My gift-giving policy for my kids is “give them what they want”…in moderation. If I really gave them what they wanted, I would be asking to sleep at your home, because I would be broke. Their “wish lists” were 30+ items each…including items like bouncy houses and trampolines (?!)
I reminded them that in our home we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas (even though we all know that historically He wasn’t born at this time of the year). Since the Bible only mentions three specific gifts that He received, they were each only getting three gifts from us too. Once the idea of getting gifts for Hanukkah and Christmas (8 + 3 = 11 gifts!) was squashed, they were content with three each. They each wrote down their top 5 -6 picks (so that they won’t know exactly what they’re getting) and that was that. Besides, they both have birthdays coming up in the next few months…they don’t need a lot anyway!
Sean (the 4 year old) especially likes books, puzzles, musical instruments, art items, Marvel Characters, family games, a few video games…and hip-hop dancing.
Michael (the 7 year old) especially likes Beyblade battles, books, video games, family games, spy gadgets….and karate.
I have a feeling that they will be happy on Sunday. (Sean will be especially happy. He broke his DS earlier this year and looks so sad when Michael is playing his. He has no idea that I was able to buy him another one by catching a really great deal at GameStop.)
Speaking of GameStop, I love that store. I have no affiliation with them, but the guy at the Forest Hills shop is my “friend”. After expressing my disappointment that the Kinect Star Wars game wasn’t coming out in time, I asked him what the hottest/most requested video games were for the holiday season. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure and Zelda were his top picks. Michael’s not really into Zelda, but he is beyond excited about the Skylanders game. He has no idea that we’re going to keep the one that we were sent to review. (In an effort for my kids not to become spoiled brats, I usually don’t let them permanently keep most of the items that we review.)
Of the items that we have reviewed in 2011, I recommend the following holiday/New Year/birthday gifts:
Video Games
–Kinect Sports Season Two – The entire family will enjoy (and break a sweat!) with this updated version of Kinect Sports. Football, tennis and darts are “my guys” top three favorite games.
–Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster – This is an especially great gift for families with really young gamers. It’s one of the few Kinect games that Sean can thoroughly play and enjoy.
–Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics – I didn’t think that my kids would especially love this game, but they did. They love all games Mario (even the ones that I don’t understand) and the mini-games are their favorite in this particular game. In fact, the youngest one cried when I said that we were not going to keep it (oops!). Oh, all right…he can have it…for a few more months anyway!
–Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure – I’m in agreement with my GameStop friend. This is the game of the season. With a combination of the virtual video game and the collectible “real-world” toy figures, it’s a win-win. It actually has the potential to be a win-win-win if you allow your kids to continue the game in the online web portion of the play world. (We aren’t doing that part though. Michael is really great with computers and tech, but he has to wait a few years until he gets his own computer. He already asks to use mine and Reggie’s too much!)
Classic Play
–Melissa & Doug products (overall) – My friend Nicole hosted a holiday event at Melissa & Doug’s showroom. As I looked around, I easily mentally checked off over 10 M&D items that my kids already have – especially the art supplies and puzzles. Sean likes to cook and bake with me. If he were a little younger, I would get him this play kitchen area. (The little kids who attended the event were drawn to it like moths to a flame!)
–Kiwi Crate – We received the colors crate box to review. Since it is mainly for ages 3 – 6, I let Michael “supervise” Sean doing the projects. It worked out quite well, because they worked together and figured out 90%+ of the things alone. By contrast, when I’m in the room, Sean tends to act like he can’t do things that he is really more than capable of doing. The kids had fun for a few hours completing the three different projects in the box. The fact that it was educational as well as fun was the cherry on top! The other thing that I like about Kiwi Crate is that you can either get an individual box ($19.95. including shipping) or a one year subscription of monthly boxes. There are a variety of crates including Space, Gardening and Dinosaurs. Sean really likes space (he’s still upset that his “Planet Heroes” Pluto is no longer a planet!) and dinosaurs (thanks to the Dino Dan show), so we will add those two kits to his February birthday wish list.
I can only imagine what the kids will add to their wish lists by the time that their birthdays roll around in 2012. Sean has already mentioned that he wants to go on a Michael Jackson cruise for his birthday in February. Uh, no :-)!