GeekGiftGuide: Geeky Gifts for Kids
Holidays are for the kids! Whether you have a geeky kid or are a geek who needs to buy for a kid, here’s your guide to geeky gifts for kids. Your guide writer here has kids ranging from baby to teen to buy for, and I’ve got some ideas for you.
We’ll start at the top: the teenager. Buying for teenagers is almost the toughest. They can be really picky and also pricey. First to ask, what is your teenager into? Mine is into cosplay. Here’s just a few:
Where can you get cosplays? There’s a number of ways to approach. We had Kanna and Kagamine Rin custom made with Taiyo Cosplay. This is the most pricey and time consuming method. But a promised cosplay has worked for our holiday. You can order a pre-made cosplay off the shelf at your favorite anime store or online, which is what we did for the Temari (sans fan). We’ve had luck at the local Sweet Kitty. You can build your own. This may be the most rewarding of the options. If you or your teen is a sewer, then you can get as complicated as your skills allow. We are not so much sewers and have made purchases at cheap department stores and thrift shops of items to complete the cosplays for Temari’s fan (with some painting done by Mom), jeans and cords, appropriate shirts and jackets for Tweek Tweak and Iceland. Wigs can be secured at a local wig shop or ordered online.
Games of all kinds are a great gift for kids of all ages. Our tween is into TableTop Gaming. The top of his wishlist is the Warhammer 40,000 Necron MegaForce. No word on if he’s getting that yet. He spends time building and painting his army, which he takes to the local Bunker to play a tabletop game with and against other people.
This isn’t too far removed from Dungeons and Dragons. If a board game is more your style, The Legend of Drizzt is a great introduction to D&D, being cooperative and a board game. Board games are a great addition for any family, and can promote family time as well as geekiness. What are your favorite board games?
Moving onto video games for kids, Nintendo(R) Kirby Games have been popular for my kids and nephlings. The most recent release is Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition on Wii and includes 6 classic games: Kirby’s Dream Land, Kirby’s Adventure, Kirby’s Dreamland 2, Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Dream Land 3, and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Have you got a favorite video game for current generation gaming systems for kids?
Some of these gifts are very high priced. For those who have lots of children to buy for, there are more budget-friendly geeky games, toys, and books. For the science-inclined, Mythbusters has a set of science kits that are loads of fun! My family has personally tested these kits. Mimicking the demos and experiments seen on the television show, these kits are themed and sure to be a hit! Pick from:
Scientific Explorer MythBusters Weird World of Water
Scientific Explorer MythBusters Science of Sports
Scientific Explorer MythBusters Power of Air Pressure
Scientific Explorer MythBusters Forces of Flight
Scientific Explorer MythBusters Crashes and Collisions
You can also purchase all 5 as a package.
A hands-on, classic gift is the Rubik’s Cube. While it may be most memorable and popular with children of the ‘80s, this 1970s invented toy still gives hours of problem solving and play.
Puzzles are great geeky gifts for children of all ages! You can follow manufacturer recommendations when choosing for the age you need to choose for. Basic wooden block puzzles start them young, and can be educational with animal or letter shapes. As you get older in age, add in more pieces (and more destructible materials) — and add a geek theme such as Superheroes, favorite literature, or science. And for the older kids, consider The Krypt Jigsaw Puzzle.
GeekGirlCon’s Erica McGilivray recently posted her Top 10 Comics for Kids! Check out any of these comic books as a great place to start a love of comics in your geeky kid. I’d also add Babymouse #1: Queen of the World! to that list.
Lastly, turn the gift kids dislike (clothes) into their favorite item! You might start the infant off with some Star Trek Onesies:
or
I Ate Some Pie shirts.
For the 2 – 10 year old (or even older), try a Self-Rescuing Princess shirt;
or a 5 Little Daleks shirt;
or a shirt with a literary reference.
I could go on and on, but you need to get shopping, and so do I. What are your favorite geek gifts for kids?