Suitable international presents

September 21, 2005 1:03 PM

I live in the US and have a niece (about to turn 6) and nephew (a year and a half) in Norway. Every year I have the same dilemma buying Xmas and bday presents for them and I'd love some ideas...

I would love some good suggestions for age-specific presents for them. The requirements are:

1) not too big, heavy or bulky due to international shipping fees,
2) not very fragile since it has to be shipped,
3) nothing that requires a wall plug since the plugs/voltage is different, and
4) nothing with English words or instructions since they only speak Norwegian at this point.

I've already given loads of clothes but don't want to be the aunt who gives the boring presents. My niece has too many dolls, and I've already given every kind of craft item I can think of, including paints and crayons and beads. Games are out because of the English factor, as are most of those neat science/experiment kits (probably not great to ship either).

Bonus points for anything specifically American that they might not have in Norway yet.

posted by widdershins to Shopping (13 answers total)

Response by poster: I should add that presents for my nephew are still fairly easy to find since he's so young; many toys for toddlers fit my criteria. I'm mainly looking for suggestions for gifts for my niece.
posted by widdershins at 1:05 PM on September 21, 2005

I have the same problem trying to buy gifts for my friend's children (they are in the Netherlands).

I have found that stuffed toys are always a big hit.

And if you aren't adverse to sending snack foods, then some little boxes of cereal (the single serving type) or PopTarts also go over well. (It cracks me up that they sprinkle Froot-Loops on buttered bread and eat it that way, but that's how they like it...)
posted by luneray at 1:22 PM on September 21, 2005

Pretend play - 6yo's are really into pretend play. So costume's and the like should be a big hit. Light weight for mailing, too.

And anything collectible or having to do with hair.
posted by LadyBonita at 1:39 PM on September 21, 2005

6 year old: Legos, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys. Especially if they don't have Lincoln Logs in Norway. There might be instructions in English, I dunno, but if there are they'd be simple enough for their parents to explain.

Is there no way to use a net-aware Norwegian/EU company to order stuff to be sent to the kids' house, where their parents can wrap on your behalf and then attach a card you've sent separately? Or is that too uncool?

There's always a nice Bag O' Glass from Mainway Toys.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:40 PM on September 21, 2005

My kids living in europe love beef jerky, which isn't available there at all. I usually describe it as candy on the customs form, to avoid hassles. Freeze-dried "astronaut" ice-cream is also a hit. Neither weighs too much for the mail, though perhaps consumables are not what you have in mind.
posted by anadem at 1:54 PM on September 21, 2005

For your 6 year old nicece, how about a pretty wooden box filled with beads and (child safe) jewelry making equipment?
posted by ceri richard at 1:58 PM on September 21, 2005

Maybe you could buy gifts from webstores in Norway? Books, cds/dvds, toys, more toys. The websites are in Norwegian, but maybe you could e-mail them to place an order? ([e-mail], [e-mail])

Alternatively, order from amazon.co.uk. They deliver gifts - with wrapping - and shipping is faster and cheaper from the UK than from the US.
posted by iviken at 2:04 PM on September 21, 2005

Response by poster: (wow, there are so many Norwegians on MeFi! Hei!)

For those of you suggesting I order online from Norway, I've had problems in the past with using my US-based credit cards for payment. I haven't tried in a while, though, so I'll check it out again.

Thx for the suggestions so far and keep 'em coming!
posted by widdershins at 2:10 PM on September 21, 2005

Dress-up costumes - fairy, princess, ballerina, mermaid.

If she's into dancing, maybe a ballet DVD.

If she likes animals, a cat/dog/zebra/lion costume, and face paints, to paint those tiger stripes.

Friends who have kids of about that age say they are mad about stickers, the peel off things that come in just about every conceivable variety of creature, flower, object ... So maybe a few sheets of stickers.
posted by essexjan at 2:38 PM on September 21, 2005

+1 on some suggestions. I had success with: jewelry (not real, but looking like), hair stuff, stickers.

And small stuff you put on the shelf, take in the pocket. I don't know the right term for this - usually these are statuettes of people, animals, funny objects, etc. Something like they put in Kinder Surprise eggs, just better built. Small girls can get very attached to these.

Extra tip - buy more (diverse) smaller things to increase chances she'll like something.
posted by b. at 3:52 PM on September 21, 2005

My grandad gave us x silver dollars for our x birthday - 6 silver dollars for your 6th birthday, etc. When we got to be 12 or so, he'd give scientific gifts - chemistry set, camera, books, because he was a scientist and wanted to encourage us. It was a cool tradition.
posted by theora55 at 6:31 PM on September 21, 2005

Hello Kitty.
posted by krisjohn at 7:03 PM on September 21, 2005

Once she's writing, I'd recommend stationery sets for your niece. Easy to ship! My German aunt gave me lots of stationery as a kid and I loved using it to write to penpals.

In the meantime: jewelry has been mentioned several times. How about some kid-friendly lip gloss to go with it? Kids like to play dress up and it'd be good to have something other than mom's makeup to play with. Bonus points if it's sparkly!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:35 AM on September 22, 2005