What to get a 7 yr old for his birthday?
February 2, 2010 9:31 AM   Subscribe

What are 6 year olds into these days?

My 6 year old nephew turns 7 next week. What are some cool things I could get him for his birthday? I know he is obsessed with Pokemon and carries around a zillion pokemon cards all the time but that’s about it.

My sis is taking him (and the family) on a week-long ski vacation. I’d like to leave him a bunch of small things to find all week. What should I get him?
posted by special-k to Shopping (32 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: My 6.75 year old likes a board game, Carcassonne, which might be fun to bring on a trip depending if you sister is game. If you are looking for small ticket items art supplies are always appreciated, model magic, markers, construction paper.
posted by shothotbot at 9:41 AM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: The 6 year old in my life absolutely loves the children's version of the game Apples to Apples.
posted by Eshkol at 9:46 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


animal figuries! toy trucks / tractors!
posted by WeekendJen at 9:48 AM on February 2, 2010


My 6 year old is obsessed with Lego. His favorite combination has been watching James Mason in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and lusting after the new Lego Atlantis sets. (A few of the sets are on the small side and can easily be carried and hidden.)

Ditto any combination of "Toy Story"/Lego or "Star Wars"/Lego.

When I asked him just now, he said "Maybe action figures. Like the Transformers."
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:54 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Magnifying glass, marbles, legos.
posted by Malla at 9:56 AM on February 2, 2010


My nephew is into Hot Wheels, toy airplanes, Star Wars stuff (good call on the Star Wars/Legos) the Wii and while it's totally not portable I got him some of these K'Nex jawns for Christmas, no word on whether or not he's actually putting them together yet though.
posted by The Straightener at 9:58 AM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: I have an almost-7-year-old boy. And every kid is different, but he would love:
-- Pokemon cards (always exciting to get a new pack, even if you have a million already, because you never know what'll be inside)
-- legos, legos, legos, especially Star Wars legos
-- Star Wars action figures
-- blank journal or pad of paper with pens or pencils
-- guided doodling books like this, perfect for traveling
-- an iPod. We gave our son a hand-me-down one and he adores it
-- the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, depending on how into reading he is. My son just read them all. There are four volumes plus a great activity book.
-- Uno, the game my kid can't get enough of

For my son, WeekendJen's suggestions of animal figures, trucks and tractors would be way too babyish.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:58 AM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: My son turns 7 in two weeks. Snap Circuits Jr was his favorite Christmas present. He is into Lego, Star Wars (the first few books in the Boba Fett series are surprisingly well written),video games on the wii (lego star wars and all the mario games are favorites). He got one of those Razor type scooters this summer and loves it. Oh, and he got one of those old-school labelers for Xmas and labeled everything in sight.
posted by selfmedicating at 9:59 AM on February 2, 2010


Kids that age like the kind of stuff their mom won't buy them at Target: gum, whoopee cushions, superballs, silly putty, glow sticks, and the like. Take ten bucks to the dollar store and go nuts.
posted by stefanie at 10:01 AM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


We got Heroscape Marvel superheroes for our 5, almost 6, year old boys. It says for 8 and up but they LOVE it and it's pretty fun for us to play with them. Also pretty educational. Lots of strategy and counting.

They like it more than videogames and their Wii.
posted by beccaj at 10:07 AM on February 2, 2010


(Oh and I was thinking the figures from the game could be what he finds and then he gets the game. There are ten)
posted by beccaj at 10:08 AM on February 2, 2010


Another good book series making the rounds in first grade here is the Magic Tree House books.
posted by shothotbot at 10:12 AM on February 2, 2010


ooh ooh ooh...i know the answer, though it may be hard to find and i found it on ebay in like 2 seconds. i had one and it was very fun...it has a pedometer in it so the more you walk/exercise, the more points you get. also, it came and went pretty fast before he was born, so you know none of his friends have one...theres an earlier model, but it doesn't have the pedometer or color screen...(search 'pikachu tomagotchi' or 'pikachu virtual pet')
posted by sexyrobot at 10:21 AM on February 2, 2010


I JUST saw some 7-to-8-year-olds playing with the Newest Greatest Thing EVER IN THE WORLD. Seriously, they were going NUTS over it and a mom was telling a dad that they could only find them at Walgreens and all the kids at school were crazy for them. They were little plastic "guys" and there was some game (kind of like marbles but the "guys" aren't round) that went with it. The "guys" all had funny names...I'm pretty sure I heard the mom say they're from Japan.

And I cannot remember what they were called. All the googling I've been doing in the last 10 minutes hasn't helped. I will see the same people again on Thursday. I can ask then.
posted by cooker girl at 10:28 AM on February 2, 2010


Eshkol: "The 6 year old in my life absolutely loves the children's version of the game Apples to Apples."

Yes! It's fun for grownups too. From what I remember, the rules are the same, but the cards have more kid-appropriate words and adjectives (pajamas, bananas, silly, sticky, etc).
posted by radioamy at 10:30 AM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: Cooker girl is thinking of Gogo figures, which I came to recommend. The kids are going crazy for them. I spend a lot of time with seven-year-old boys.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 10:35 AM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


Also, if the kid is already into Pokemon and/or Bakugan, chances are he'll like or already loves Gogos.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 10:37 AM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: YES! YES! Felicity Rilke is right! Thank you, thank you.

I'm telling you, I haven't seen this age group so excited over a toy, and I have two kids who have gone through Pokemon, Bakugan, and Webkinz.
posted by cooker girl at 10:59 AM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: Iwako erasers! All three of my nephews (esp. the Pokemon-loving 7-year-old) are crazy about them. They seem to like the food sets most.
posted by scody at 11:11 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


I just got my 6-year-old nephew a bunch of Spygear. It's dress-up gear with some things that really work--like the invisible ink pen--and he loved it.

He's also crazy for Ben-10 stuff.
posted by gladly at 11:13 AM on February 2, 2010


Nthing Bakugan. My 8-year-old nephew has been obsessed with them for a year or two.
posted by RobotNinja at 11:13 AM on February 2, 2010


Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots!

My 6 year old LOVES mazes. For Christmas we got him a whole book of Kid Mazes.
posted by Sassyfras at 11:18 AM on February 2, 2010


I have an 8 year old boy, and his answer would be: Legos! Bakugan! Star Wars Legos!! He also went through a "maze phase" as Sassyfras suggests, so coloring and/or activity books are also good choices.
posted by mosk at 12:44 PM on February 2, 2010


I'm a seven year old and I'd like to have a huge sturdy big multi-function street building truck or tractor. And books about trains, naturally.
posted by Namlit at 1:00 PM on February 2, 2010


Kids that age like the kind of stuff their mom won't buy them at Target: gum, whoopee cushions, superballs, silly putty, glow sticks, and the like.

There's a reason why mom won't buy that stuff at Target: it's clutter and it's junk. My own sister buys her nephews crap like this, and the stuff is played with for about 5 minutes and then ends up under the bed or the couch.

You need to find a toy or gift that the kids really really like, and you have to show them how to play with it. Our older son who's seven like his car collection, his Lego and his Ultraman collection. He also likes chess.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:36 PM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: Having had a kid in this demographic, I suggest the following:

- Legos.
- Legos.
- Some Legos.
- Star Wars stuff.
- Lego Star Wars stuff.
- Some Lego Star Wars.
- Those cutesy eraser things
- Naruto-related junk
- Mostly Legos and Star Wars except for the stuff that is Star Wars Legos, and Lego items that are Star Wars. And some Star Wars Lego stuff.
posted by majick at 2:00 PM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]


Nobody ever got fired for buying a six year old child Lego.
posted by imjustsaying at 2:19 PM on February 2, 2010


There's a reason why mom won't buy that stuff at Target: it's clutter and it's junk. My own sister buys her nephews crap like this, and the stuff is played with for about 5 minutes and then ends up under the bed or the couch.

I should have clarified. I wouldn't suggest this for a regular birthday present you expect the kid to treasure, but it works for "a bunch of small things he can find" on vacation because these things will be destroyed, lost, or otherwise used up quickly. The parents won't have to bring it home with them, nor will they have to worry about leaving any valuable new toys behind when they pack up.
posted by stefanie at 2:21 PM on February 2, 2010


The Dangerous Book For Boys. Bonus points if you do some of the activities inside with him.
posted by Brittanie at 4:53 PM on February 2, 2010


I should have clarified.

Yeah, sorry, that came out the wrong way. But my sister specializes in showering us with crap, like half-baked children's books from the Costco remainder bin.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:36 PM on February 2, 2010


Best answer: It also occurred to me, and I'm sorry to come back late with this: Lego Star Wars stuff.
posted by majick at 5:39 PM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]


Add Captain Underpants to the above great suggestions.
posted by cross_impact at 11:24 AM on February 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


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