B'day present for my nephew
January 22, 2013 9:01 AM   Subscribe

What a cool gift I could get a 9 yr old?

My nephew turns 9 in a few weeks. I'd like to get him something cool. What's cool in that age group these days?
He also really loves books and magic tricks so if there is something compelling in those categories, I'd love to hear it.
posted by special-k to Shopping (12 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, this is totally a plug for a friend of mine, but David Roth's Coin Magic is super.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:04 AM on January 22, 2013


Unbored!
posted by ocherdraco at 9:04 AM on January 22, 2013 [1 favorite]


I've played 7 Wonders with kids of assorted ages, and they've all loved it. If he has someone who he could play with (you?!) that might be an option.
posted by backwards guitar at 9:10 AM on January 22, 2013


My 9 y.o. just read and thoroughly enjoyed "The Best of Stuntology".
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:18 AM on January 22, 2013


My nephew just turned 9 last weekend, and I got him the boxed set of The Chronicles of Prydain. I read them when I was about his age, and I loved them, lots of magic and adventure in them.
posted by gladly at 9:50 AM on January 22, 2013


The 8-year-old I babysat for really loved reading the American Chillers series. Similar to Goosebumps as far as I could tell.

Otherwise, what about a gift card to Ridemakerz where he can build his own remote-controlled car? Though it can get pricey with all the optional accessories.
posted by book 'em dano at 10:46 AM on January 22, 2013 [1 favorite]


Generic stuff for nine year olds, as dictated by my ten-year-old daughter and one of her (male) nine-year-old friends.

Skylanders. Does he have a Wii, or PS3, or DS, or...pretty much any remotely modern gaming device? The Skylanders franchise is very popular, and they've just come out with Skylanders: Giants, which is a new game, etc. Even if he already has the game itself, the figurines (which, as I understand it, are actually useful within the game--apparently each figure has different powers, and you play with one at a time?) are very collectible, and my experience has been that kids, especially boys, in that age group are always delighted to get them. Skylanders figurines are my default gift for boys in that age range.

The Percy Jackson series is popular with the love-to-read kids of this demographic--I suspect that it's slightly too complex for the kids who don't legitimately love reading, though. Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events is demographically appropriate, as well, and has been wildly successful amongst the kids I know, as have Secret Series books by Pseudonymous Bosch.

Depending on his reading level, you might want to consider A Wrinkle in Time, which is more advanced than the ones above, and is also less likely to have been on his radar, I think.

Possibly also cool: A season or two of Mythbusters. Science! Explosions! All the exciting things, basically.
posted by MeghanC at 11:14 AM on January 22, 2013 [1 favorite]


The Percy Jackson series is popular with the love-to-read kids of this demographic--I suspect that it's slightly too complex for the kids who don't legitimately love reading, though.

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 1) might be a happy compromise.
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:51 AM on January 22, 2013


If he does not already have Bone, it's a must (nine volumes of pure awesome).

Seriously, every kid I've turned on to this series (I work in a bookstore) has become addicted - and when I say "every kid" I mean "every single one".
posted by jammy at 11:59 AM on January 22, 2013 [2 favorites]


I just got my 5 & 8 year olds a slack line kit. Not exactly a magic trick but well, even a magician's gotta have a gimmick.
posted by beccaj at 1:33 PM on January 22, 2013


I was thinking about get this for the 9 year old I nanny. There is also a shark version and maybe a T. Rex version too.
posted by greta simone at 2:18 PM on January 22, 2013


I'll go with the new Furby - its really cool quality high tech toy.
posted by yuval83 at 6:25 AM on January 24, 2013


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