Gifts for 5-year-old girl keen on math, science, astronomy
May 9, 2021 12:06 PM Subscribe
Looking to buy a present for a child turning 5 years of age who can't stop talking about stars, planets, the solar system, meteors, different species of animal, different species of plants, etc.
Looking for gift ideas for a child who has displayed an extraordinary interest in plants, animals, stars, planets, volcanoes ("can we go to Hawaii?"). She keeps asking if she can go to a "math and science school", and she hasn't even started kindergarten yet.
Please help me buy a present for this child that will keep her entertained in this realm.
Looking for gift ideas for a child who has displayed an extraordinary interest in plants, animals, stars, planets, volcanoes ("can we go to Hawaii?"). She keeps asking if she can go to a "math and science school", and she hasn't even started kindergarten yet.
Please help me buy a present for this child that will keep her entertained in this realm.
When I was that age I devoured encyclopedias. Both the set of kids encyclopedias I had and my parents Britannica with the glossy illustrated plates. An encyclopedia set is probably a quaint notion in these days, but you really can't replicate the random page flipping discovery of paper like that for a kid who is interested in everything.
So I would recommend some nice illustrated hardback books, like Stephen Biesty's cross sections or The Way Things Work. Something new and exciting to learn about on every page.
posted by phunniemee at 12:20 PM on May 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
So I would recommend some nice illustrated hardback books, like Stephen Biesty's cross sections or The Way Things Work. Something new and exciting to learn about on every page.
posted by phunniemee at 12:20 PM on May 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
If it's in your budget, the parents are on board, and they're near one, a science museum membership isn't a bad choice. (Or perhaps a zoo.)
As a kid of a similar age, I found a cheap microscope fascinating. I found a cheap telescope very unsatisfying.
posted by eotvos at 12:21 PM on May 9, 2021
As a kid of a similar age, I found a cheap microscope fascinating. I found a cheap telescope very unsatisfying.
posted by eotvos at 12:21 PM on May 9, 2021
There isn't a huge amount of lasting power, but my kids brought home a cardboard spectrometer, vaguely like this but with an actual prism rather than a CD. It's been remarkably popular.
We have the book, Pond Life, that was either from a thrift store or my childhood that they also enjoy.
My next purchase for my curious kids is going to be a microscope.
posted by lab.beetle at 12:54 PM on May 9, 2021
We have the book, Pond Life, that was either from a thrift store or my childhood that they also enjoy.
My next purchase for my curious kids is going to be a microscope.
posted by lab.beetle at 12:54 PM on May 9, 2021
As a similar kid, I loved having a subscription to Zoobooks and Ranger Rick. You can see both here. Besides having fun info about plants/animals, it was of course exciting as a kid to regularly get something in the mail.
posted by coffeecat at 2:44 PM on May 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by coffeecat at 2:44 PM on May 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: We got my daughter this kid’s lab set for her fifth birthday. She still uses it (and other kids always want to play with it). She had also requested a microscope, but it wasn’t that much of a success; she just wasn’t able to focus her eyes that way or something.
posted by Kriesa at 3:11 PM on May 9, 2021
posted by Kriesa at 3:11 PM on May 9, 2021
For the large scale view, a star projector to put the universe on her bedroom ceiling. For the small scale view, a ubs microscope so she can see sugar crystals and bugs up close.
posted by SemiSalt at 3:22 PM on May 9, 2021
posted by SemiSalt at 3:22 PM on May 9, 2021
I like Cricket Magazine as a publisher (also ad free). Here is ASK, for kids age 6-9 who like to ask why.
posted by metahawk at 4:07 PM on May 9, 2021
posted by metahawk at 4:07 PM on May 9, 2021
Best answer: Another vote for a microscope. I got one when I was about her age and I absolutely loved it. I remember putting pieces of things around the house under it and having my parents guess what they were. . . I spent a lot of time with it and my friends loved using it when they came over.
posted by bookmammal at 4:19 PM on May 9, 2021
posted by bookmammal at 4:19 PM on May 9, 2021
Best answer: Some friends got Little eirias the book Explanatorium of Nature for Christmas the year she turned seven. I think it turned into flashlight-under-the-covers reading for her for like a solid month, maybe two. I'm generally a fan of buying gifts that kids can grow into; even though it's unlikely to be the right reading level for her solo now, the pictures are vivid and engaging, and I think it could make fun reading with parents, too.
posted by eirias at 8:14 PM on May 9, 2021
posted by eirias at 8:14 PM on May 9, 2021
Best answer: My kids love this book which starts with the Earth and then rocks and then proceeds down the phylogentic trees of life for 648 pages, tons of illustrations, lots of interesting facts. Endlessly wonderful to page through whether you're four or ninety-four.
DK Books do a LOT of really wonderful books like this -- if you type in "DK books Solar System" or "DK books Science" on google or amazon, you'll come up with lots to look at. Pay attention to how many pages -- they have "guides" and "encyclopedias" which are long, but also "eyewitness" books which are shorter (under 100 pages) and have simpler language and an even shorter series pitched at very little kids. We tend to love the long encyclopedias because the kids enjoy them for YEARS. But they all have gorgeous photography/illustrations and interesting facts galore, even the very-little-kid ones.
There are a lot of "hiking scavenger hunt" and "nature journal" books out there -- here's one my kids liked. A local nature center with a store attached may be able to point you to some great ones, as well as local guides to birds, butterflies, etc. We like the laminated ones that fold like maps and show all the local mammals or birds or butterflies; my kids will study them for ages and bring them out to compare birds in the yard or tracks in the snow.
Another thing all of my kids have really enjoyed is I got them each (and me) a soft-cover moleskine, and a huuuuuuge set of nice colored pencils in a case, and during the summer (in particular), we'll go outside every morning and all draw something we see in nature. I have everything from a 2-year-old scribbling a vague red blob representing the same cardinal every day for a solid month to a pretty dang accurate drawing of an iris by an 11-year-old. The point isn't to do a good job (which is why I draw with them -- I'm the worst draw-er), but to get good at observing and noticing things in nature, whether that's the colors of grass or what an iris looks like or what birds are in the garden or how a tree grows or how the ants go in a single-file line in a sidewalk crack, and how it's all different every day, and over the course of a month or a summer. This could work super-well with your own kid, but could also be great for a kid you see once a week or once a month, when you could see what they've drawn since you were last together, or you could go on a weekly hike with your nature journals.
Depending on your price range and the level of commitment of adults involved to learning how to work a telescope (SO FUCKIN' COMPLICATED, MAN!), there are lots of great legit telescopes for kids that are relatively inexpensive. Their top pick is under $60; their most expensive around $600. A $129 kiddie telescope set for my middle child not only made him the happiest kid ever on Christmas, but it ended up getting ME hooked on backyard astronomy and now I own a stupid-expensive, very big scope. (Buyer beware?)
Finally, we have MULTIPLE Celestial Buddies and they are fantastic. One kid has Mars, one kid has Saturn, I might or might not have the Sun because I love how the Sun's expression is like, "Oh no! I'm on fire!" We also have the Black Hole (A GIANT SACK) which has provided literally years of hilarity at this point. But if you have a kid who's obsessed with meteors or the moon? Getting them a snuggly of their favorite heavenly body will delight them beyond measure. Also your (friend's?) kid will be the only kid bringing a stuffed Mars to stuffy buddy day at school.
For the adults in her life, Dr. Scott the Paleontologist (from Dinosaur Train) has a book about helping kids fall in love with nature and science that I found valuable as a less science-oriented person than my kids. I was nose-down in fairy tales from the time I could read until high school, so I don't have personal experience of growing up science-crazy, but all three of my kids are NON STOP SCIENCE NERDS, so I needed a little help!
Also, general tip, if you post on your social media something like, "Hey do I know anyone local who's an astronomy nerd?" YOU PROBABLY DO, and most people who are super-enthusiastic about fossil hunting or backyard astronomy or similar activities are INCREDIBLY AMPED to share those with little kids. When my kids were obsessed with dinosaurs and fossils, a friend of mine who's a drug counselor in her day job took us fossil hunting, and my kids a) fell in the water and b) found their very own local fossils! (Crinoids, mostly, but also a shelly thing I forget the name of.) We've had many similar interactions over the years with both scientists (some of them on mefi!) and with hobbyists, who are just so excited to share their nerdery with a tiny person who wants to know All The Things about their favorite thing. People are incredibly generous about this!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:22 PM on May 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
DK Books do a LOT of really wonderful books like this -- if you type in "DK books Solar System" or "DK books Science" on google or amazon, you'll come up with lots to look at. Pay attention to how many pages -- they have "guides" and "encyclopedias" which are long, but also "eyewitness" books which are shorter (under 100 pages) and have simpler language and an even shorter series pitched at very little kids. We tend to love the long encyclopedias because the kids enjoy them for YEARS. But they all have gorgeous photography/illustrations and interesting facts galore, even the very-little-kid ones.
There are a lot of "hiking scavenger hunt" and "nature journal" books out there -- here's one my kids liked. A local nature center with a store attached may be able to point you to some great ones, as well as local guides to birds, butterflies, etc. We like the laminated ones that fold like maps and show all the local mammals or birds or butterflies; my kids will study them for ages and bring them out to compare birds in the yard or tracks in the snow.
Another thing all of my kids have really enjoyed is I got them each (and me) a soft-cover moleskine, and a huuuuuuge set of nice colored pencils in a case, and during the summer (in particular), we'll go outside every morning and all draw something we see in nature. I have everything from a 2-year-old scribbling a vague red blob representing the same cardinal every day for a solid month to a pretty dang accurate drawing of an iris by an 11-year-old. The point isn't to do a good job (which is why I draw with them -- I'm the worst draw-er), but to get good at observing and noticing things in nature, whether that's the colors of grass or what an iris looks like or what birds are in the garden or how a tree grows or how the ants go in a single-file line in a sidewalk crack, and how it's all different every day, and over the course of a month or a summer. This could work super-well with your own kid, but could also be great for a kid you see once a week or once a month, when you could see what they've drawn since you were last together, or you could go on a weekly hike with your nature journals.
Depending on your price range and the level of commitment of adults involved to learning how to work a telescope (SO FUCKIN' COMPLICATED, MAN!), there are lots of great legit telescopes for kids that are relatively inexpensive. Their top pick is under $60; their most expensive around $600. A $129 kiddie telescope set for my middle child not only made him the happiest kid ever on Christmas, but it ended up getting ME hooked on backyard astronomy and now I own a stupid-expensive, very big scope. (Buyer beware?)
Finally, we have MULTIPLE Celestial Buddies and they are fantastic. One kid has Mars, one kid has Saturn, I might or might not have the Sun because I love how the Sun's expression is like, "Oh no! I'm on fire!" We also have the Black Hole (A GIANT SACK) which has provided literally years of hilarity at this point. But if you have a kid who's obsessed with meteors or the moon? Getting them a snuggly of their favorite heavenly body will delight them beyond measure. Also your (friend's?) kid will be the only kid bringing a stuffed Mars to stuffy buddy day at school.
For the adults in her life, Dr. Scott the Paleontologist (from Dinosaur Train) has a book about helping kids fall in love with nature and science that I found valuable as a less science-oriented person than my kids. I was nose-down in fairy tales from the time I could read until high school, so I don't have personal experience of growing up science-crazy, but all three of my kids are NON STOP SCIENCE NERDS, so I needed a little help!
Also, general tip, if you post on your social media something like, "Hey do I know anyone local who's an astronomy nerd?" YOU PROBABLY DO, and most people who are super-enthusiastic about fossil hunting or backyard astronomy or similar activities are INCREDIBLY AMPED to share those with little kids. When my kids were obsessed with dinosaurs and fossils, a friend of mine who's a drug counselor in her day job took us fossil hunting, and my kids a) fell in the water and b) found their very own local fossils! (Crinoids, mostly, but also a shelly thing I forget the name of.) We've had many similar interactions over the years with both scientists (some of them on mefi!) and with hobbyists, who are just so excited to share their nerdery with a tiny person who wants to know All The Things about their favorite thing. People are incredibly generous about this!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:22 PM on May 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Oh my gosh, YES to the DK Eyewitness books. Available on sooooo many science (and history) topics, the photos are marvelous, and they’re packed with facts and details. Kids love these books and I had tons of them in my classroom library when I was teaching.
posted by bookmammal at 7:04 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by bookmammal at 7:04 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Carson MicroBrite Microscope. Inexpensive, easy to use, and reveals a hidden world of wonders.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:18 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:18 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Do they like board games and puzzles? Do they have access to a computer and an internet connection?
If so, they might like a couple of beginner chess books, and a free account on Chess Kid. This is run by the fine folks at chess.com. Maybe even a nice kid-friendly chess set, so they don't need to be at the computer constantly for learning and playing.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:56 PM on May 10, 2021
If so, they might like a couple of beginner chess books, and a free account on Chess Kid. This is run by the fine folks at chess.com. Maybe even a nice kid-friendly chess set, so they don't need to be at the computer constantly for learning and playing.
posted by spinifex23 at 12:56 PM on May 10, 2021
It's a golden age of sciencey shirts for little girls. I've had great luck at the Gap in the past couple years getting shirts in girls' cuts with all manner of scientific diagrams on them.
posted by potrzebie at 11:21 PM on May 10, 2021
posted by potrzebie at 11:21 PM on May 10, 2021
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posted by snowysoul at 12:17 PM on May 9, 2021