Gift ideas needed asap please!!

We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.

wrote:
We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.

Wow, that's a tall order. There's often not a lot in
common between an 8yo girl and a 5yo boy. I wouldn't go with
a popular book, especially with a book-y family since they
probably have it already if they want it.
I'd be looking for something that they could entertain
themselves with at my home, so I'd probably look either for
something artsy-craftsy or (weather permitting) something fun
to do outside.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Wow, that's a tall order. There's often not a lot in
common between an 8yo girl and a 5yo boy. I wouldn't go with
a popular book, especially with a book-y family since they
probably have it already if they want it.

OP here. Yep, I thought that it would be hard. I had no clue.

I'd be looking for something that they could entertain
themselves with at my home, so I'd probably look either for
something artsy-craftsy or (weather permitting) something fun
to do outside.

Could you give any examples?

Thanks.

Best wishes,
Ericka

wrote in message
ups.com...
We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.

I agree that it's unlikely that they would both be thrilled with the same
series of books. I know people would give me and my sister (3 years apart) a
joint present often and usually both of us were fairly indifferent. If one
of us was thrilled then the other was really unimpressed! It was
particularly gauling that my brother always had his own present, which
certainly my sister would have prefered!
Books for a 5yo are also quite difficult to judge unless you know the
reader, if you're expecting him to read it himself. At 5yo #1 went very
quickly (about a month) from enjoying the short story with a picture a page,
to finishing a 100 page chapter book in an hour and finding it easy. A 5yo
can be at the stage of liking listening to a short story with pictures, to
reading things like "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe".
I'd go with the craft idea, or maybe some sort of puzzle/activity/sticker
book. Or maybe a game they could play together.
Debbie

wrote:
We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.


I found two games that may work for you:

Tsuro (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16992) is a nice but short (15
minutes) game that a child as young as 5 can play but it's also complex
enough to interest adults.

Blokus (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16395) is also a nice game
that appeals to children and adults. The two-player version may be a
better fit for younger children.

Jeanne

Jeanne wrote:
wrote:
We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.


I found two games that may work for you:

Tsuro (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16992) is a nice but short (15
minutes) game that a child as young as 5 can play but it's also complex
enough to interest adults.

I don't know this one but it looks fun.

Blokus (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16395) is also a nice game
that appeals to children and adults. The two-player version may be a
better fit for younger children.

My five year old really likes Blokus, and it is fun for adults too. We
do have the
two person version. She's really been enjoying "Sorry" lately and has
always
liked "Mancala". Oh, and she really likes "Uno Attack". We played this
a ton
over Christmas with all ages - for a five year old you can play with
the cards
face up, it adds a different dimension to the game. And it's fun that
the machine
shoots cards at you. She also likes "Connect 4". She's a bit of a game
nut.

Mary W.

wrote:
Wow, that's a tall order. There's often not a lot in
common between an 8yo girl and a 5yo boy. I wouldn't go with
a popular book, especially with a book-y family since they
probably have it already if they want it.

OP here. Yep, I thought that it would be hard. I had no clue.

I'd be looking for something that they could entertain
themselves with at my home, so I'd probably look either for
something artsy-craftsy or (weather permitting) something fun
to do outside.

Could you give any examples?

- Crayons and a coloring book (or poster) for each kid
(or colored pencils, or markers)
- Assorted origami paper and some simple instructions
- Embroidery floss & instructions for making friendship
bracelets (make sure you have a simple enough design
for the 5yo)
- Beads & something to string them on
- Balloons
- Play-Doh (or something similar)
- Balls
- Jump ropes
- Water toys (is it warm by you?)

-Ericka

Jeanne wrote:
wrote:
We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.
Thanks.


I found two games that may work for you:

Tsuro (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16992) is a nice but short (15
minutes) game that a child as young as 5 can play but it's also complex
enough to interest adults.

Blokus (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16395) is also a nice game
that appeals to children and adults. The two-player version may be a
better fit for younger children.

I'd also recommend Set (a card game) and Stack (a dice
game). Both are small, portable, and the younger kid has a
fighting chance.

Best wishes,
Ericka

wrote:
Jeanne wrote:
wrote:
We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.

I found two games that may work for you:

Tsuro (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16992) is a nice but short (15
minutes) game that a child as young as 5 can play but it's also complex
enough to interest adults.

I don't know this one but it looks fun.


We ran into it at a game store where the owner played a game with DH, DD
(9 years old), DS (3.5 years old) and me. It was short, around 10
minutes (still too long for DS), simple but surprisingly sophisticated.
It's our new favorite game.

Blokus (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/16395) is also a nice game
that appeals to children and adults. The two-player version may be a
better fit for younger children.

My five year old really likes Blokus, and it is fun for adults too. We
do have the
two person version. She's really been enjoying "Sorry" lately and has
always
liked "Mancala". Oh, and she really likes "Uno Attack". We played this
a ton
over Christmas with all ages - for a five year old you can play with
the cards
face up, it adds a different dimension to the game. And it's fun that
the machine
shoots cards at you. She also likes "Connect 4". She's a bit of a game
nut.

Mary W.

You could get a non-fiction book like an animal encyclopedia or kids
atlas, with lots of fun facts and illustrations. my 5 year old and 7
year old both love these types of books and I'm sure they will for a
few years yet. The younger can enjoy looking at the illustrations and
having it read to him and the older can read it/ use it as a reference
book. I think they would be suitable for both boys and girls. I
recommend Nature Quest published by Kingfisher, and Atlas of the World
by Lye and Steele published by Parragon. These are my kids favourites
(and we have had them for 2 years now).
Helen
Mum to Eran, Hillel and Uri

wrote:
We're expecting guests tomorrow. They have an 8 year old daughter and 5
year old son. They are a bit of studious type and they like books. I
don't know what to get the kids as a gift. My kids are much younger. I
want to give them one single gift that's appropriate for both of them.
Like may be a boxed set of series of books and or CD's. Could anyone
please suggest something? Little house on prairie or Harry Potter or
some such. I may be way off here. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.