1) Kiva Gift Card (ages 6+)
Available in denominations of $25, this is a multipurpose gift for a true Nerdfighter. Did you ever wish to be able to help a widow with 2 children in Senegal directly by lending her $300 for a sewing machine? Kiva.org is a microlending site that helps connect lenders that can spare a few dollars for a few months to borrowers that do not have access to bank loans due to where they live or being extremely poor. After the loan is repaid (and 98% of the millions of dollars lent out through Kiva are paid back), your gift card recipient can withdraw the money - or loan it out again. If you are interested in learning more and connecting with others, join John Green's Nerdfighter team in decreasing world suck, or one of the many other teams dedicated to specific countries or topics like colorful fabrics or education.
Use this link to sign up: http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/geeks2point0
2) Goldieblox
Combining storytelling with construction and engineering projects is making girls more interested in STEM projects. Goldieblox - winner of a Parents' Choice Gold Award - combines these two elements. A colorful story book featuring a female engineer tells a story, and the construction materials are used to build a machine alongside that story. The first set, available at Amazon, goldieblox.com and select retailers, featured a "spinning machine". In later sets Goldie and her friend Ruby build a parade float or a movie machine. But don't fall into the gender trap and think this is only for girls, little boys enjoy it just as much.
3) Calafant
The only thing better than getting a toy castle is building and decorating your own. Calafant makes cardboard houses, castles, ships and fortresses that are easy to assemble and can then be decorated and personalized. The size ranges from small individual toys to a crawl-in play-house and the 3 1/2 feet tall Calabot robot, big enough to be pimped out with some old mp3 players and speakers. Which geek wouldn't want a 3 feet tall robot!
4) The Settlers of Catan
A must have board game for every family. Sometime hailed as the "next monopoly", it actually does not have anything in common with monopoly at all. Instead of round after round watching the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and playing for hours until the obvious end, Catan requires a lot of communication and trading with the other players. It teaches basic market principles such as demand and supply setting the price, the value of cooperation, and the social implications of being too greedy (watch the family gang up against you if you hurt the most vulnerable player on purpose). Chance with the dice can level the playing field very quickly, and there is a lot of room for a surprise winner. The game board is arranged from scratch for every game, which ensures that the game dynamics are different each time you play. It never gets boring. And the absolute best thing? It also comes in a Star Trek edition. Got your dilithium drill ready?
5) A Magazine or Comic book Subscription
A magazine is a great way to spend reading in depth on a topic, and to encourage regular reading. Articles are often short enough to bridge the time of a car ride or before dinner. Magazines my kids enjoyed are National Geographic Kids, Ask, Dig, and Sports Illustrated Kids.
6) Snap circuits
Similar appeal as Lego, but with the added thrill of creating something that lights up, rings or moves. Physics class meets woodshop. Our personal experience will have to wait until December 26 (don't tell my kids).
7) Try The World
This food subscription service delivers a box with traditional foods from a new country every 2 months. The included culture guide helps plan a dinner and find a starting point to learn about music, history, and culture. My children look forward to every new box and carefully plan additional activities for virtual travel. The smallest subscription is for a single box, so this can fit small or large budgets.
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| Contents of our "Try the World" Japan box. |
8) A Science Museum Family Membership
I am not kidding. An trip to a museum with three kids on tow can easily approach a three digit number in some museums. With a membership, it is worth to just stop by for an hour before closing, or three times in a row on a rainy weekend. Think of it as access to the coolest playground in town. Many museums also belong to lager networks and offer free or reduced entrance at other museums. For instance a membership to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia also gets us free entrance to major museums in NYC, like the Transit Museum, the Children's Museum and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum. There is a weekend trip where we only need to pay for gas.
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| Franklin Institute Special exhibit |
9) Ticket to Ride
Board game and geography lesson all in one, there are several different versions available with local maps and variations. If you want your kids to know where Luanda and Durban are, this is the game for you. For a detailed review read here.
10) Lego
You can't ever have enough Lego. Enough said. But if you really don't want to own any additional ones, rent them from Pley.com
