My niece's birthdays are coming up.. What the heck do I buy them?

[cupman]

My nieces turn 7 and 5 within the same week. 6 days apart. I adore them to death but I have no idea what girls that age like. It seems most of the BYC community are family peoples so maybe you have some suggestions for young girls. Price isn't really an issue, just nothing crazy like a $200 toy, you know? Just a college kid working about 12-15 hours a week. They had a really big Dora the explorer phase and they really loved that movie Cars. But they change what they love every time I see them. I'm just looking for what's popular now. My brother is making his girls tom boys so things like barbies will not interest them. Thanks!

 

[Roosterlover5]

Stuffed animals?

 

[cupman]

Yeah fair guess and all. What I really want is mom's of young girls to chime in. I actually gave them three stuffed dinosaurs for Christmas. My brother got the toys as a child in the 70s and I got them re-gifted in the 90s, I dry-cleaned and gave them to my nieces to pass them on. My brother is 39, I'm 25. Different moms. We're still close as brothers can be.. but, yeah, stuffed animals. I probably need to go a different route this time.

 

[bluesub]

I would go with craft kits. You can get them at JoAnn Fabrics or Michaels. They have a fairly large selection. The kits range from things like paint your own birdhouse, to stuff and sew your own teddy bear. My girls loved things for their toy kitchen (play food, play cooking utensils). Melissa and Doug make some really nice toys - see if you can find them at a retailer near you. Also, one of my nieces loved Calico Critters. There are a lot of really great books for this age group - let me know if you want a recommendation of some good books.

Kids this age are really into pretend play so anything that lets them pretend would be a big hit. Dress up clothes, even old Halloween costumes might work. My kids were always some kind of animal for Halloween so we have a cat, horse, snow leopard, frog, and parraot costume to dress up in... Hope this helps a little bit.

 

[redhen]

I agree,.. kids love craft things...
They have bead/jewlery making kits,.. wood working kits.. make your own stepping stone kits..things like that..

 

[cassie]

I don't know about your nieces, but when I was that age I would have been thrilled if I had received a box containing the following:

A kalidascope (sp)
Slinky
Bottle of bubbles
Magnets
Magnifying glass

 

[cupman]

All great suggestions. I like the craft kit thing, their mother is a big time scrap booker.. craft is just in their blood. I also like your idea, cassie, the more vintage gifts like a slinky... makes me wonder how they would feel about getting a Lite Brite(sp?).