Any parents here? I need belated Xmas gift advice for an11 year old and a 7 year old, both boys.

[eauclaireliberal]

The 11 year old is a bright kid (like his mother)

I don't know much about the 7 year old, he's over the dinosaur and shark thing.

Thanks.

[Left Is Write]

1. My son received Magnetix from my parents...

He loves them and has been having a lot of fun with them, and I think they'd be a good present for the 7-year-old.

[Coventina]

2. I bought my 10 year old nephew clothes for Christmas.

He needed them & was happy to get them.

I try to buy him stuff that he & his friends think are "cool", particularly clothing associated with sports like skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, etc.

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Check out this site for some interesting ideas

http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/gateway/131/106.html

And also ts.com

[havocmom]

4. First, find out what they already got for Christmas

That will give you clues and help avoid getting a duplicate.

Books are great gifts for kids! There are dinosaur books up a gum stump. For the 11 year old, kid's science books or even a microscope/lab kit with slides might be good. Got one at that age and LOVED it!

[JVS]

5. Belated! Obviously these kids need a nintendo wii

;-)

[qanda]

6. If money is not an object

Then you should look at the Lego Mindstorms NXT for the 11 year old. He can build and program this robot. My 10 year old got this for Christmas and I highly recommend it. It was $250, but it cost less than a Playstation or Wii and actually adds to his education.

http://mindstorms.lego.com/default.aspx?domainredir=www.mindstorms.com

If you're looking for something cheaper then I would recommend K'Nex, Legos, Illustory (kids can write their own story and have it sent away to be bound), Apples to Apples or Youniverse ATM Bank Machine.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. Grand Theft Auto III

Duh!

[riderinthestorm]

8. I had a big hit with the "Scene It" game this year

I gave it to a pair of 8 and 12 year old boys. It's an interactive TV game. I got them the Harry Potter one and we played it for a couple of hours on Xmas day (of course we're all mad HP fans). That cost me $30.

Last year I got them each a pair of glides from Target that you strap on your feet over sneakers or socks. They allow you to "ice skate" in your house. Of course they used them to snowboard down the stairs but they provided a lot of hilarity as we all tried them . I can't remember the name of them but they are still available at Target this year (I saw them whilst shopping again). I paid $10/pair.

What about any of the games for their xbox, nintendo, gameboy etc.? If you don't have any idea what's their "brand" and likes, gift cards to Gamestop or Best Buy are always a hit.

Magic trick sets can be a lot of fun and/or chemistry sets. When they were young I got them an ant farm for old times sakes but I was as fascinated by it again as an adult as I was as a child.

Anything you can throw (hover disks) or hit (the old nerf basketball hoop hooked on the doorway) has also gone over well. Do you have big bucks? Kickass bikes, skateboards or snowboards (do they live where it snows?) would probably net you gift giver of the year award.

Good luck! I only have daughters so it's always a blast to buy for my nephews.

[reyd reid reed]

9. My kids love Scene It, too

We've gotten the HP version, the Disney version and this year we got the Pirates of the Carribean version. All for Bonehead, but it's something that we all play, from the youngest all the way up.

Another big thing for boys that they don't grow out of -- ever -- is any kind of nerf dart things. This year, we got each of the three still at home a dart tag thingie. Targets that they wear on their arm along with the small nerf gun and the soft, velcro-tipped dart thingies and goggles.

Nerf stuff is fairly inexpensive, too. Which is good because one of the cats just looooooves those projectiles. She chews 'em up and then stores them in her food bowl.

:eyes: