The bad side of PBS and kids.....

Three years ago we got rid of the dish as my kids (and DH) were doing nothing but watching TV. "Addiction" is a term that would come up in my rants.

Now we have just cheap basic cable and the only kids channel my kids can watch is PBS. I like the shows on there and it limits what my kids can watch. There's no nuditiy, profanity or situations that would upset my kids.

I also love that we're not getting assaulted with ads all the time. I can't remember when my kids last watched TV and said, "I WANT THAT" or when they even asked for a toy. This is a lovely condition to be in until this time of year.

Because my kids haven't been watching TV and because they're homeschooled, I have NO IDEA what they would like for Christmas. We live in town and they play games in the yard where they pretend to be Harry Potter or they climb trees or play soccer. Oh, and my 8 year old can hop on a pogo stick over 100 times in a row-he can even go up stairs on it! All of these things we already have the stuff they need to do it. Loss of commercialism has me in a highly flustered state!

So what do 9 and 8 year old boys like? What about 3 year old girls?

[Elffriend]

My son is 9. A year or two ago we got him his own tool box from Toys R Us. It is made by Home Depot and has REAL tools, sized for small hands. He loved it and still loves it and uses it all the time. Whenever I have to get a gift for a boy in the 7 to 10 range, that's what I get them.

He likes Legos a lot and can spend hours making things. When in doubt, more legos is always a good idea.

This year is the first time he has asked for books. He's read all the Magic Tree House books that we bought years ago and would like any of the ones that have come out since his sister out grew them.

[tooltime]

Just a thought. Turn the TV off and ask them? I've never known a kid who wouldn't hold forth on their likes and dislikes and what they wanted for Christmas.

[PyroDon]

I cant really say what your children would like .
One of the biggest hits we have here is a Geo tracks train set. our girls have been getting new pieces for it each B day and Christmas so it is quite large .
My girls are 4 and 7 but all week we have had kids from 4-13 playing with it .
I realize it sounds sexist but if your little girl likes dolls you cant go wrong with a new baby for her , mom or dad can make a doll cradle or crib as an added present as well as clothes .
For boys wow thats a toughy depends on what they are into . I would have killed for real fishing equipment. Not just a cheap kids pole (they break way to easy) But a nice spincasting rod and real . I got my girls each a fairly nice rig for around $30 and its been a great investment.

[quadcam79]

I know I cant be the only one.....
back in the day my grandparents got the sears catalog and I would wait all year for the Xmas catalog to come out, I would get ahold of that sucker and have pages folded over everywhere...marking the stuff I wanted....who else is guilty?

[greenhaven]

Originally Posted by quadcam79

I know I cant be the only one.....
back in the day my grandparents got the sears catalog and I would wait all year for the Xmas catalog to come out, I would get ahold of that sucker and have pages folded over everywhere...marking the stuff I wanted....who else is guilty?

Me me me me me! That was sacred, the Sears catalog...worked like a charm, too! Shoot, I practically wore holes in the pages with the model horses on them!

[Cheribelle]

My son outgrew the legos and is now into the Kinex stuff. He's 11 and will build things for hours.
And yep, a catalog and a majic marker will tell you a LOT!

[AR Cattails]

Originally Posted by Elffriend

My son is 9. A year or two ago we got him his own tool box from Toys R Us. It is made by Home Depot and has REAL tools, sized for small hands. He loved it and still loves it and uses it all the time. Whenever I have to get a gift for a boy in the 7 to 10 range, that's what I get them.

We got our boys tool sets like those when they were small. I agree that they were great gifts that were used a lot.

Whenever we were through drooling over all the Sears catalogs, my sister and I would get out the scissors and make us paper dolls from the men and women models. It's amazing how much fun those were. About as much fun as my bobby pin or twig people. When we were little, we had way more imagination that we had toys.

[Christine in OK]

Originally Posted by tooltime

Just a thought. Turn the TV off and ask them? I've never known a kid who wouldn't hold forth on their likes and dislikes and what they wanted for Christmas.

You've never met my kids. My mother-in-law was complaining yesterday that she asked them what they wanted and the only thing they could come up with was books. Son #1 wants to finish out his "Narnia" series so he'll have a matched set, and son #2 wants more of the "Hank the Cowdog" series.

I don't know if they just don't think big, or if I've really kept so many junky toys away from them for so long they just don't care.

Mine got camping stuff one year - a duffel bag with a sleeping bag, whistle, flashlight, binoculars and a set of two-way radios. This year I've told a couple of people they need replacement flashlights and binoculars, and a fold-up camping chair so they'll stay out of mine!

[LamiPub]

Originally Posted by AR Cattails

We got our boys tool sets like those when they were small. I agree that they were great gifts that were used a lot.

Whenever we were through drooling over all the Sears catalogs, my sister and I would get out the scissors and make us paper dolls from the men and women models. It's amazing how much fun those were. About as much fun as my bobby pin or twig people. When we were little, we had way more imagination that we had toys.

Oh, we could spend hours and hours making those catalog paper doll families! We would cut out from the furniture and lawn section too and make their homes and towns by gluing the cutouts in shoeboxes etc. My dd saves the American Girl catalogs for cut outs and also makes cloth/rag dolls, clothes, quilts for them, etc all the time with my scrap material.

[babysteps]

Has anyone mentioned games yet? My 10 year old is down stairs putting together Scrabble because we modified the rules-anyone can make a word at any time, we start with 21 letters (me, dh and dd10) and you can pull anything you want out of the bag. The only rule we have right now is no names, abbrivations and you have to spell right and make sure there is a word in all directions. She's really latched on to this and will sit and make words for 15 minutes at a time. Dh and I jump in when we want and when all the letters are used up or you can't make a word anymore you start again. No keeping score.

Clue, Monopoly, Cranium, Taboo are big favorites here. There is a new card game out that any age can play-it's from Cranium-Ziggity. About $5.

Another suggestion we got was to give a share check. Give your kid $10-30 in a blank check and ask them to pick a charity to give it too.

My dd is also a big pogo stick jumper when the weather is good.

WE LOVE PBS TOO! We get two TV channels PBS and FOX we rarely watch FOX because there are few family friendly shows.

Best wishes for your gift giving. Christine

[Anita in NC]

My kids (11, 7, 4) watch regular TV and they don't ask for all the stuff that they see. They know I'm not gonna buy it for them. I just asked DS11 and he said no point asking if you know you won't get it. See I trained them right on that account.

Once in a while they might mention something looked cool but not with the expectation that they will actually get it.

We homeschool as well, maybe it is because the kids aren't trying to keep up with their friends. Because their friends are like us and seem happy playing in the yard and helping their daddy's in the work shop.

[gracie88]

I know I cant be the only one.....
back in the day my grandparents got the sears catalog and I would wait all year for the Xmas catalog to come out, I would get ahold of that sucker and have pages folded over everywhere...marking the stuff I wanted....who else is guilty?

yeah, we were in SE AK so we lived out of catalogs year-round, but that Christmas one was something special.

For your boys, they're old enough to be interested in things besides toys. Do they have hobbies? I remember my brother and I went through a stage of model rockets. We would put them together, paint them, and Dad would take us out to a field and help us launch them. Fun for us, fun for Dad, I can't hardly wait 'til my kids are old enough.

For your girl, how about dress-up stuff? Pretty, costumey, whatever. My boys have an assortment of bandanas (handy because they can be a cape, pirate hat, sash or belt to stuff your weaponry in, blanket for your teddy, etc.) a couple eye patches, cowboy hats, a cape, camo vest and hat and other sundries. They can go through a dozen identities a day, sometimes they wear it all at once and are pirate-cowboy-superhero-soldier-deerhunters who can fly

Whatever you get, I have found that durable stuff they can be creative with gets the most and longest use around here.

[watcher]

I never let either of my kids watch any of the PBS kiddy programs. Its gone from being educational to being way too socialistic.

[llamaqueen]

I saw a book in Target the other day that might be good for your boys. It has ideas for fun things to do outside, but also educational things about science, math, etc. It's called "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Hal Iggulden My husband looked through it and wished he would of had something like it when he was little. There is also one out for girls called "The Daring Book for Girls.

Originally Posted by watcher

I never let either of my kids watch any of the PBS kiddy programs. Its gone from being educational to being way too socialistic.

And why is this wrong...........????????? How is this evidenced? My kids just want to see what the Big Red Dog is up to. I guess my kids are morons because they aren't getting all of that socialist crap.


They have the Dangerous Book for Boys. They have a ton of legos. I like the idea of a tool set.

The girls have dress up stuff. In fact, one of my girls would change her outfit 10 times a day if I let her. Let's not even get on the topic of shoes as Cinderella and Wizard of Oz are just shows about how the girl saves the shoes and the shoes save the girl.

Catalogs don't stop here. I don't seem to get that many. I do get Fischer Price's, but not much in there for a 9 year old. I might have to venture to Sears and buy a catalog as they don't give the big book away anymore.

Thanks for the ideas!

[MaineFarmMom]

Originally Posted by quadcam79

I know I cant be the only one.....
back in the day my grandparents got the sears catalog and I would wait all year for the Xmas catalog to come out, I would get ahold of that sucker and have pages folded over everywhere...marking the stuff I wanted....who else is guilty?

Me! I lugged that book around for weeks.

My 14 year old daughter does watch television. She's so brain washed by television that she wants an I Don't Know and I can't find one. Whatever it is it must be the in thing this year because my husband wants one too. Blame commercials? Nope, she's a free thinker.

[XCricketX]

We do not have TV stations at all... out in the boonies, and there just isn't enough motivation to get dish or cable.
We buy videos... lots of videos.

I find we are much happier, and things are quieter, more peaceful around here. Yes, there may be a LOT of actually good TV shows, but we've learned to enjoy this station-less lifestyle. I find that I get more work done anyway! ^_^

I also Homeschool... but what helps us, is just taking the kids to different stores and watching what interests them.
My son is 8 and my daughter is 6.. it is funny that somebody mentioned a toolbox, because that is the BIG thing my son wants this year. It was actually his idea alone, from watching daddy work on things, so I have to find those real tool sets for little hands. Any suggestions on where they are at?

Cricket

[LvDemWings]

Rock tumblers are cool if you can stand the noise. I recommend having somewhere far away from sleeping to put it (like about 50 feet from the house lol).

There are some books out on kite making. They can get pretty elaborate so its an interest that can grow into adulthood.

Models- I have seen them in both wood and plastic. They need to be both put together and painted. There are everything from houses to make a village, to dinosaurs, to cars and planes.

Remote control race cars are always a hit. Spend the extra money and get the ones with rechargeable batteries and that are built for children to crash. Playskool/Fisher Price makes a toddler version.

For a 3 year old I would go with playdough, stuff for dress-up, easy to clean art stuff like finger paints, cardboard lace ups, and chunky beads.

[MoonShine]

Originally Posted by quadcam79

I know I cant be the only one.....
back in the day my grandparents got the sears catalog and I would wait all year for the Xmas catalog to come out, I would get ahold of that sucker and have pages folded over everywhere...marking the stuff I wanted....who else is guilty?

Oh yeah,I wore that book out every year. The JC Penney catalog,too.

Sears has a Wish Book catalog again. If anyone wants to order one,here's the link.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/ordercata...Book?adCell=A3

It says it could take 2-3 weeks to come,but I got mine in about a week.