(An earlier version of this post originally appeared on Work It Mom / Milk and Cookies; I’m in the gradual and painstaking process of moving a number of them to this site.)

Oh, man. William has been invited to a birthday party this weekend. Furthermore, he got the invitation yesterday, which means there is not much time to think. And William is the sort of child who, if you ask him what his BEST FRIEND SINCE FIRST GRADE’s favorite color is, will say “……Humm. Maybe….blue?” And if you say, “Well, what does she like to do? Does she have any hobbies?,” will say “…..Humm. Uh….” So on the topic of this weekend’s birthday child, a classmate he has known only since school started this year, I feel very lucky that he happened to know whether the child was a boy or a girl.

And eleven is a tricky age to buy for. I don’t even know what to get my OWN children in that age range. Well, there is nothing for it but to dig up some candidates, which is something I had to do before Christmas anyway.

(photo from Amazon.com)

Crafting With Cat Hair. I realize this is odd. I realize this is the sort of item that may need some further explanation, or perhaps would have been better suited to an assortment of unusual gift ideas. But this item is actually IN MY GIFT CUPBOARD RIGHT THIS MINUTE, because we have bought it for William for Christmas (he has already been experimenting on his own with making short pieces of yarn out of cat hair) (I know, but I don’t know whose genes to blame/credit), so I could have him give it to his friend and then buy him a new copy. [This book was a hilarious hit at our house. I don’t think anyone even actually made anything with it, but just READING it was fun. And William opened it in front of my sister-in-law who is allergic to cats and also frightened of them, so her reaction made it even more hilarious to everyone.]

(photo from Amazon.com)

Talking Hands Animal Tattoos. These are on my gift-idea list for William. It seems like the sort of thing he might love, and so maybe his friend would also love them, and at $10 they’re right in my birthday-party-gift range [they’re more like $6-7 now, and my range has increased to more like $12-15]. Plus, they’re fun but then they get used up and don’t create clutter.

(photo from Amazon.com)

AirZooka. I gave Paul one of these a few years ago and it was SO WEIRD. You “shoot” it at someone, and a second goes by and then they get PUFFED in the face with a surprising wallop of air. Like a SPHERE of AIR. Or if you aim it at a curtain, it looks like someone threw a beach ball at the curtain except the beach ball was invisible. Freaky.

(photo from Amazon.com)

Balloon-Powered Vehicle Kit. Considering how endlessly funny the children seem to find it to blow up a balloon and then release it and watch it splutter around the room, it seems like a pointless waste of money to pay more to get a little car and a little propeller. But…that’s exactly the kind of money that turns something into A Gift To Bring To A Party.

(photo from Amazon.com)

Magnetic Aquarium Sculpture. The only tip William has been able to give us so far is that his friend “likes to fiddle around with stuff, like paperclips.” (In fact, William suggested a box of paperclips would be a good gift.) This is fiddly! But is it the kind of fiddly that ends up leaving tiny little pieces all over the house? We once received as a gift the kind with thin flat pieces (moon and stars) as a gift, and those sharp little suckers broke a vacuum cleaner. These shapes seem less dangerous.

(photo from Amazon.com)

Disc Shooters. William wants these himself. But I feel a little uneasy giving a gun-related toy when so many families have a policy about such things.

I also consulted some of my older posts, and now I’m also considering the Create Anything With Clay book, the Hexbug Nano starter kit, a Rubik’s Twist, or the Crystal Mining Kit.