Gifts To Get Them Involved!

It's a common complaint among us oldies (and by oldies I mean anyone over the age

of 25...) that children and teenagers today spend too much time staring at the TV or computer screen and not enough time getting involved in family activities. Trying to lure young people away from the glare of the screen can seem like an exercise in futility, but with a little thought it should be possible to think up activities that will be fun enough to tempt them into actually spending some time away from the virtual world and into the real one. When thinking about gifts for children, it can be tempting just to go for the easy (if expensive) option of grabbing the latest computer game, but it's well worth making a little effort and trying to come up with more innovative options that will help them explore their creative side.

Green-fingered types will find that most younger children are naturally curious about growing any kind of flower or plant and if it's edible, so much the better. There are some cute gift kits on the market that include everything you need to grow anything from cute daisies to fiery chilli peppers - if the child you are buying for has a naughty side, you can always appeal to the mischievous part of their nature by promising the resulting chillies can be used to spike Dad's dinner and have him gasping for water! These Pocket Garden kits make inexpensive gifts and allow kids to get to grips with the basics of gardening with the minimal amount of mess and fuss - you won't even need to have a garden to cultivate these little beauties - it's really just a case of sow and grow!

Another way to get the kids involved in family activities is to look for gifts for children that work around their existing interests. For example, if the child you are buying for is crazy about cars, a good gift idea is a 'build your own' car kit. These nifty little kits allow you to build everything from a Porsche or Lamborghini to VW Beetle or Camper Van. The detailed scale models are fun to build and to collect - so much so, in fact, that the process is quite addictive. The child you are buying for may soon be calling for more 'build your own vehicles' to add to their collection. At between 7-15, it's a relatively inexpensive (and innocent) addiction that will give you gift ideas for many birthdays and Christmases to come. It may even be possible to use a child's car crush to tempt them into the 'boring' world of board games - the Top Gear Ultimate Challenge game, for example, might prove too tempting for even the most board game-phobic of car crazy kids to resist.

If you're not crazy about cars yourself, you might want to look to other fun ideas that make great gifts for children. Top Trumps, for example, tends to appeal across age and gender divides and is maddeningly addictive once you get started. As fun and inexpensive gifts, Top Trumps packs come themed around so many different ideas, from racing cars and football teams to pop music and TV programmes, that it's easy to find a way to personalise the gift by choosing a theme that suits the child's tastes and interests.

If you're buying Christmas gifts for children, it's always a good idea to look for stocking fillers that will help the festive atmosphere continue after the Christmas dinner has been polished off. Every member of the family can enjoy classic party games like charades and there are some handy kits featuring rule books, score pads and even sand timers - this way nobody can be accused of cheating! Whilst it's true that younger children are generally easier to coax into family games and activities, even the most surly of teenagers can usually be tempted to crack a smile once they start getting into the spirit of things. With a little thought, gifts for children can encourage them to explore new ideas and interests and get them actively involved in games that they might previously have dismissed as boring. Younger children are generally receptive to new ideas and who knows, your choice of gift might even help a child discover their real calling in life - here's to the next Jamie Oliver, Jeremy Clarkson or Alan Titchmarsh! (Although some might argue that the original versions are quite enough...)

by: John Smith

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