I am asking as my grand-niece has an 8th birthday coming up, and I am trying to figure out something more original than sending a DVD of Shrek. I am thinking in terms of costumes or props for her and her friends to play with.
When I was growing up, kids played cowboys and indians, cops and robbers, Superman, army soldiers and other fantasy type act-out games. I believe the girls sometimes joined in, but they mostly played house, or “dress-up”. I was just wondering if kids today still played things like that.
BTW, she is quite the little softball player, and her parent’s have even sent her to softball camp and she has all the gear for that. I think that is great, but I would really like to get her something to play “pretend”…maybe I am old-fashioned and those days are gone, but I would rather get her something that is simply silly, and maybe let her play-act with her friends.
How would a box of costumes and props go over with a bright 8 year old girl?
My 8 year-old would absolutely love such a thing. She’s quite sporty too, but adores girly things - mummy’s high(ish) heels, facials, nair varnish - the list is endless.
Thank you for giving me an idea for a Christmas present. If you come across a nice set, would you be good enough to email me with the info?
In our group of friends, there are families with kids from 1 to 11, boys and girls. When we all get together, the older kids (5-11) immediately head to the “costume closet” in whoever’s house we’re at. They have regular costumes (horse, ballerina, lion, etc.), but they also have stuff like hats and “tails” (long scarves they tie to themselves). They have a wild time dressing up and chasing each other around.
Come to think of it, I just got back from a friend’s house a few minutes ago. Her daughter (about 5?) and her niece (a little older) had a massive fight over who got to wear the Spiderman outfit.
Yeah, I don’t think kids will ever out grow dressing up and make-believe.
Kids are all different, but my 8-year-old daughter likes creative stuff; art materials, beads, paint-by-numbers, make-a-doll, French knitting - that type of stuff.
If your grand-niece likes creative stuff, you can always go for what is all the rage for kids her age in Germany and the Netherlands right now. I’m talking about Scoubidous. The page is in German, but that shouldn’t be a problem for you.
Basically Scoubidous are colorful little hollow plastic strings that you tie into knots to make all kinds of neat stuff. Ever since my kids got a bunch of them, I’ve been busy making keychains, salamanders, crocodiles, snakes, bracelets and mice. I used to do Macramé so Scoubidous were easy for me, and it seems to relax me after a hard day of work at the office. My kids made half a key chain and quit. But they’re boys. Girls go crazy for the stuff, and some schools have even had to forbid kids from bringing Scoubidous to school because the kids were busy making stuff during classes and not paying attention.
I have a 7 year old daughter who loves to play dress up. She and my 4 year old daughter got a big trunk of dress up clothes for Christmas last year. They love to pretend they are the queen and princess.
Another non-video game my kids really enjoy is Cranium Cadoo. My step kids ( ages 14 and 12 ) like to play it with my kids, too!
Zoo Tycoon. It’s actually quite entertaining, and the kid learns a little bit about construction, animals, and running a business. Not that he’ll be able to earn an MBA from it, but if the zoo is losing money, he knows something is wrong and has to fix it. (I also learned that throwing irate guests in the shark tank tends to increase the satisfaction level after a short time.;)) I bought it for my 4 year old, but my wife is addicted to it more than the boy is. They usually play it together, so there’s a “family fun” aspect to it as well.
My 5 year old loves, loves, loves to dress up. I believe I bought the box of dress-up stuff from an on-line toy store, but you could probably put something together yourself. I add a little something to the treasure chest every once in a while (costume jewels are a big hit).
Lilly also likes to paint and draw and lately she’s REALLY getting into taking pictures. You may want to spring for a cheap camera and let her start recording what she sees.
In the late 1960’s we called that stuff “gimp” and it was all the rage for kids here in the US. We made watch chains and keychains and lanyards and all sorts of stuff with it. It was one of the most popular craft activities in summer camps, too. I don’t know what it’s actually called now on this side of the pond, though I’ve seen it for sale in craft stores. (Don’t think it’s called Scoubidous though.)
Very cool website, BTW Mycroft. The pictures in the instruction areas are easy to follow even if one doesn’t read German well.
And…uh…getting back to the OP, a box of costumes and props would be ideal for the 8 year old, Dmark. Your niece and her friends will have hours of fun.
The dress-up box is a great idea, [d]DMark**. You could put a good one together just by visiting your local thrift store. They’re great places to find old costume jewelry and ruffly, lacy dresses.
As a kid, my brother and I loved Legos, too. Don’t get her those stupid pastel girly Legos, though. Go for the real deal.
This is precisely what I was going to say! About 8 years ago for Christmas, when my girls were 5 and 9, I bought a Rubbermaid tub, and went to the Salvation Army to fill it with fancy dresses, shoes, and jewelry. The girls played with it for years. I don’t think I spent more than $30.00 on the whole thing, including the price of the Rubermaid bin.
I agree with the dress up box as well – my 9 year old would love it.
I also recommend one of the Calvin & Hobbes anthologies, together with some colored pencils so she can color in the black and white strips. (Or wait, is that one for me?)
If you decide to go with the dress up box, you might hit the stores the day after Halloween when the leftover costumes are marked way down. Metallic or sparkly capes are a good item because they are versatile and can be used by different sized children. You’ll find a lot of other good post-Halloween stuff like wigs and face paint.
My niece is 13 and never had a video game system. Even when she’d go to visit friends with games, she wouldn’t play with them. She loved, loved, loved her dolls (baby dolls, not barbies). She loves all sorts of crafts, particularly beads. She loved legos. She liked playing outside with her friends and biking, rollerblading, that sort of thing. Although she read well, she really didn’t read for pleasure until she was about 10. She liked to help in the kitchen and loved Emeril’s Cooking with Kids book. She liked playing school.
When my sister would do birthday parties for my niece, instead of doing a big deal at the local gymnastics club or skating rink, she’d invite the kids over and have crafts projects for them to do and they’d make cookie/ice cream sandwiches. In a neighborhood where children’s birthday parties could cost many hundreds of dollars, my niece’s friends always would say this was their favorite party.
I agree that the dress up trunk is an excellent idea.
Other ideas:
Does she read for pleasure? She just the right age to start reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries. I loved them at that age.
Any chance she’d like a chess set? My son (6 y.o.) has the Harry Potter chess set. The pieces are really neat looking. I’ve noticed a lot of young kids getting into playing chess since the Harry Potter books/movies came out.
bodypoet let my soon-to-be second oldest stepson and I teach the five-year-old how to play chess. He’s quite good, actually, though he still needs help figuring out the moves a knight can make.
I admit that I went into this thinking that there was NO WAY that a five-year-old would get chess, but he holds his own. Now he just has to work on strategy, but it’ll come. It never occurred to me that Harry Potter might have been the jumping-off point for his interest before now, though…
[hijack] It’s amazing what kids can learn young. Charlie was just about 4 when he first asked to play “wizzard chess”. I wasn’t sure if he really knew what chess was, so I said, “You know the pieces aren’t going to move on their own, right?” and he replied, “Well, duh! That’s just the movie Mom!” So he’s been playing for just about 2 years and I recently discovered that he’s thinking two and three moves ahead. I would never have thought kids that age capable of such strategy. [/hijack]
But they’re boys. Girls go crazy for the stuff, and some schools have even had to forbid kids from bringing Scoubidous to school because the kids were busy making stuff during classes and not paying attention.
