks in hot wheels, a subscription to playboy, his mom wasant too crazy about that one. (i thought it was funny.) but then i thought that there have to be kids magazines out there. like Highlights or something.

i really do not know what to get the little guy. I also do not want to buy him a toy he is only going to use twice and forget about.

Thank you.

[Cody Dawg]

Take him to Chuck E. Cheese and give him some Floam. Buy it at Wal-mart. Buy all the colors and put them in a bag with some Hot Wheels cars. Give it to him at Chuck E. Cheese and while you're there buy him a pizza and soda and if you can remember bring a birthday cake there for him and have them bring it out to him while they (the people working there) sing Happy Birthday to him.

He'll never forget that birthday, ever.

If you can't take him to Chuck E. Cheese personally then get a gift certificate for Chuck E. Cheese for $50 or $100 so his parents can take him and get him some Floam and Hot Wheels.



(P.S., Floam is THE toy that kids want right now - buy it at Wal-mart or locally but do NOT buy it directly at www.floam.com because it takes weeks to arrive and there are a lot of complaints about their shipping times and prices.)

[Mr Kino]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Take him to Chuck E. Cheese and give him some Floam. Buy it at Wal-mart. Buy all the colors and put them in a bag with some Hot Wheels cars. Give it to him at Chuck E. Cheese and while you're there buy him a pizza and soda and if you can remember bring a birthday cake there for him and have them bring it out to him while they (the people working there) sing Happy Birthday to him.

He'll never forget that birthday, ever.

If you can't take him to Chuck E. Cheese personally then get a gift certificate for Chuck E. Cheese for $50 or $100 so his parents can take him and get him some Floam and Hot Wheels.



(P.S., Floam is THE toy that kids want right now - buy it at Wal-mart or locally but do NOT buy it directly at www.floam.com because it takes weeks to arrive and there are a lot of complaints about their shipping times and prices.)

I think that will put me over my 40 dollar mark. Plus they are taking him to knotts berry farm that day. hmm i thought cuck e cheese went out of business. guess not.

floam huh? can someone else vouch for this being the kids toy to get right now? cause i remember seeing that about two years ago when i worked at wal-mart, and it did not sell too well.

[Albert Pujols]

Get him a calculus text book. Easy, almost too easy.

[iLikebeer]

I just got a Finding Nemo fishing pole for $9 for a 3 year old.
Go to a hobby shop, they usually have cool stuff for kids in there. I like getting kids outdoor stuff. You can get kites for anywhere from $2 to $40 or more. Model rocket starter kits are usually around $20 and come with the stand, a rocket, a couple of engines, and everything else you need. Geology kits to look for rocks outside. Anything and everything.

[Cody Dawg]

Oh, you have a $40 limit?

Well, still buy him Floam. Kids are crazy about it - it's on all the kids television shows. Mine loved it anyway.

[Mr Kino]

Originally Posted by Albert Pujols

Get him a calculus text book. Easy, almost too easy.

That made my day. I can just see the look on everyones face when he opens that present. a calc book. ha ha ha

[Dr Reducto]

Get him a bunch of empty boxes and a huge roll of bubble tape. He will probably play with it for hours.

Also, legos are great

[cjrivera]

Give him a "Special day with your Uncle" present - good for a day at the zoo, children's museum, ballgame, a kids movie, etc. Take him out to eat at (sorry to say this but it's what most kids like) McDonalds for a Happy Meal and to play on the playground (although they have tried to make the kids' meal more healthy with apples, I think.) then to the destination of his choice. He'll remember it much more than a toy he'll forget about in a week. And you'll suddenly be the "cool" uncle he always talks about.

Floam is a neat toy, but that stuff really stinks=smells bad. My kids loved it at first, but quit playing with it after they couldn't wash the smell off their hands easily.

[JoshuaZ]

Originally Posted by cjrivera

Give him a "Special day with your Uncle" present - good for a day at the zoo, children's museum, ballgame, a kids movie, etc. Take him out to eat at (sorry to say this but it's what most kids like) McDonalds for a Happy Meal and to play on the playground (although they have tried to make the kids' meal more healthy with apples, I think.) then to the destination of his choice. He'll remember it much more than a toy he'll forget about in a week. And you'll suddenly be the "cool" uncle he always talks about.

Floam is a neat toy, but that stuff really stinks=smells bad. My kids loved it at first, but quit playing with it after they couldn't wash the smell off their hands easily.

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. A day out with his 'cool' uncle would be a nice gift.

Save the Playboy thing for when he's 15 or something.

[wallinbl]

nevermind.

[cjrivera]

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines. A day out with his 'cool' uncle would be a nice gift.

Save the Playboy thing for someone in the Lounge who came up with "Cool Uncle Day".

Fixed.

[quesera]

Our daughter is turning 7 in nine days. We would like nothing more than for family members to give her their time and attention. Days at the parks or museums are so much more personal and interactive than Grandma and Grandpa letting them run wild until they're glaze-eyed at Chuck E. Cheeze or similar places. Certainly as other posters have stated, made in China crap will not have such a lasting impact.

We're currently planning a party that we hope to make more old-fashioned than the pony ride, amusement park, inflatable bounce things we've done in the past.

As to our gift for her, we are considering a new bike as we taught her to ride without training wheels last summer and have since taken her riding often; an ipod, although she is still clearly too young despite being quite musically inclined, and some software for the G4 lampshade iMac I recently gifted her, as i replaced mine.

[Albert Pujols]

Seriously though, get him a science book or something like that. I remember getting a Beakman Bacteria Farm book/kit, it was probably the best gift I've ever received. I've been given many science type books with experiments and stuff inside of the books, even though they might not seem like they'd be fun, they are. I wasn't even much of a nerd when I was a kid but I enjoyed those books.

Oh and atleast get him something more permanent than a tub of floam that'll just dry up or disappear in about a month.

[Lateralus]

A complimentary membership to MacNN Forums.

[Goldfinger]

A playboy subscription.

[abe]

Ok, there are a bunch of good ideas already mentioned and my idea combines a few of them.

First of all remember that kids are suckers for sensation. Lots of presents and a good suspenseful presentation is the key here.

Go to the Toys R Us or similar toy store and get one of each of all the old fashioned toys that never seem to permanently go away.

Silly Putty. Slinky. Marbles. Box of 64 Crayola Crayons (with the built-in sharpener!) & Coloring Book. Little green plastic Army Men (complete with jeeps and tanks and stuff). Doctor's Medical Bag with candy filled pill bottles). A simple paper kite and a ball of kite string. Bolo Paddle and ball. Super Ball. Hula Hoop. A cheap Remote Control car ($6.00). Model car or airplane & Elmers glue. And a suitable book.

Then, YOU PERSONALLY wrap each one.

And when you show up with your $20-$40 worth of gifts, not only will you look like friggin Santa Claus but you will put ALL the other gifts to SHAME! I swear this kid will ALWAYS remember his 7th birthday and by you wrapping each gift and not leaving it to the store wrappers or your g/f to do it, you will be investing yourself in the gifts and THAT will be felt by him and his parents and it will be one of THE finest things you will have ever done in your life.

Sooo many gifts. NONE of which anyone else would likely get him. ALL of which are time tested winners! Each one of them, by themselves, will deliver days and days of fun. Advise mom and dad to let him open all of them one after the other building up to the one you think will be his favorite. And once he has become overwhelmed by the number of gifts and the variety of gifts remove all of them but his favorite one or two. Then hide the remainder and as they fall by the wayside have mom & dad replace them with two more from the closet.

That could mean 6 months of toys!

If you are ready to be admired and adored this will do it.

Make sure you let us know how it turns out and what you do.

BTW, I won't be offended if you don't take my advice.

Oh, and if he can appreciate it and you can afford it, get him a disposable one-use camera to take old fashioned FILM photos of his b-day festivities and gifts! AND get him a simple AM-FM transistor radio. NOT a CD player. NOT an iPod or some such thing. A simple AM/FM radio with the 2" built-in speaker.

[Monique]

Lego building blocks and build something with him.

[meelk]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...v=glance&n=130

[MacMan4000]

you could get him a 1.75 of Southern Comfort for $30...

oh wait, he's 7?

yeah, 40 hot wheels might be better...

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Monique

Lego building blocks and build something with him.

I second this one. Legos were one of my favorite toys when I was young. If this boy's the creative type, he could really get into them.

A while ago I remember reading (I think it was on this forum) that over the years since I was a kid, Lego sets have come with fewer pieces so they're easier to build. That's a shame - I had a whole bunch of them, and the more pieces there were the more I could make with 'em.

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by Monique

Lego building blocks and build something with him.

thirded. lego or Knex building toys, are the right age, and if you give it to him on the non-party day, you and he can spend hours putting it together for quality time.

[sabrejim]

Get him a partridge in a pear tree. I hear they give educational discounts to gradeschoolers.

[ink]

Lego Exoforce

My 7-year-old loves them.