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These gift ideas are intended for families with older children, ages 9 to 16 years old. I made this list based on my son’s and niece’s current interests and hobbies. These are suitable for kids who are hobbyists, artists, musically inclined, readers and explorers. Mavi owns some of these already (some are hand-me-down), and others are still on the “wishlist”.
1. E-Book Reader
BEST FOR: kids who loves to read, travels all the time, and for families with small spaces
MY PICK: Kindle Paperwhite E-reader
Mavi reads a lot. He can finish a book of David Walliams in a week, and the whole Harry Potter series in 6 months. He reads everywhere, in his room, in his school (he brings the book!), cafes and in our car on a regular basis. With the rate of his reading, our tiny pad can’t accommodate tons of books. So my husband decided to get him a Kindle E-reader with a backlight to save space. I was not really into this because nothing beats the sensorial experience of holding a real book. But that is not practical for us. Surprisingly, Mavi was happy with his Kindle. He said, it’s amazing that after reading a book, he can just easily close the page and read another book without the need of waiting for another book to arrive in our doorstep. During the day under bright sunlight the Kindle E-reader screen is as clear as the page of a real book and at night it has its own backlight to illuminate the screen. I highly recommend the Kindle Paperwhite E-reader to those families with kids who are readers! It’s portable, light, and a space saver!
And the best part he said, he can read a lot of books during our long haul flights!
2. Small Laptop
BEST FOR: hobbyist programmers, video editors, and digital imagery
MY PICKS: HP Spectre X2 12-Inch Convertible laptop, Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 11E (3rd Gen) 11.6" Convertible Ultrabook
Mavi’s laptop is a hand-me-down, previously owned by my husband. He uses it whenever he programs with Scratch, a GUI based programming tool for young programmers. If your kids have an interest in this area or in other movie making, you can give him a small inexpensive laptop or those extra ones at home that aren’t being used.
3. Polaroid Camera
BEST FOR: kids who travel, loves taking pictures, and for scrapbooking
Who doesn’t like to take photos these days? My kids love taking pictures, but they’re using my phone in exploring their photography skills. I was looking for an inexpensive camera for Mavi to use to support his interest and I came across the polaroid. Oh my! How awesome that they brought this back! And I can’t imagine the enthusiasm of kids being able to print it right away. The picture has a rustic feel, and can be easily displayed in their rooms or in their scrapbooks! I say, this is a brilliant gift for boys and girls who are exploring photography, and just loves to take pictures!
4. iPod Shuffle
BEST FOR: music lovers/singers, audiobooks
MY PICK: iPod Shuffle 4th Generation
One of my son’s “wishlist” because he loves music and loves to sing too! This would be very handy during our travels.
5. Handy Camcorder
BEST FOR: kids who love to make videos/movies
Mavi loves to take videos and create movies. He is using our own point and shoot camera, but since it is ageing, it’s currently useless. He’s been wanting to have a real video camera for the longest time so he can create dinosaur, lego, and truck movies properly. A video camera is a good idea, especially that the entire family can benefit from it. Taking videos during special occasions, travels, trips and just special moments. Then have your child edit it, create a decent movie out of it and you have a timeless precious video that you can watch till you get old. I mean, if your child is showing signs of being the next Steven Spielberg, why not give him the tools and opportunity to become one? Right?
6. Microscope
BEST FOR: families with gradeschoolers and in high school
MY PICKS: AmScope M158C-E Compound Monocular Microscope, Celestron 5 MP Handheld Digital Microscope Pro
More of a necessity in the future, still saving for this and I will find this very useful for both of my kids who loves science. There are two types of microscope I’m currently checking, the Celestron Handheld Digital and AmScope Compound Microscope. The only advantage of the handheld microscope is its versatility, kids can view any objects in the house with this microscope!
7. Gaming Console
BEST FOR: families who loves to play games together
MY PICK: PlayStation 4 Pro 1TB Console
My son and I (and husband) loves to play Minecraft and Lego video games, we often call it our “bonding time”. It’s actually fun, and brings out the inner child in you. Anyway we do have one at home and we love playing games together (team work). This is one of the best buys I have! Mavi loves it when we play with him, it’s like “Mommy/Daddy likes what I like!”. He said that I’m so cool that I play video games with him. Sometimes, it makes me reminisce my own childhood days. I often tell Mavi stories of what I play as a child, my favourite video games (Mario) and how I had so much fun playing with my friends too.
We are loving Lego games, especially Lego City Undercover. It’s really good, full of adventures and puzzles that enhances logic and problem solving skills. And Minecraft, who doesn’t love Minecraft right?
8. Musical Instruments
BEST FOR: kids who are interested in music or playing an instrument
Mavi wanted to learn how to play the guitar so he can sing and create his own music someday. We’re planning to send him to music school next year, so a classical guitar is in the wishlist.
9. Board Games
BEST FOR: families who loves to play board games
We love board games at home! Mavi’s favourite is the Monopoly Empire Game and I am yet to introduce chess. Oh I came across this Wizard’s Chess, how lovely! This will definitely suite Mavi as he loves Harry Potter!
10. Drone with Camera
BEST FOR: artists, hobbyists, movie makers
One of Mavi’s dream is to make videos of Ireland’s landscapes. I told him about the drone with camera my friend is using in his movie/video making. He loves the idea and so do I. We talked about buying this in the future so that he and I can take aerial videos of our travels, especially when we visit the Philippines. Then we’ll edit it together, and create a trailer like video. It is going to be an absolutely awesome project of ours in the future.
Note that these are just ideas, and if you may decided to get any of these for your kids this Christmas or in the future, my advice is, GET INVOLVED with your children. These are just objects, it would be nice if you also get involved in their hobbies and interests. They may be older and a little bit wiser, but they want Mom and Dad to participate. They might not be saying it, but they really do appreciate and love your presence.
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This post is part of the 12 Months More of Montessori which is hosted by Natural Beach Living and The Natural Homeschool.
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