Help me play tourist in NYC

December 25, 2012 8:57 AM

Assume for a moment that you're a five year old boy. What kind of tourist tchotchke from New York City would you want?

Background: I am going to visit an old high school friend and her family in Houston next month. She has two boys, a four year old and a five year old. I live in New York City, and have no kids.

What kind of present/toy/whatever would a four and five year old want that is emblematic of NYC? And, more importantly to this native New Yorker, where do tourists in Manhattan go to buy this kind of stuff?

Bonus question: I assume that I should mention to the parents that I brought the kids presents before actually giving them to the kids. Correct?

Thanks.

posted by dfriedman to Grab Bag (25 answers total)

A mini empire state building or statue of liberty!
posted by pazazygeek at 9:03 AM on December 25, 2012

Anything that lights up.
posted by Enchanting Grasshopper at 9:04 AM on December 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

A Yankee cap
posted by wabbittwax at 9:04 AM on December 25, 2012

I can't imagine that 4 and 5 year olds are going to care one bit about the fact that something came from NYC. But, perhaps something from Dylan's Candy Bar might interest them...
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:05 AM on December 25, 2012 [3 favorites]

My 5-year-old nephew wants to be a firefighter, so he loved getting an FDNY hat.
posted by serialcomma at 9:10 AM on December 25, 2012 [6 favorites]

Wooden Subway Trains
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:10 AM on December 25, 2012 [7 favorites]

I always take my friends' replica subway trains from the transit museum.
posted by gaspode at 9:10 AM on December 25, 2012 [4 favorites]

Like TPS said.
posted by gaspode at 9:11 AM on December 25, 2012

If he's a 5-year-old with a backpack, he might like a really cool keychain for it. My kids both *love* their keychain collections!
posted by mamabear at 9:27 AM on December 25, 2012

- candy
- a thing that lights up
- a thing that makes an annoying noise
- a thing that lights up and makes an annoying noise
posted by elizardbits at 9:33 AM on December 25, 2012 [6 favorites]

Breakdancing minifigs from Kidrobot?
posted by Tom-B at 9:39 AM on December 25, 2012

When my little brother was 5, he was very interested in the Statue of Liberty, so something related (like pazazygeek's suggestion) would be my choice.
posted by Rash at 9:40 AM on December 25, 2012

A slot car with a Lady Liberty hood ornament.
posted by GiveUpNed at 9:41 AM on December 25, 2012

The "New York City in Bag" wooden toy set from MUJI. It's also available at some of the MoMa stores.
posted by GatorX3 at 9:45 AM on December 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

Definitely firefighter stuff. My nephews who are 2 and 3 are into the train stage; I think most 5 year olds are a little beyond that.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:47 AM on December 25, 2012

Along the same lines as the toy subway cars, toy taxi.
posted by cazoo at 9:49 AM on December 25, 2012

Along with those toy subway cars, remember to bring a subway map and a couple of old metrocards.
posted by sciencegeek at 9:53 AM on December 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

Came in to also say the subway trains, but since TPS beat me to it...

I can't find a link, but a lot of shops (both souvenir and toy) sell sets of NYC emergency vehicles - NYPD police car, NYFD truck, ambulance garbage truck, etc, which are generally familiar from TV and are pretty cool for that age.
posted by Mchelly at 10:35 AM on December 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

Snow globe. But don't try to carry it on the plane.
posted by sagwalla at 11:25 AM on December 25, 2012

When I was around that age, I used to love keychains or anything with my name on it. Try finding name key chains that have I <3 NY in the background?

As for where to purchase-- Times Square and Herald Square have lots of little souvenir shops.
posted by lovelygirl at 11:38 AM on December 25, 2012

My five year old loves his articulated "accordion" style bus, and so do his friends we've given them to.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:48 AM on December 25, 2012

Something with my name on it.
posted by SLC Mom at 1:01 PM on December 25, 2012

I think what I'd want is some sort of candy that says NYC on it, the point being that when I was 5 I really loved candy.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:08 PM on December 25, 2012

When I was that age, the thing I wanted most from NYC was a King Kong.

And I got it, too! It was awesome.

My brother (for the slightly-younger male perspective) wanted the same thing and liked his, too.
posted by batmonkey at 3:54 PM on December 25, 2012

I was going to suggest the toy taxi too (or the NYPD cars you often see in the same displays); kids love them. But TPS's subway cars are so cool! I'm totally making note of that for my daughter's birthday in a couple months. One thing you might want to check on, if you are considering the subway cars, is whether your friend's kids have the wooden tracks that are used for those train cars to run on.
posted by torticat at 12:21 PM on December 26, 2012