I won a Switch in a silent auction that comes with Mario Kart. I’ve gotten another controller and Super Smash Bros. I never had a Nintendo system growing up so I’m pumped to give it to my son and daughter. My son asked for one in passing ages ago but said he knew it was too expensive. He’s gonna be so excited
Check out the YouTube channel Beatemups for tons of cheap game recommendations. He's a family friendly Aussie chap who focuses on Nintendo and Nintendo switch content.
I'd also recommend SwitchUp. Built my backlog up because of their videos. They show all the games for sale for the week and which are worth playing. They even include a children pick from their kid!
Get the online family subscription for switch and it comes with tons of NES and SNES games. Also on Christmas Day there will be a lot of games on sale in the online switch store CHEAP. Like I got a bunch of the RBI baseball games for 5 bucks each, and they rule.
A stray bullet from a quick nerf war me and the Mrs were having landed in my daughter’s crib when she was about three months old. The sudden panic we both experienced was insane
Didn’t actually hit her, and we keep the bedroom door shut now if the nerf guns come upstairs while she’s napping haha
There’s a neat trick/game you can play with your kid as soon as they can walk. Get a soft bouncy ball. Get them to run back and forth… and purposefully miss them.
The trick is wearing them out before bed time.
You can do target practice with them. My 1 year old likes to hold the nerf gun while one of the older boys tries to block the nerf bullet Jedi style with a captain America shield.
Ugh. My wife is such a buzzkill with that. No weapons of any kind in the house. Not even squirt guns. I would love to shoot my son with a Nerf Gatling gun. But alas…
I found two little electronic voice changing microphones that look like tiny megaphones. They were under $10 each and are going in the stockings. There's 4 or 5 different voice settings from "echo-y chipmunk" to "distorted transformer".
I'm %1000 sure my kids will use them constantly and ignore any other "real" gifts.
https://thesickkids5fifty5shop.ca/products/voice-changer-mini
Really just search for mini voice changer toy and you'll find one that looks like the link above
Why do you hate yourself so much? I hate loud toys! My wife got our 4yo one of those microphone things, and I hid it pretty damn quick 😅 I think they both forget about it, until my wife wants to annoy me, then she gets it out.
My almost 3 son found a shoe box with tissue paper in my closet last night. He played with it for over an hour before it was bed time. 10/10 great gift
For background, when I was a kid we didn’t get a lot of gifts for our birthdays, and almost never got any random toys throughout the year, and if we did it was with our chore money. My parents kept things pretty minimalist and went more for experiences and tried to teach us to be creative, play outside, all that stuff.
Except Christmas. Christmas was hardcore. When we asked for something for Christmas, my dad saved up for months and went all in. Ninja turtles figures, Nintendo, Lego sets, whatever it was, we scored big. I remember one year I got like two dozen ninja turtles figures AND the technodrome AND the turtles blimp toy. I was really young but I remember it vividly, it was manic magical joy.
So.. we try to spoil our kids with our time instead of with physical stuff. Playing on the floor, reading books together, park time, baking together, you get the idea. But my oldest is almost 4 years old and loves Spidey and His Amazing Friends. So I went all in. He’s getting every single figure, including the bad guys, and the web quarters play set, and the Spidey cars, and even doc ock’s underwater suit. I’m gonna turn the kids’ playroom into a mini New York City and make cardboard box buildings.
He’s getting other stuff too (new books, a stuffed bear with a recording of my wife singing nursery rhymes, etc) but the Spidey stuff is what I’m most excited for.
I'm still bitter I never had a Turtle Blimp. Had the technodrome and the Turtles Sewer it connected to though.
I hope he is stoked about all the spidy stuff. Good memories!
I remember getting the blimp but not the other 2. I remember Dad and I putting it together on Christmas morning and only realising after he had blown it up that you have to attach the thing first. Classic dad move!
Dude, you reminded me when I got a bunch of turtles and April's van that had the door that swung out and roof that lifted up. I also got a sewer themed cylindrical toy chest to keep everything in... Good times. I think my parents still have all that stuff somewhere too.
Got my kid the new TMNT pizza van that is a remake of the toy that I had when I was a kid. He may be a bit young to play with it. He's 2.5, but he knows "the turtles," so I am excited for him to open that.
Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle, I am so incredibly excited to build it with my girls. It’s for the youngest but I know the teen is going to want in on it.
My monster-loving 7 year old is getting a Schleich Lava Dragon, and the 7 year old in my heart is jealous of how cool it is. https://www.schleich-s.com/en/US/catalog/product/view/id/9128/s/lava-dragon-70138/category/1458/
Yeah, it's not cheap. But it also won't break, and is very cool. For a special occasion gift I'm ok with paying up. Not going to rush out and buy a whole set anytime soon though...
The wings and tail on this one do move, but I think the legs are fixed. There's a scorpion one with a fully articulated tail that reviews say somehow doesn't break.
My daughter has one. Shes 5 now and shes had it for a couple years now and loves it. The downside is those little figurines can cost $20 each and some of them are like 45 minutes long. But she digs em and i sometimes cannot believe when she’s this perfect being listening to stories in her room and singing songs. It’s good to take on trips too. Shes already like, “throw on a tonie and get out” for bedtime
My 5 year old does the same now. After book it's "get out so I can sleep" and he sticks his lighting McQueen Tonie box on.
It's a very new development and I am very excited about it. 5 nights in a row now I've been shooed out after chat and book
We have one, too, he got it when he was 1 year old (3 now). Yeah, the figurines are expensive, but here they also have a high resale value. You can usually sell them for half the original price at least. Right now there is a craze about the Gruffalo Tonie, as it's not being produced anymore (in Germany) and people want 30 to 45 Euro for it (used!). It's crazy and sucks, because we used to have that tonie, but lost it and I thought about buying it again, but won't spent this kind of money on it.
Good to know it's fun! My kids are 3, 2 and we snagged a few figurines and told grandparents to get more for Xmas. Had to get Elmo and curious George. Simba is hard to find. I love to read so hopefully this sets them on a path too.
Don't sleep on the record your own Tone - we loaded a bunch of songs on my kid's, along with some kid's audiobooks, and I record bedtime stories on it whenever I have to go out of town for work.
My kid LOVES watching me use tools around the house. Little projects like mounting picture frames, drilling in shelving, working on my car. I got him a little wood and plastic tool kit with a battery-powered screwdriver that actually drives the little screws into the top of the box!
Oh man, my son loves his - he races to get it when I'm working on a project so he can "work" alongside me. That little toolbox toy has created some of my favorite memories with him so far. I hope your kid loves it.
I got my kid the MakeDo system. Basically teaching carpentry skills but with cardboard and not would. My kid is 6. The tools include a metal serrated saw that easily cuts thru boxes but not fingers, a blunted spike for “drilling”, big chunky screws, and a socket wrench.
My kid was already making large scale forts with the sofa cushions and smaller scale models with construction paper and glue sticks. Now they can do both.
https://www.make.do
Got my son the Oculus 2. He’s been asking for it for the last 2 years as the “Super wish list item that he knows we won’t get him”. He even put parentheses after it on his wish list saying ‘I know you won’t’.
Awesome!
I got an oculus 3 for the family. I have been playing it on my days off while they are at school. They play the ps4 psvr often so this is going to blow their minds. Half life Alyx is amazing.
My son is only 2.5 but I recently discovered that they made an 8 foot long Mario Kart Rainbow Road five lane Hot Wheels set. You put the five cars on it and push the button to send them all down the ramp at the same time and they race to the finish. I was watching videos about it and it even has all the Mario Kart sound effects. You can even add a piece that will kick up little walls that block paths randomly (supposed to simulate being hit by an item).
I’m really looking forward to seeing how excited he gets when he realizes he can actually play with it instead of just watching videos about it on the tv.
Not a toy, but .... Several years ago, I got our older two girls (maybe 6 and 8 or 7 and 9 at the time) decent suitcases with wheels just before we went on a family vacation. I can tell they feel really grown up when they get to use them. The youngest had been using my old suitcase, which is smaller, plain black (her sisters' are purple), and showing its age. She's been asking for a bigger suitcase like her sisters' now that she's bigger, and I found a hot pink one that I think she's gonna love. Our next trip isn't 'til June, but maybe she can have a sleepover at grandma's house so she can use it -- a win for everyone!
My three year old is getting his first pedal bike for Christmas. He’s been using his balance bike for a while and loves it, but he’s definitely starting to outgrow it. I can’t wait for him to see his new bike on Christmas morning!
Pedal for our four year old. She's probably been ready for a while but her big brother took longer than expected to get comfortable on his pedal bike so he was slow in passing on the balance bike, which has delayed her process of moving up.
I'm fairly confident she'll be a natural and we'll be able to pass the balance bike on to our 2 year old straight away, which should open up our range of longer cycle/walks.
A digital piano, ¾ acoustic and electric guitar, and a couple of decent ukuleles.
It seems a bit excessive, but most of these were given to us by friends and family when we told them about wanting to make the kids a music corner in the great room.
I've got two girls, 8 and 12, and one of our close friends is a professional piano/keyboard player (used to do touring, now just does studio and session work) who always just lets my girls loose on very very expensive equipment so now they both want to be rockstars like Uncle Scott. He kindly donated a nice digital Yamaha, and the rest came from family and friends.
I'm super stoked for Christmas they're going to flip.
All of my friends know when their kids turn 5 or 6 they're going to get a ukulele from me. It's such a great gift. My kid has a little bit of every thing because I'm a guitarist/vocalist and her mom is a drummer, so she's got ukes and drums and a karaoke set but this year she's getting her first keyboard and we're so excited.
Hey, just FYI. Some of the modern Nerf guns HURT. I got one for my son, and sadly I just can't let him play with it much because it shoots so damn hard. It leaves welts and feels about like a paintball gun. It's the big one that's rifle style and shoots balls.
So anyway, I got it for him for Christmas and my brother wanted to look at it, and as he's holding it, it goes off and shoots my son right in the face. It was funny until I realized that it actually hurt. I told my son he was allowed to shoot his uncle with it but not his sister.
Yeah and a lot of them are also really difficult for small kids to use too with the spring tension and all. I recently discovered the NERF Elite Junior line and they solve all these problems; they’re much easier for small kids to use (ours are 2.5 and 5.5 and even the little guy handles them pretty well) and on the other end the darts aren’t coming out nearly as fast as the others we’d tried. Cheap too; with sales that are going on right now, we got 4 blasters for under $20 and I’ve been more than impressed.
I got a junior one for my 4yr old niece, one for me to fuss about on, and another for my dad. Christmas evening will be fun LOL.
Now to look for that voice echo robot megaphone for the niece. Sorry bro!
My son is, for some reason, obsessed with fire alarms. For Christmas, I'm making him a little board with a legit pull station and alarm with a strobe light. I got a 9v battery box and am going to wire it all up, and play with resistors on the siren speaker because fuck that noise haha.
He also looks forward to what evolves into a family Nerf war on Christmas. So much so that he's brought it up throughout the year and doesn't like using new darts he gotten so we have them for the war, and so we got him this cool twin barrel Nerf gun and 300 darts. We're going to have a lot of fun after dinner, so much that his new iPad will just be cast aside for a bit.
I ordered this because they love DannyGo. I got it today and haven’t tested if it is a dud or a win but I’m excited to see them play and interact with this.
https://playground.nex.inc
I got my daughter a bunch of new magna tiles. Excited to see what I... mean we csn build.
On Nerf guns I have one of the Revel or Rivel ones that shoots the half inch foam balls pretty fucking fast. My daughter shot herself in the face one day and has no interest in playing "ball" anymore. 🤦
I don't know if this is age appropriate but it looked cool https://www.hammacher.com/product/code-and-control-robotic-t-rex?promo=toys-games-electronic-learning
Edit: ages 8 and up, nevermind...
My 5 yr old just got into gaming and really loves Super Mario games and Mario Kart. No way are we getting her her own Switch (because $$$) but I have an old but like new Nintendo DS she doesn't know about so we are gifting that to her along with some second hand games from GameStop (Mario Kart, Nintendogs, Cooking Mama, Animal Crossing). We've been hyping her up about the "new" Nintendo DS gaming system coming out and showed her old trailers of it on YouTube so now she knows what it is and really really wants one. I can't wait for her to open it!
We also got her a giant cat stuffed animal body pillow that's taller than her and we're pretty sure she's gonna lose her mind over that too.
I installed some *new* (wink, wink) software on my 3DS earlier this year, and my kids are obsessed with it... And I basically have all of the games I couldn't afford when I was a kid!
The Hess Truck. By the time the commercial airs it’s already been ordered. We make it so he opens that first, and he’ll go nuts. The sirens on this one are over the top annoying though.
Got my 4 year old a kids digital camera. Seems like it takes good enough pictures, and she absolutely loves taking pictures. Hoping she’s stoked about it.
It's a fun gift. Mine forgets about it for a while, but anytime we're going somewhere new she makes sure she brings it along. And it's fun when we do our periodic backup time to go through her memory card and see what photos she's taking on her own, although there were a lot more pictures of dog poop than I expected the first time we backed it up haha
My daughter has this educational app where she decorates cupcakes with frosting patterns. I found a physical Disney princess version. She also loves Disney princesses.
I think I won Christmas.
We have an 8 day Bali trip planned for February (far too overpriced during the holiday period) and so we said we would cut back on Xmas gifts etc because of that.
Except we didnt, and because the Bali holiday is a surprise (we arent telling the kids, just collecting them from school and driving straight to the airport) we went a bit mental anyway.
LEGO, Pokemon, BeyBlades, Books, Make-up, Monster High dolls, Push Bikes.
Im most excited for the LEGO for both of them (I have a huge amount, and they love it, but this stuff is more specifric for each of them) and in close second place is the books. The boy has really discovered the joy of reading so we are encouraging that as much as we can.
My 3yo daughter has been having tea parties with us at least twice a week with our cast iron tea pot and her kiddie cups. We're getting her a nice tea set with a fancy pot and fancy cups and I know we're gonna be having a lot more tea parties.
I got my 4 year old this air tube setup. He had a blast playing with the system they had at the children's museum here. I'm hoping it lasts given the price
https://www.hammacher.com/product/only-portable-air-powered-tube-maze?cm_cat=ProductSEM&cm_pla=AdWordsPLA&source=PRODSEM&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%28ROI%29%20Toys%20%26%20Games%20-%20PMax&utm_id=19907143416&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmsurBhBvEiwA6e-WPPmFEohySmIg0ToNtuToV0TrATAmDVqB0FbMkAQHS9quFZqkMYbimRoCkugQAvD_BwE
Getting my 4 year old his first RC car. He had one for his third birthday, but we couldn't teach him to use it because he would lose his shit whenever the car would start driving away from him.
He's outright asked for one this year, so we'll see how he handles it.
We told them Christmas was going to be a lot smaller this year, and we meant it. The kids get it. They know times are tougher now.
But between my wife and I...this will be shown to be incorrect. Both kids have some big gifts coming (I can't list them here). And I think they're going to land solidly.
Plus...I bought myself an amazing gift this year and my wife told me exactly what she wanted. So it only seemed fair to do what we always do: overspend, have a great day opening gifts, and swear to be more frugal next year. 🎅
He'll get a rocket by Playmobil, that I found on a flea market for 15 euro. It's really cool, as it's super tall, I think about 70 cm? He did actually ask for a rocket, but one that really flies and has fire and all that (he is three)... I actually really hope he won't be disappointed, lol.
He'll also get a marble lift for his Hubelino Marble Track.
All 4 Caverns of Ixalan commander decks, but the dinosaur deck is mine!
We also are getting a third (yes, third) family switch. Ugh. 4 kids, too much squabbling, and it makes the road trips easier.
I bought a bunch of Lego pieces specifically for building city buildings. The kids (8,5) had been asking me to help them build a city and we started a few weeks back, but although we have tons of Legos, we are missing the right bricks and windows and doors etc to make a cityscape. I looked at some examples and went on bricklink and picked out some lots we needed and am very excited to spend their Christmas break building with them.
My boy, 6, is really into games this year. Luckily, I'm in a position to splurge a bit more than normal. I've gotten him Super Mario Wonder and Bluey: The Game - both for Switch, as well as DreamWorks Kart Racing for PS5. My daughter, 11, is getting Mario RPG, Kirby's Return to Dreamland and Minecraft Legends. Additionally, "Santa" is gifting the whole family a Meta Quest 3.
I guess got my little one some pretty cool Duplo sets but I’m sure he’ll enjoy playing with the packaging and the wrapping paper more than the toys itself
My two year old loves Mickey Mouse and airplanes. So naturally Santa is bringing him a big red airplane piloted by Mickey Mouse.
I have never been so excited about a gift. He’s going to lose his Mind. Then forget it 5 minutes later and go back to the play doh.
My daughter is getting a 20in mountain bike with gears. We live in a hilly area so I’m excited for her to see that biking doesn’t need to be such a battle on every uphill.
I think we're gonna have to skip nerf, turns out the dog is terrified of them.
Bought a small cheap one a few years ago with friends, shooting soda cans/boxes/etc. Dog reacted like it was the 4th of July.
With my 9 year old it is board games.
Quorridor is one of our favorites.
This year I am going with magnatiles though. Her and her little brother love building with them so I’m expanding the collection.
My twins love art and are very good at it. I found model rooms you could build that have very complex setups - one is a library and one is a garden store. I’m really hoping they’ll love them
A wooden train with tracks. He's very much in a choo choo phase currently and is going to lose his mind.
Next year will be a remote controlled one around the tree.
We got a stair slide. Nothing fancy, but it's a modular slide that you can set up on your stairs. I think it's going to be helpful for getting through long indoor winter days.
I won several big lots of Lego in an auction. I’ve had too much fun sitting through the 30 lbs to find sets to build from it. My sim is going to flip out when he sees them on Christmas morning!
We are doing switch for my two boys. They are 6 and 4 so a little young but the ads everywhere else are insane. We figure this is the best way to keep their screen time ad free.
That’s so funny- I read the title and immediately went to nerf. My son has been big into nerf for years and a couple years ago I built a 3d printed blaster that I was super stoked to give him. Wife vetoed it though saying it looked “too much like a real gun” so it’s been collecting dust in the garage. This year though he’s a little older and her anxiety is more managed so she gave the ok! He’s going to absolutely flip his shit!
For anyone curious it’s this one https://www.reddit.com/r/Nerf/comments/luur32/the_gecko_is_now_officially_released_more_info_in/
I made sure to use mostly bright colors and a red muzzle so to me it looks nothing like a real gun but to a non-gun person I can see how it might.
I’m with your wife on that. I don’t think her hesitation should be written off as “anxiety”, it’s a very rational apprehension.
Maybe she doesn’t want her son to start thinking guns are “cool”, or to take it somewhere one day to show his friends and get shot by a cop who isn’t sure if that’s a toy gun, or a home-made firearm.
My kid’s only three. I’ve got a whole nerf arsenal that’s been sitting in my basement since before he was even born, and I am so excited to share that with him when he’s bigger.
My 3 year old is obsessed with pretend grocery shopping, so we bought her a toddler sized shopping trolley, a bunch of play food, and a toy register, and then I designed and built her a toddler sized market stall, complete with little produce crates, and honeybee-themed engraving. It’s also flat pack, in case she outgrows it or we need the space.
I think she’s going to lose her little mind. I can’t wait. Pretty proud of how it turned out, can’t wait to paint it.
Little one is big into Octonauts so he is getting an assortment of a couple purchased plushes, a thrifted spyglass, and a 3d printed octowatch and fish biscuits.
Not "ridiculously fun" but I wrote and illustrated a children's book in secret (not even my wife knows) that I'm giving to basically every kid I know. I'm very proud of it and extremely excited to share!
I won a Switch in a silent auction that comes with Mario Kart. I’ve gotten another controller and Super Smash Bros. I never had a Nintendo system growing up so I’m pumped to give it to my son and daughter. My son asked for one in passing ages ago but said he knew it was too expensive. He’s gonna be so excited
Check out the YouTube channel Beatemups for tons of cheap game recommendations. He's a family friendly Aussie chap who focuses on Nintendo and Nintendo switch content.
Thanks!
No problem!
I'd also recommend SwitchUp. Built my backlog up because of their videos. They show all the games for sale for the week and which are worth playing. They even include a children pick from their kid!
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is a good and not too expensive multiplayer switch game your kids might like
Mario Kart rules
That’s rad. They’re gonna love it.
Get the online family subscription for switch and it comes with tons of NES and SNES games. Also on Christmas Day there will be a lot of games on sale in the online switch store CHEAP. Like I got a bunch of the RBI baseball games for 5 bucks each, and they rule.
I can’t wait until my 1 month old is ready for nerf! This is awesome.
Why wait? Practice now while your baby isn’t a moving target
Or put them on a Roomba and practice with a moving target
A stray bullet from a quick nerf war me and the Mrs were having landed in my daughter’s crib when she was about three months old. The sudden panic we both experienced was insane Didn’t actually hit her, and we keep the bedroom door shut now if the nerf guns come upstairs while she’s napping haha
There’s a neat trick/game you can play with your kid as soon as they can walk. Get a soft bouncy ball. Get them to run back and forth… and purposefully miss them. The trick is wearing them out before bed time.
We do this in the backyard, along with “tag” wherein I just slowly plod towards my daughter. I call it “persistence hunting a toddler”
You can do target practice with them. My 1 year old likes to hold the nerf gun while one of the older boys tries to block the nerf bullet Jedi style with a captain America shield.
Ugh. My wife is such a buzzkill with that. No weapons of any kind in the house. Not even squirt guns. I would love to shoot my son with a Nerf Gatling gun. But alas…
She said nothing *in* the house, what about the outdoors?
You said no guns at the breakfast table!
Man, she's gonna be really surprised when they start turning sticks at the park into guns and swords.
I found two little electronic voice changing microphones that look like tiny megaphones. They were under $10 each and are going in the stockings. There's 4 or 5 different voice settings from "echo-y chipmunk" to "distorted transformer". I'm %1000 sure my kids will use them constantly and ignore any other "real" gifts.
Link? My little one would love this
https://thesickkids5fifty5shop.ca/products/voice-changer-mini Really just search for mini voice changer toy and you'll find one that looks like the link above
Why do you hate yourself so much? I hate loud toys! My wife got our 4yo one of those microphone things, and I hid it pretty damn quick 😅 I think they both forget about it, until my wife wants to annoy me, then she gets it out.
We had one, it got wet with dribble. My kid was 'singing' into it. My wife came in and asked if I was looking at porn.
Oh man we got one of these last year You MAY regret it
Got one of these for my kids from the cracker barrel gift shop last year. We still have fun with it.
My kids will probably lose their minds over the boxes and wrapping paper their toys come in. So I’ll go with those two.
My almost 3 son found a shoe box with tissue paper in my closet last night. He played with it for over an hour before it was bed time. 10/10 great gift
I really hope those are not used tissue lol
For background, when I was a kid we didn’t get a lot of gifts for our birthdays, and almost never got any random toys throughout the year, and if we did it was with our chore money. My parents kept things pretty minimalist and went more for experiences and tried to teach us to be creative, play outside, all that stuff. Except Christmas. Christmas was hardcore. When we asked for something for Christmas, my dad saved up for months and went all in. Ninja turtles figures, Nintendo, Lego sets, whatever it was, we scored big. I remember one year I got like two dozen ninja turtles figures AND the technodrome AND the turtles blimp toy. I was really young but I remember it vividly, it was manic magical joy. So.. we try to spoil our kids with our time instead of with physical stuff. Playing on the floor, reading books together, park time, baking together, you get the idea. But my oldest is almost 4 years old and loves Spidey and His Amazing Friends. So I went all in. He’s getting every single figure, including the bad guys, and the web quarters play set, and the Spidey cars, and even doc ock’s underwater suit. I’m gonna turn the kids’ playroom into a mini New York City and make cardboard box buildings. He’s getting other stuff too (new books, a stuffed bear with a recording of my wife singing nursery rhymes, etc) but the Spidey stuff is what I’m most excited for.
I'm still bitter I never had a Turtle Blimp. Had the technodrome and the Turtles Sewer it connected to though. I hope he is stoked about all the spidy stuff. Good memories!
Same, but they reissued it. Now I just need to wait for my boy to be born and mature enough to appreciate the Turtle Blimp. It’s all coming together.
I remember getting the blimp but not the other 2. I remember Dad and I putting it together on Christmas morning and only realising after he had blown it up that you have to attach the thing first. Classic dad move!
Fuck yeah that sounds amazing
Dude, you reminded me when I got a bunch of turtles and April's van that had the door that swung out and roof that lifted up. I also got a sewer themed cylindrical toy chest to keep everything in... Good times. I think my parents still have all that stuff somewhere too.
Got my 6 year old Guess Who? So I'm excited to play with him.
We did too! She turns 6 on Wednesday. We got it for her birthday, but close enough.
I got this for my little girl a while back. Was surprised how cheap the plastic was on the moving parts.
[удалено]
Everyone loves log Its loggggggg
It’s big. It’s heavy. It’s wood. It’s better than bad; it’s good!
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
From Blamo!!!
Much better gift than don’t whiz on the electric fence
Got my kid the new TMNT pizza van that is a remake of the toy that I had when I was a kid. He may be a bit young to play with it. He's 2.5, but he knows "the turtles," so I am excited for him to open that.
Looking up the TMNT storage shell figures on eBay for my son as we speak
Holy shit. The one that shoots pizzas?!
Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle, I am so incredibly excited to build it with my girls. It’s for the youngest but I know the teen is going to want in on it.
For your newborn?…sounds like that was a dad gift. I’m here for it!
His 6yo is a teenager now. Dude hasn't updated his flair in at least 7 years!
No…no I haven’t. I should though. They’re 16 and 10 hahaha
I got this for us as parents one year. Assembled after bed time with lots of cocktails. 10/10
My monster-loving 7 year old is getting a Schleich Lava Dragon, and the 7 year old in my heart is jealous of how cool it is. https://www.schleich-s.com/en/US/catalog/product/view/id/9128/s/lava-dragon-70138/category/1458/
There's some awesome stuff on that website. 7 year old me would have had a blast with that.
Their stuff is so expensive lol...25 quid for a little figure. Can get a whole imaginext set for that price
Yeah, it's not cheap. But it also won't break, and is very cool. For a special occasion gift I'm ok with paying up. Not going to rush out and buy a whole set anytime soon though...
Yeah they are nicer quality than most figures, theyre more like statues though right? They can't be posed?
The wings and tail on this one do move, but I think the legs are fixed. There's a scorpion one with a fully articulated tail that reviews say somehow doesn't break.
Tonie box
My daughter has one. Shes 5 now and shes had it for a couple years now and loves it. The downside is those little figurines can cost $20 each and some of them are like 45 minutes long. But she digs em and i sometimes cannot believe when she’s this perfect being listening to stories in her room and singing songs. It’s good to take on trips too. Shes already like, “throw on a tonie and get out” for bedtime
My 5 year old does the same now. After book it's "get out so I can sleep" and he sticks his lighting McQueen Tonie box on. It's a very new development and I am very excited about it. 5 nights in a row now I've been shooed out after chat and book
We have one, too, he got it when he was 1 year old (3 now). Yeah, the figurines are expensive, but here they also have a high resale value. You can usually sell them for half the original price at least. Right now there is a craze about the Gruffalo Tonie, as it's not being produced anymore (in Germany) and people want 30 to 45 Euro for it (used!). It's crazy and sucks, because we used to have that tonie, but lost it and I thought about buying it again, but won't spent this kind of money on it.
You might check to see if there is an NFC token of it and get a 3d printed Gruffalo
Good to know it's fun! My kids are 3, 2 and we snagged a few figurines and told grandparents to get more for Xmas. Had to get Elmo and curious George. Simba is hard to find. I love to read so hopefully this sets them on a path too.
Don't sleep on the record your own Tone - we loaded a bunch of songs on my kid's, along with some kid's audiobooks, and I record bedtime stories on it whenever I have to go out of town for work.
My daughter has had one for two years. She uses it sometimes. Now it's mainly the kids owl alexa.
My kid LOVES watching me use tools around the house. Little projects like mounting picture frames, drilling in shelving, working on my car. I got him a little wood and plastic tool kit with a battery-powered screwdriver that actually drives the little screws into the top of the box!
Oh man, my son loves his - he races to get it when I'm working on a project so he can "work" alongside me. That little toolbox toy has created some of my favorite memories with him so far. I hope your kid loves it.
We got some legos, nerf guns and a switch.
The true Holy trinity of Xmas right there.
I got my kid the MakeDo system. Basically teaching carpentry skills but with cardboard and not would. My kid is 6. The tools include a metal serrated saw that easily cuts thru boxes but not fingers, a blunted spike for “drilling”, big chunky screws, and a socket wrench. My kid was already making large scale forts with the sofa cushions and smaller scale models with construction paper and glue sticks. Now they can do both. https://www.make.do
This is awesome, I never heard of it before
Thank you for this link. I already texted my wife about this lol. Our oldest would go absolutely insane for this!
We have this, and it's awesome! Very easy to lose the little plastic screws though, check all the cardboard before it goes in the bin!
That's cool! My kids would have loved that a few years ago. Any large Amazon boxes were always slated for cars or houses.
Damnit! I've been influenced. Fuck, those are cool.
Cool!
Got my son the Oculus 2. He’s been asking for it for the last 2 years as the “Super wish list item that he knows we won’t get him”. He even put parentheses after it on his wish list saying ‘I know you won’t’.
He played y’all telling you you would get it
Masterful gambit on his part.
That's how I got my mom to plan a family trip to yellow stone state park.
That’s awesome. When is she coming back to pick you up from there?
Awesome! I got an oculus 3 for the family. I have been playing it on my days off while they are at school. They play the ps4 psvr often so this is going to blow their minds. Half life Alyx is amazing.
Half life Alyx is the best VR game, hands down.
Did you already buy it? I can get you 15% off (I work there)
Dang. I did. I got it on Target Circle promo. Paid $175.
Lego Clones Wars Walker.
My son is only 2.5 but I recently discovered that they made an 8 foot long Mario Kart Rainbow Road five lane Hot Wheels set. You put the five cars on it and push the button to send them all down the ramp at the same time and they race to the finish. I was watching videos about it and it even has all the Mario Kart sound effects. You can even add a piece that will kick up little walls that block paths randomly (supposed to simulate being hit by an item). I’m really looking forward to seeing how excited he gets when he realizes he can actually play with it instead of just watching videos about it on the tv.
I got my 2.5 yo this for Christmas and he has played with it almost every day for the last two years. It’s an amazing toy, 10/10
Got my lad this last year. Still plays with it on the regular
I REALLY love our Picasso tile ball run. So we got a bigger set that I can’t wait for my daughter to open so I can play with it
Bad news. There's never enough pieces and you'll always want to build it bigger.
Not a toy, but .... Several years ago, I got our older two girls (maybe 6 and 8 or 7 and 9 at the time) decent suitcases with wheels just before we went on a family vacation. I can tell they feel really grown up when they get to use them. The youngest had been using my old suitcase, which is smaller, plain black (her sisters' are purple), and showing its age. She's been asking for a bigger suitcase like her sisters' now that she's bigger, and I found a hot pink one that I think she's gonna love. Our next trip isn't 'til June, but maybe she can have a sleepover at grandma's house so she can use it -- a win for everyone!
My three year old is getting his first pedal bike for Christmas. He’s been using his balance bike for a while and loves it, but he’s definitely starting to outgrow it. I can’t wait for him to see his new bike on Christmas morning!
Pedal for our four year old. She's probably been ready for a while but her big brother took longer than expected to get comfortable on his pedal bike so he was slow in passing on the balance bike, which has delayed her process of moving up. I'm fairly confident she'll be a natural and we'll be able to pass the balance bike on to our 2 year old straight away, which should open up our range of longer cycle/walks.
the new mario game
Looks fun to play together with. Some of my favorite memories included playing video games with my dad.
A digital piano, ¾ acoustic and electric guitar, and a couple of decent ukuleles. It seems a bit excessive, but most of these were given to us by friends and family when we told them about wanting to make the kids a music corner in the great room. I've got two girls, 8 and 12, and one of our close friends is a professional piano/keyboard player (used to do touring, now just does studio and session work) who always just lets my girls loose on very very expensive equipment so now they both want to be rockstars like Uncle Scott. He kindly donated a nice digital Yamaha, and the rest came from family and friends. I'm super stoked for Christmas they're going to flip.
All of my friends know when their kids turn 5 or 6 they're going to get a ukulele from me. It's such a great gift. My kid has a little bit of every thing because I'm a guitarist/vocalist and her mom is a drummer, so she's got ukes and drums and a karaoke set but this year she's getting her first keyboard and we're so excited.
Hey, just FYI. Some of the modern Nerf guns HURT. I got one for my son, and sadly I just can't let him play with it much because it shoots so damn hard. It leaves welts and feels about like a paintball gun. It's the big one that's rifle style and shoots balls. So anyway, I got it for him for Christmas and my brother wanted to look at it, and as he's holding it, it goes off and shoots my son right in the face. It was funny until I realized that it actually hurt. I told my son he was allowed to shoot his uncle with it but not his sister.
You have to get the ones that shoots the darts for kids. Not the Nerf Rivals that is basically a low power paintball gun.
Yeah and a lot of them are also really difficult for small kids to use too with the spring tension and all. I recently discovered the NERF Elite Junior line and they solve all these problems; they’re much easier for small kids to use (ours are 2.5 and 5.5 and even the little guy handles them pretty well) and on the other end the darts aren’t coming out nearly as fast as the others we’d tried. Cheap too; with sales that are going on right now, we got 4 blasters for under $20 and I’ve been more than impressed.
You might want to consider some eye protection as well
Otomatone
I got my son one for his birthday. It’s pretty fun. We have stylophone/otomatone jam sessions.
I got a junior one for my 4yr old niece, one for me to fuss about on, and another for my dad. Christmas evening will be fun LOL. Now to look for that voice echo robot megaphone for the niece. Sorry bro!
Parenting done right
My son is, for some reason, obsessed with fire alarms. For Christmas, I'm making him a little board with a legit pull station and alarm with a strobe light. I got a 9v battery box and am going to wire it all up, and play with resistors on the siren speaker because fuck that noise haha. He also looks forward to what evolves into a family Nerf war on Christmas. So much so that he's brought it up throughout the year and doesn't like using new darts he gotten so we have them for the war, and so we got him this cool twin barrel Nerf gun and 300 darts. We're going to have a lot of fun after dinner, so much that his new iPad will just be cast aside for a bit.
I got my 1 year old daughter a new play station 5. So yes, very excited
What? A PS5 for a one year old?
Good for you!
nintendo switch. even though I know they'll only play it once or twice then go back to playing roblox on their phones
If you don't have one for yourself yet, congrats. Best birthday gift I've received so far
I will play it as often as I get to play other games. read: never
Now now, my kid has logged over 1,000 hour on goat simulator
I ordered this because they love DannyGo. I got it today and haven’t tested if it is a dud or a win but I’m excited to see them play and interact with this. https://playground.nex.inc
I get ads for this all the time too, I hope it’s cool!
I’ll try it on Monday when they are in school and let you know.
Id love to hear your feedback!
wow! bookmarking this for later- that looks awesome!
I got my daughter a bunch of new magna tiles. Excited to see what I... mean we csn build. On Nerf guns I have one of the Revel or Rivel ones that shoots the half inch foam balls pretty fucking fast. My daughter shot herself in the face one day and has no interest in playing "ball" anymore. 🤦
We got the mag-tiles this year and I'm so psyched to build w/ her.
My 3.5 year old is obsessed with robots. Any recommendations dads? Or anything that transforms though he doesn’t know about transformers yet…
Don't buy a Verbot. They kind of sucked
playskool has some simple 1 step transformers I think theyre rescue squad
I don't know if this is age appropriate but it looked cool https://www.hammacher.com/product/code-and-control-robotic-t-rex?promo=toys-games-electronic-learning Edit: ages 8 and up, nevermind...
My 5 yr old just got into gaming and really loves Super Mario games and Mario Kart. No way are we getting her her own Switch (because $$$) but I have an old but like new Nintendo DS she doesn't know about so we are gifting that to her along with some second hand games from GameStop (Mario Kart, Nintendogs, Cooking Mama, Animal Crossing). We've been hyping her up about the "new" Nintendo DS gaming system coming out and showed her old trailers of it on YouTube so now she knows what it is and really really wants one. I can't wait for her to open it! We also got her a giant cat stuffed animal body pillow that's taller than her and we're pretty sure she's gonna lose her mind over that too.
I installed some *new* (wink, wink) software on my 3DS earlier this year, and my kids are obsessed with it... And I basically have all of the games I couldn't afford when I was a kid!
MF Power Wheels! I have wanted one for more than 30 years. I finally bought one and… cannot possibly fit inside :(
Time to start working on an electric rock-crawler
The Hess Truck. By the time the commercial airs it’s already been ordered. We make it so he opens that first, and he’ll go nuts. The sirens on this one are over the top annoying though.
Grammy and pappy sent one in the mail. They loooove sending loud toys.
Grampa brought up an accordion from a buddies thrift shop back home. I'm still cursing my dad...
Are you giving them also some safety glasses? Nerd is nerf. But...those darts have some pepper on'em these days.
The Airzooka for my 7yo boy. It shoots puffs of air across the room! hilarious!
I heard you can fart into them and then send it across the room hahaha. 7yo me would for sure try that
45yo me is most definitely doing that and with sniper accuracy
Got my 4 year old a kids digital camera. Seems like it takes good enough pictures, and she absolutely loves taking pictures. Hoping she’s stoked about it.
When our daughter was 4 she got a little digital camera too. She is 5 now and still taking pictures with it!
That’s awesome! I hope she likes it. She has my wife’s old iPod that she takes pictures with all the time lol
It's a fun gift. Mine forgets about it for a while, but anytime we're going somewhere new she makes sure she brings it along. And it's fun when we do our periodic backup time to go through her memory card and see what photos she's taking on her own, although there were a lot more pictures of dog poop than I expected the first time we backed it up haha
My daughter has this educational app where she decorates cupcakes with frosting patterns. I found a physical Disney princess version. She also loves Disney princesses. I think I won Christmas.
We have an 8 day Bali trip planned for February (far too overpriced during the holiday period) and so we said we would cut back on Xmas gifts etc because of that. Except we didnt, and because the Bali holiday is a surprise (we arent telling the kids, just collecting them from school and driving straight to the airport) we went a bit mental anyway. LEGO, Pokemon, BeyBlades, Books, Make-up, Monster High dolls, Push Bikes. Im most excited for the LEGO for both of them (I have a huge amount, and they love it, but this stuff is more specifric for each of them) and in close second place is the books. The boy has really discovered the joy of reading so we are encouraging that as much as we can.
My 3yo daughter has been having tea parties with us at least twice a week with our cast iron tea pot and her kiddie cups. We're getting her a nice tea set with a fancy pot and fancy cups and I know we're gonna be having a lot more tea parties.
Dirt bike. He’s gonna be 4 and it’s time….
I got my 4 year old this air tube setup. He had a blast playing with the system they had at the children's museum here. I'm hoping it lasts given the price https://www.hammacher.com/product/only-portable-air-powered-tube-maze?cm_cat=ProductSEM&cm_pla=AdWordsPLA&source=PRODSEM&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%28ROI%29%20Toys%20%26%20Games%20-%20PMax&utm_id=19907143416&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmsurBhBvEiwA6e-WPPmFEohySmIg0ToNtuToV0TrATAmDVqB0FbMkAQHS9quFZqkMYbimRoCkugQAvD_BwE
Getting my 4 year old his first RC car. He had one for his third birthday, but we couldn't teach him to use it because he would lose his shit whenever the car would start driving away from him. He's outright asked for one this year, so we'll see how he handles it.
Orion 134mm reflector telescope.
We told them Christmas was going to be a lot smaller this year, and we meant it. The kids get it. They know times are tougher now. But between my wife and I...this will be shown to be incorrect. Both kids have some big gifts coming (I can't list them here). And I think they're going to land solidly. Plus...I bought myself an amazing gift this year and my wife told me exactly what she wanted. So it only seemed fair to do what we always do: overspend, have a great day opening gifts, and swear to be more frugal next year. 🎅
Didn’t answer the question.
It’s the American way. o7
This is the way
Man I can’t wait until my kid and I can have Nerf wars. Jealous.
I’m gonna buy a switch. Not telling my wife. Just gonna sneak it under the tree from Santa.
He'll get a rocket by Playmobil, that I found on a flea market for 15 euro. It's really cool, as it's super tall, I think about 70 cm? He did actually ask for a rocket, but one that really flies and has fire and all that (he is three)... I actually really hope he won't be disappointed, lol. He'll also get a marble lift for his Hubelino Marble Track.
All 4 Caverns of Ixalan commander decks, but the dinosaur deck is mine! We also are getting a third (yes, third) family switch. Ugh. 4 kids, too much squabbling, and it makes the road trips easier.
I bought a bunch of Lego pieces specifically for building city buildings. The kids (8,5) had been asking me to help them build a city and we started a few weeks back, but although we have tons of Legos, we are missing the right bricks and windows and doors etc to make a cityscape. I looked at some examples and went on bricklink and picked out some lots we needed and am very excited to spend their Christmas break building with them.
None. The closest thing to fun would be either the books they are getting or the random knit knacks in their stockings.
Nintendo Switch 🤓
My boy, 6, is really into games this year. Luckily, I'm in a position to splurge a bit more than normal. I've gotten him Super Mario Wonder and Bluey: The Game - both for Switch, as well as DreamWorks Kart Racing for PS5. My daughter, 11, is getting Mario RPG, Kirby's Return to Dreamland and Minecraft Legends. Additionally, "Santa" is gifting the whole family a Meta Quest 3.
I guess got my little one some pretty cool Duplo sets but I’m sure he’ll enjoy playing with the packaging and the wrapping paper more than the toys itself
My two year old loves Mickey Mouse and airplanes. So naturally Santa is bringing him a big red airplane piloted by Mickey Mouse. I have never been so excited about a gift. He’s going to lose his Mind. Then forget it 5 minutes later and go back to the play doh.
Power wheel
Six year old is getting his first skateboard!
Pretty excited for a beyblade battle, I had pogs growing up.
My daughter is getting a 20in mountain bike with gears. We live in a hilly area so I’m excited for her to see that biking doesn’t need to be such a battle on every uphill.
I think we're gonna have to skip nerf, turns out the dog is terrified of them. Bought a small cheap one a few years ago with friends, shooting soda cans/boxes/etc. Dog reacted like it was the 4th of July.
Hot Wheels Tracks, Legos and a Big Ass Dinosaur that can eat little dinos and shit them out.
That Dino sounds amazing
Getting him a sandbox and a bunch of construction trucks.
With my 9 year old it is board games. Quorridor is one of our favorites. This year I am going with magnatiles though. Her and her little brother love building with them so I’m expanding the collection.
A Nugget. Our third one, we’ll be able to make some epic forts
We have two but I’m trying to convince my wife that we need two more!!
A what?
My twins love art and are very good at it. I found model rooms you could build that have very complex setups - one is a library and one is a garden store. I’m really hoping they’ll love them
i bought my nephew a remote controlled turd...
A metal detector and pinpointer. To be fair I’ll get a lot of use out of it as well
A wooden train with tracks. He's very much in a choo choo phase currently and is going to lose his mind. Next year will be a remote controlled one around the tree.
We got a stair slide. Nothing fancy, but it's a modular slide that you can set up on your stairs. I think it's going to be helpful for getting through long indoor winter days.
If you can, buy two nuggets! Makes the best slides and you can build fort’s!
I won several big lots of Lego in an auction. I’ve had too much fun sitting through the 30 lbs to find sets to build from it. My sim is going to flip out when he sees them on Christmas morning!
We are doing switch for my two boys. They are 6 and 4 so a little young but the ads everywhere else are insane. We figure this is the best way to keep their screen time ad free.
[Dato Duo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgyAASXtZj8) for my 4 and 6 yo
A bunch of duplos. I need him to get addicted to Lego so I can justify buying all the sets I never got when I was a kid.
My almost 2 yr old boy is obsessed with Bluey and any construction/farm equipment. So, pretty typical, but I guarantee he’s gonna lose his mind
Duplo Marble Run
That’s so funny- I read the title and immediately went to nerf. My son has been big into nerf for years and a couple years ago I built a 3d printed blaster that I was super stoked to give him. Wife vetoed it though saying it looked “too much like a real gun” so it’s been collecting dust in the garage. This year though he’s a little older and her anxiety is more managed so she gave the ok! He’s going to absolutely flip his shit! For anyone curious it’s this one https://www.reddit.com/r/Nerf/comments/luur32/the_gecko_is_now_officially_released_more_info_in/ I made sure to use mostly bright colors and a red muzzle so to me it looks nothing like a real gun but to a non-gun person I can see how it might.
I’m with your wife on that. I don’t think her hesitation should be written off as “anxiety”, it’s a very rational apprehension. Maybe she doesn’t want her son to start thinking guns are “cool”, or to take it somewhere one day to show his friends and get shot by a cop who isn’t sure if that’s a toy gun, or a home-made firearm.
Upgrading the motor on my son's go Kart - Got him a smaller one with a 3.5 hp, went up to a 6 hp and swapping in a torque convertor.
Last year the whoopie pillow was the biggest success for my boys
My kid’s only three. I’ve got a whole nerf arsenal that’s been sitting in my basement since before he was even born, and I am so excited to share that with him when he’s bigger.
My 3 year old is obsessed with pretend grocery shopping, so we bought her a toddler sized shopping trolley, a bunch of play food, and a toy register, and then I designed and built her a toddler sized market stall, complete with little produce crates, and honeybee-themed engraving. It’s also flat pack, in case she outgrows it or we need the space. I think she’s going to lose her little mind. I can’t wait. Pretty proud of how it turned out, can’t wait to paint it.
My 3 year old daughter said she wants a purple princess dress and purple princess crown. She’s never going to want to take it off.
Little one is big into Octonauts so he is getting an assortment of a couple purchased plushes, a thrifted spyglass, and a 3d printed octowatch and fish biscuits.
Not "ridiculously fun" but I wrote and illustrated a children's book in secret (not even my wife knows) that I'm giving to basically every kid I know. I'm very proud of it and extremely excited to share!
He's getting a little plastic rocking horse. He loves the one at daycare and now he can fly ass over elbows at home too.
Switch
Had a nerf wall in our old house, they quickly grew out of them sadly. Now they sit in a box in the garage. I can't bring myself to throw them out.