Titling these posts is the worst. THE WORST. Because I want to make it searchable, but on the other hand, a lot of these things would be good for a 10-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl, etc.: it doesn’t have to be “age 8” or “boy.” But for awhile I tried sorting into categories such as “early elementary school” and that wasn’t satisfying either. So I’m just going to go with “the age/sex of the child I was buying for,” and that’s just going to have to do it.
(image from Amazon.com)
Beanboozled. This is ALL THE RAGE at the elementary school. Elizabeth wants to bring it as a party gift to someone else’s party, and everyone under 10 at our house was jealous that Henry got one. I would pay cash money not to have to play it myself, but it was a hit with him.
(image from Amazon.com)
Other Harry Potter candy. This idea was the three items I was looking for the other day, when I wanted local Facebook friends to say where they had seen it with their own eyes. I wanted a chocolate frog, the every-flavor beans, AND the jelly slugs, but eventually had to settle for two out of three (no jelly slugs to be found locally; perhaps I could try online! or two hours away!). Henry has been VERY KEEN to try these candies, but at THREE ARE-THEY-ACTUALLY-KIDDING DOLLARS per item, it seemed like the perfect birthday gift.
(image from Amazon.com)
Diary of a Minecraft Zombie books. They are self-published, and probably $3.99 would be a fairer price than $6.99, but one of Paul’s co-worker’s kids vouched for them, so we bought volume 1 and volume 2, and they were very well received around here.
WARNING: Don’t confuse these by the very very similar-looking books by Alex Brian. I ordered one of those by mistake, thinking it was part of the same series, and it went WAY BEYOND self-published and into “written by a 4th grader and printed on a home printer.” I actually RETURNED it, which I generally wouldn’t bother with, but it was SO AWFUL I was willing to go to considerable trouble to make a (tiny, unnoticeable data)point. It gave me a significantly higher appreciation for the Herobrine Books ones, which have luxury features such as page numbers and a back cover design.
(image from Amazon.com)
Minecraft t-shirt. The funny part, to me, was that Henry was with me at Target when we found this: he went nuts for it, I put it in the cart and said he’d have to wait for his birthday—and when he opened it maybe three weeks later, he was COMPLETELY SURPRISED. He thought I was MAGIC for knowing he would want that particular shirt! It can be so gratifying to have a slightly dim child.
(image from Amazon.com)
Minecraft Lego Set. (Perhaps you are noticing a theme.) Here is what I don’t like about Legos: they are annoyingly expensive; the pieces get lost and/or stepped on and/or everywhere. Here is what I do like about Legos: if you don’t mind mixing sets, an additional set can melt into whatever you already had, without taking up more space; and they seem like a product Good Parents buy for their children.
I had to rebuke Edward for saying, when Henry unwrapped the Legos, “Huh. THAT’S one gift I’m not jealous about!” (He’d felt otherwise about the candy and the shirt and the books.) But then WHO was it who spent several hours absolutely silent, with the instruction book open on his lap, carefully assembling the Legos while Henry wiped his candy-mouth on his new shirt and read his new books? Yes. EDWARD THE UNJEALOUS.
We have had a couple of birthdays recently with very similar presents. I have never heard of those particular minecraft books. My 10 year old son is also very into these things and so his other love might appeal to your boys, Sword Art Online, both the book series and the tv show. It’s anime and you can find posters and keychains at the mall record store generally.
God help me I immediately one-clicked the Beanboozles thingee. Seems perfect for a sleepover (not at MY house, obv).
This post made me laugh out loud three different times. EDWARD THE UNJEALOUS. hah.
“It can be so gratifying to have a slightly dim child.”
I love this. My kids are still mostly of the age where I can do this ALL THE TIME without them even realizing it although my oldest (6) with a mind like a steel trap can’t be anywhere in the vicinity if I’m trying it b/c then he will ask me about [random thing I surreptitiously put in the cart] for weeks on end.
Oldest is the kind of kid who, when he was younger, would forget about things at the store approximately 2 minutes after putting them down and moving to another aisle. Everything was a surprise for him at birthday/Christmas time and it was super easy to go shopping with him because he’d constantly forget the thing he’d just so direly wanted.
Imagine my surprise when Youngest turned out to have a mind like a steel trap in that regard. That girl doesn’t forget ANYTHING. Months later she will ask about things I’ve completely forgotten about. Shopping with her is an exhausting exercise in repeating “No” 100 times re: the same item before we get out of the store and later. It’s to the point that when we go to the grocery store and I think of something else we need at a time when I can’t add it to the list (like on the drive there) I ask her to remember it and she always remembers. It’s bizarre to have two such completely different children in this regard.
The most distressing thing about this post is that Henry is eight years old. How can that possibly be? How?
The store 5 Below has a bunch of candy like that. I definitely saw the jelly slugs there last week, if anyone is looking.
Edward the unjealous! Hahahaha
Oh my two older girls (7 and 6) love and I mean LOVE that damned Bean Boozle Challenge. It’s not that big a deal, I’d be comfortable having them at a sleepover. You just have to have a bowl for them to spit the gross ones into and some water, in my experience. My girls have done a hilarious video of the challenge, it’s so funny.
EXCUSE ME WHAT I thought that guy’s name was Hero Brian. I’m a terrible Minecraft mom.
Hahahaha I love this. I wish I knew less than I do about Minecraft, and I don’t know much.
Edward the unjealous made me cackle. And I immediately wanted to text you and say FIVE BELOW! I saw the candies there! But I have no idea if there is one of those near you, and so it probably doesn’t help. :)
Ooh, this is great. Thank you. I’ll note that someone also gave my son a Minecraft Origami set once, and while I appreciate the idea I also thought he didn’t have the coordination to deal with it. So it got tucked away, but I will probably pull it out at some point, and I think he will enjoy it (and may be reaching an age where he can actually work with it without dissolving into hysterical tears. Or me dissolving into hysterical tears. Or both.).
My son also very much appreciated the “other” Harry Potter books — Beedle the Bard, Quidditch through the Ages, and so forth.
We did a Harry Potter birthday party (badly, as I mostly just let the kids run around outdoors and … enjoy themselves), and I bought a big container of Jelly Bellies @ Costco, put them into snack-sized sandwich bags, and printed and cut out “word art” labels (created in Word, on a PC, and printed on a bad color printer) for the Bertie Bott’s bit myself because — OMG the pricing. I don’t think the kids noticed or minded, even if I have now admitted to violating copyright law on the internet. I also bought some Pop Rocks with the intention of using them for some potion-making activity but then failed to follow through (note — kids running around outdoors having fun. Who was I to interrupt?). I think that would be pretty easy to set up, but — who knows?
You mention that Henry is 8? I think you must be mistaken. He’s closer to 5. Yes. That sounds better.
I think I may love you. This may be the best post ever. Be warned though, slightly dim children will surprise you occasionally and start remembering things you do not wish them to remember. (But never the things you DO want them to remember.) Not that all my children aren’t brilliant or anything. cough *ahem* cough
I just had to comment because I logged into the blog to search for one of your old gift posts after fruitlessy searching Amazon for my nephew’s birthday gift. He’s turning 8 …he likes Harry Potter and Minecraft. When I saw this post I pinched myself to make sure I hadn’t dozed off at my desk. Too funny and thank you!!
Ha! That’s great. We should get them together for a playdate!
1. Henry is not 8. No. Nope. Henry is 5, eternally. LITTLE. HE IS LITTLE.
2. I laughed out loud at “It can be so gratifying to have a slightly dim child.” I gleefully sneak Christmas gifts into the target cart under my kids’ noses every year and it’s strangely satisfying.
I have a 10 year old nephew who is mad for minecraft. I buy him these books as they come out: http://www.bookdepository.com/author/Mark-Cheverton
Be aware that those books are actually two different series of books so you might wanna stick to one series at a time. They are beyond his 10 year old reading level (which is more like 7-8 year old level due to dyslexia and ADHD) so we read him 1-2 chapters per night. These are reasonably solid chapter books without pictures. We don’t ENJOY reading them, due to the weird names/words (and most of it makes little sense if you’re not familiar with minecraft) but he understands it all and his enjoyment is so high that we read them anyway. Even if he cant read well yet, we can encourage a love of books, right?
Also, my SIL found a minecraft hoodie online which he is madly in love with. It is green with black squares (some kind of character from minecraft) and actually zips right up over his face (with eye mesh that makes it difficult to look straight ahead, but gives peripheral vision if he is ‘being cool’ and wearing it zipped shut). Just an idea for Christmas when it is getting colder there.
I so love reading your shopping posts, even when they don’t (yet) apply to me. Also the part about the slightly dim child made me laugh and laugh.