Slashdot Mirror
Classic Toys For Christmas?
waterwheel asks: "Christmas is coming, and it's time to start planning our online shopping list for future Slashdot readers. This year I'm having a look at some of the more classic toys - and am finding that not only are some of the classic toys still around - but they are still educational and fun. Two good examples of this are the Rubik's Cube and the time honored gyroscope. The cube has been around for about 20 years, the gyroscope it seems for almost a 100. Both will be under the tree this year. Both of these toys are able to compete with video games - a true test of staying power. This begs the question - what other classic toys do you remember from your youth that are still fun enough that kids will play with them today?"
Now I know what's under the Christmas tree! Not to hurt your feelings, but I really do like the video games. When you're not looking, I'll just move the stickers on the Rubik's Cube.
Oh, and mom hates it when you use "begs the question" on Slashdot. It just starts a whole "that's not the meaning" discussion that no one cares about.
God Bless America.
Nuff Said
..which just shows that the human brain is ill-adapted for thinking and was probably designed for cooling the blood-T P
I remember playing with legos, and still see them on the market today.
BAN BPL! Keep the radio spectrum free fro
What other classic toys do you remember from your youth that are still fun enough that kids will play with them today?
Firearms.
Indy Media Watch-Proctologist of the Internet
LightBright Pwns.
My Blog
The slinky was one of my favorite toys growing up.
Also, the superball was awesome as well. I usually could be found with a superball in my pocket all the time and would be constantly bouncing it off walls, annoying my parents and everyone around me in the process!!! LOL, good times.
This doesn't beg the question, it raises the question. See here.
You have to love Legos. Not only are they fun, but they teach creativity, mechanical engineering, and design. If you are playing with someone else, they teach teamwork and sharing. Not to mention you can build some cool guns and spaceships.
On this topic, I'm not a big fan of the premade Lego sets for Star Wars or Harry Potter or whatever. Kids need the generic box of bricks and plates.
GeneralKael -- Slacker Extraordinaire
Ignore all that fancy "Harry Potter" type themed Legos that are 3 times the price of basic blocks. You can buy a huge tub of basic Lego for around 20 bucks at Toys R Us or any Lego Store.
You can get a MASSIVE amount of plain lego that's great for stimulating a kid's imagination at a fraction of the cost of some of that "themed" Lego junk.
If that's not "creative" enough, find some Technics Lego. That stuff is neat to play with, too!
I've got a PhD in Mechanical Engineering - I can't do it, I can't stand it.
Sure there's a bunch of steps you can follow, but where's the challenge in that.
I can only stand in awe of anyone who independently is able to solve the Rubic's Cube.
...will be getting some lincoln logs this year. He's already way ahead of the game thanks to educational TV, electronics, and two voracious readers as parents, so we're looking to give him something to inspire good old fasioned fine motor skills and 3d perception..
I never liked those big fat legos-- I'll wait until he can manipulate the "real" ones before I get him into legos...
This game entertained me well into High School for no apparent reason. There's really no skill to it, but trash talk and rematches kept it going for hours on end.
What a fantastic game. Blended the best between mindless destruction and strategic annihilation. You can still get copies off eBay.
Nothing like trying to draw a circle on that sucker.
"That's not ironic, it's just mean!" - Bender
I played with these every chance I got when I was a kid. And now my own kids can make literally anything out of legos. Currently their favorite creations are Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
I'll go with Fridgets. I don't know if they're considered "classic" in terms of age (I'd never seen them before a few years ago), but I think of them as "classic" in the sense that they're simple, creative, low-tech and a lot of fun to play with. And all the rug-rats in my neighborhood love 'em.
Depending on the age of your kid but as far as my 2 yr old is concerned, he still enjoys the big empty cardboard boxes. You can make castles, tunnels, houses.. And I like it this way ;)
esilva
Not the plastic tipped ones either...
Give the kid the box. He'll make a fort and have hours of fun, and you get yours too.
"Would you, could you, with a goat?" Dr Seuss
I mean really, how many times can your re-wrap the string, yank it and hold it in your palm (i'm talking 'bout the gyroscope you perv)?
I'd rather have something that makes use of the stupid gyroscope. Where are all of the fun toys that use the gyroscope? Where's the home segway kit? Why doesn't someone make more toys that USE these classic toys instead of leaving someone uninspired and wanting more?
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
Because, at least with my kids, the end in the huge box along with the other sets and are re-used with their own creations.
I've always just bought the packaged sets. I kinda wish they had those when I was a kid.
"The cube has been around for about 20 years"
Actually, the cube has been around exactly 30 years (this year)...i have one sitting in my cube (no pun intended) as we speak...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
Nah, LEGO!
Then your 8 year old can step on sharp blocks in the middle of the night just like you used to!
Trolling is a art,
-Phixxr
ungggghhhh
Girls
Oh wait, I'm on slashdot... nevermind.
Tinkertoys - I got one of my creations published in the Tinkertoy magazine.
Lego - the rectangular block kind. None of this Star Wars/Pirate/Bionicle nonsense.
Anything else that fosters imaginative thinking: PlayDoh, Etch-a-sketch, and the like.
When my family moved to the United States the first toy my parents bought me and my brother were a set of *metal* Tonka Trucks! Those things were industructable! We would smash them, throw them, hit them with hammers, basically do kid things with them. And those trucks still held on...
It's a physics device: four squares attached to a vane in a bulb of glass rotate when placed in the sun. I still have it with me in my college dorm room on a window sill.
If your child likes science it's a neat little gift. :)
I've seen them on ebay but they're not that cheap. Example
We got a Simpson-themed one from somewhere not to long ago...
It's not a classic, but the Harry Potter Nimbus 2000 is a fun toy for younger children, and surprisingly for a lot of older girls (13-18) as well. Just straddle the broom's comfortable girth, activate the magic vibrating switch, and away you go for blissful sessions (about 15-35 minutes, varies) of fantasy fun!
Treat yourself to a brand new one straight from http://www.rubikshop.com/!
Please, nowadays classic toys mean buying PS2 games from the Greatest-Hits bin at $19.99.
Can't..... resist..... desire... too... strong
When i was a kid all i got for christmas was a lump of coal and a kick up the arse. Then for dinner our mother and our father would kill us with a breadknife and dance on our graves singing Hallelujah.
You tell that to kids today and they won't believe you
Easy enough for a kid to learn, but strategies are so varied, it's hard to ever master it against another good player...
As an aside, I loved throwing a few Major and Colonels at the front with all my scouts and a couple of Miners and decimating my opponents' lower ranks... that gambit usually only works once or twice on them... unless they're slow to adapt.
You know you can do both right? I've been a hardcore gamer since I was old enough to buttonmash (even though the C64 had only 1 button), but I still loved my legos and my gyroscopes when I was a kid.
A good solid metal gyroscope is a fun toy that won't break or obselesce. I loved mine.
Ones that are still big hits with the kids: anything with marbles. You can't go wrong with marbles. Pinball machines, chute kits, Fireball Island. While static boardgames might be a dead issue for kids, motile, kinetic boardgames like Crossbows and Catapults (unfortunately also a lawsuit magnet) have the novelty of actually having active, real world objects smashing into each other.
Personally, I want to make a simple real-world RTS game involving a punchclock and some wind-up toys.
Seven Towns still makes Rubik's toys, though the current color scheme for the Magic puzzle isn't the same as the cooler original that Matchbox made. However, they now sell do-it-yourself kits that allow you to make your own Magic puzzles.
Those who complain about affect & effect on
Put me in a room with Legos to this day and you know what? I'm gonna play.
The Classic Football handheld. Fun, cheap, nostalgic.
The problem with Legos now is that first, they are so damn expensive, and two, they aren't "generic" enough. The kits are made to be built into one "thing", whether it's a jungle or a spaceship or a whatever. You can use your imagination to make it into other things, but you're fairly limited. Instead, give me a big box of Legos from my childhood, where they aren't so specialized, and imagination is more important.
LEGO is a great toy except it costs a friggin' mint these days. The old style stuff that was all blocks and some smaller specialty pieces is the best. The stuff today is too specific for many different projects. So I guess I am recommending LEGO from 15 years ago.
When I was kid I had Mecano, which was like Lego, except it used little nuts and bolts and pieces of thin sheet metal. I could make a car with it. It was really cool. Is that still available?
I just ordered a copy of School House Rock for my kids...er ... me.
I am also looking at the multi purpose electronics kits and an erector set for my oldest daughter.
I can't seem to get enough of the older toys and neither can my kids. They are so tired of plastic.
"If you are on fire you can just stop, drop, and roll. If you fall into Lava you are just dead." - my 5yr old daughter
Lawn Darts
What other classic toys do you remember from your youth that are still fun enough that kids will play with them today?
Coal. You insensitive clod.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit
Coincidently, Tom Hank's Christmas movie (why not, he's done everything else) - the Polar Express opened Wed. Lionel got the in on the act, and they have the official toy for the movie and are expecting to double their best year in the last 20. They are probably right.
Electric trains are still fun, I still remember the one I had at age 5.
Besides, Erector sets are way cooler, sharper, and deadlier than anything else out there.
I used to buy all my X-mas presents. But then I figured out that baking or making a present is cheaper and more personal than anything else.
My mom can't eat flour, so I make flourless cookies. My grandfather's diabetic, so I make sugar-free cookies. And I know what each person likes, so I vary the recipes.
15 containers from Dollar Store - $15
Cookie ingredients for 8 dozen cookies - $50
Total for X-Mas presents - $65
Giving really great, personalized presents - Priceless
This only really works if you like to cook and are good at it. But after a couple years, you'll be pretty damn good at it, and it doesn't take that long in the first place (30 minutes of labor per batch, so 4 hours).
You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
Also interesting and undermentioned is Erector sets. They aren't as easy to configre as Capsella, but certainly give you more freedom to do what you want. I got some good milage out of those as a kid.
Lego is already mentioned a billion times, but I'd recommend the old school bricks as opposed to the recent specialty bricks that aren't nearly as configurable.
Tinker Toys and Construx were good fun, though I haven't seen either around recently. I also haven't really looked.
If you have aspiring artists consider some honest to god nice drawing pencils, some high quality paper, and a good eraser. There's about an endless number of things one can draw.
Board games are up on my list too. Consider a nice chess set if there isn't one around the house. That's a game that's stood the test of time.
If not now, when?
Well hello lego nazi, what else do you do for kicks.
I loved my big Meccano kit.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
what other classic toys do you remember from your youth that are still fun enough that kids will play with them today?
Power outlets, broken glass and matches.
Dude, the clear pieces were awesome because of that. I could always see where the pieces were, but my parents couldn't. "OW!"
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
If you like Legos, this would be a good year to include Lego on your shoppng list. Sales for Lego have fallen over 25% in the last two years and the company is looking at a record setting loss for this year.
A bicycle?
A tree house?
Legos.
Lincon Logs.
Estes Model rockets.
Cox Control line airplanes.
Any of the new RC airplanes.
Rubber band powered planes.
Swing set and slide?
Anything to get them out of the house and moving in the sun shine and fresh are and not sitting in front of the TV/Monitor.
I have to say that toys that invole the real world beat the heck heck out of video games. I have to wonder what we are teaching our kids. Even the coolest Slashdot stories tend to involve things like making your own roller coaster in your backyard. A battle meck tree house. Or a full scale space ship in your back yard. Not sitting in front of Doom3 day after day.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
My favorite Xmas toy. But, I would guess that the PC police has outlawed this. Way too much fun if you are nerdy. Hey, you even get chlorine gas from clorox if you work it right.
Toys represent everything that's wrong with modern western civilization. They enforce the notion that there is a difference between "work" and "play".
Toys are an artificial construct popularized by the Rockefeller and Carnegie foundations in the late 1800's. The inherent psychological principle is that if you mentally dissociate your job from the context of your normal life, then you are willing to put up with a constant low level of dissatisfaction in exchange for a reward of "play time" or "toys".
Thus, by encouraging your children to "play", you are psychologically destroying them and reducing their future potential to that of an assembly line worker. People endure 40-60 hours of pure crap every week of their lives with the dubious reward of "vacation", or a nice car, or time to watch TV as their only reward. Toys simply lay the groundwork for this type of pathological motivation.
What's the solution for this madness? Teach your children to enjoy working hard to accomplish their independent goals. Learning and discovery and adventure are rewarding without the need for false constructs. Hard work and proportional reward are the foundations of our country, and the entrepreneurial spirit should be encouraged at a very early age. Teach your children to live and enjoy life, rather than to simply endure it.
But, failing all that, buy them a Nintendo 64 and Goldeneye... that game rocks my face off.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
Anyone else remember Simon, the (highly addictive)electronic game where you have to repeat the beeping light tone sequences? Fun, great for toddlers to get into memory games and build ... ya know, character I guess. I loved it, and not only can you find it on Ebay but they apparently still sell it (albeit smaller now, and with a transparent plastic body to jive it up for the 90's...)
========
77 77 77 2e 6d 65 6c 76 69 6e 73 2e 63 6f 6d
If they still make Capsula sets, try getting one. They are modular units that allow one to create mechanical devices and vehicles. I don't know if they are still being made, but I used to love them when I was a kid.
It's a known fact: boys from 7 to 70 _love_ to play with a big magnifying glass, say 4" or larger diameter. Remember looking in the mirror with one huge eye? Discovering you can project images onto a wall? Or best of all, frying ants on the front sidewalk? It's all still fun!
.nosig
That's not suprising. Many recent Lego products lack complexity and imagination, especially the movies sets like Harry Potter and Star Wars. They are also much more expensive than I remember.
UNIX/Linux Consulting
Mattel, why hast thou forsaken me?
Isn't everyone forgetting the greatest toy ever? The one always advertised during Ren and Stimpy cartoons? Log!!! It's log! It's log! It's big it's heavy it's wood! It's log! It's log! It's better than bad, it's good!
Dear diary: Today I stuffed some dolls full of dead rats I put in the blender.
www.yoyoguy.com
They also have Unicycles.
Hours of fun playing around with basic-level electronics, and you get to learn some stuff too!
You used to see them all the time at Radio Shack and other stores, but I haven't seen one in person in over a decade. There are also different "sizes", but I can't recall what they are.
now counter a side 9box, and apply a little pressure- POP! goes the corner..
remove all pieces except the axes center pieces, and reassemble, along the way, study the fascinating mechanism that is a rubiks cube...
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Baseball, glove, and wooden bat. Instructions and lesson for care of same, including the esoterics of neatsfoot oil and pine tar.
Large box of generic legos. Forget the little men, just give in bulk, including the long pieces. Instructions and lesson for use and care of same, including the esoterics of planning the project before building it, so as not to run out of the aforementioned long pieces.
Pocket knife and sharpening stone. Instructions and lesson for use and care of same, including the esoterics of blade oil (and keeping it off aforementioned stone).
Estes Rocket. Instructions and lesson for use and care of same, including the esoterics of making it go faster through the use of pin striping and how to use a power strip as an ignition switch without causing electrocution.
Microscope. Instructions and lesson for use of same, including the esoterics of what's in saliva.
50-in-1 electronic project kit. Instructions and lesson for use of same, including the esoterics of using the FM transmitter project to override the sibling's favorite FM station.
sigs, as if you care.
I am an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego), and I think that they are the coolist thing ever. Check out some of the more interesting LEGO sites on the net:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/recent.cgi A massive gallery of uber cool models made by AFOLs. There are some really amazing models posted here.
http://www.brickset.com/ A lego set refrence that has just about every lego set ever made. Want to get a list of every classic space set made in 1978? This is the place.
http://www.bricklink.com/ Want 150 tan 1x3 bricks? Buy them individually from fellow collectors all over the world.
http://www.lugnet.com/ LUGNET is the Lego User Group. It has an interface to all all of the Lego USENET groups, and is an easy way to keep on top of all the relevant lego news.
http://shop.lego.com/ Of course there is LEGOs homepage. Online shopping, and all sorts of other interesting stuff. They just released a program on the lego site that allows you to build virtual lego models. That isn't really amazing, since LEGO cad programs have existed for years. However, they seem to be ramping up to allow people to build virtual models, and then order the parts to build them online! Every lego fan's dream come true...
There is much more, but that is a quick rundown of some of the major sites. Indulge yourself, you know you want to....
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Lego is actually listening to people like you. They released the Designer series that has a lot of great basic bricks. You tend to get more bricks for the buck, and less hyper-specialized pieces.
There alot of people in the Adult Fan Community that have been saying this for yeats, and lego is paying attention.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
I got my son a Chaos Tower this Christmas. He is still too young to do it himself, but he loves these kinds of toys. It definitely isn't cheap, but it isn't as mind numbing as a video game either.
I know what I'll be building Christmas morning...
That's double-plus ungood.
Besides, writing Lego in all-caps is really annoying. There is no reason for that other than making their name standing out in context. Like .NET or ATi. One capital letter is enough.
Calling the bricks "Lego bricks" is a valid request, though, since there really isn't anything called "a lego". At least not in my vocabulary. But that might be a matter of taste.
"Stop failing the Turing test!" -- Dilbert
My brother and I would do the same thing!
Rules:
We'd try different techniques--increasing the mass, using as few pieces as possible, trying different centers of gravity, building a ramp front-end to try to flip the opponent, building a "lance" aimed at what we thought was the opponent's weakest piece, etc.
We played this game from elementary-school age even through high school. It was a fun exercise in creative thinking and we were learning engineering skills as well!
Now I'm teaching my daughters the game--they like it too.
-bp
bp
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball.
Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Happy Fun Ball Contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete.
HFB
the perfect toy for boys and girls, young or old.
:)
fess up. how many of you still have Legos from 20+ years ago?
the history of the world
Get a wrist-rocket style slingshot. This is the type
that has a wrist brace to allow for more power.
To go with it, get some marbles (cheap) and some
3/8" steel balls (better, and lead-free).
A machete is fun.
A hatchet (hand axe) is fun.
A blowgun is fun.
A crossbow is fun. You can get a compact one
that will take normal-sized darts.
See a pattern here? If the consumer product safety
commision or law enforcement would get nervous,
you've identified a fun toy.
You can never go wrong with Lego.
Rule of thumb.
Besides, they're in dire financial straits and we need to help them out. Maybe they'll bring back just plain ole bricks vs. specialised or licensed stuff.
check out their online store:
www.lego.com
do() || do_not();
The complete list
Magic School Bus - we like most of the original series by Joanna Cole.
Leapster Multimedia Learning System - Daughter has as severe addiction to this. But hey its eductional. We got the K and GR 1 cartridges
Math Mat Challenge Game - active learning
6" Disney Princess Scooter with Lights - Scooter. Learn to balance - call it a pre bike riding tool.
Schoolhouse Rock! (Special 30th Anniversary Edition) DVD (DVD) - Fun
Classic Tinkertoy Construction Set - Jumbo - Classic toy - favorite of several nobel prize winners.
The New Way Things Work - Classic - save it for later.
Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? - Gives kids an idea of how big the universe really is
Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do! - Well done series of books that teach math concepts - check out all of them.
Cardinal Chess & Checker Cabinet - Checkers is a lot of fun after dinner
The Adventures of Tintin - Tintin in Tibet is her all time favorite. Tintin teaches you about friendship, travel, and other cultures.
Encyclopedia of the Human Body by Richard Walker - Amazing illustrations
What Makes a Magnet? - Nice description of electricity and magnets. She loved the experiments. Check out the other books by Franklyn M. Branley or read a loud science books.
A Street Through Time by Anne Millard
The Penny Pot by Stuart J. Murphy - Stuart Murphy has several books that are great - they teach math. My daughter loves money and loves this book.
The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki (Paperback) - Aliki does a great job of bringing history to life - check out her other wonderful books as well.
Have you taken any advanced math courses? I took a degree in math undergrad, and took two courses in Abstract Algebra. Very interesting stuff...
One of the topics deals with commutators... elements in a group such that they are of the form aba^-1b^-1 (a, b, a inverse, b inverse) where a and b are in the group.
You can show that the various moves on a cube are a group, and then show that various commutators (such as FRONT CLOCKWISE, RIGHT COUNTERCLOCKWISE, FRONT COUNTERCLOCKWISE, RIGHT CLOCKWISE) relate to 3-cycles. Plainly speaking, a 3-cycle on a cube is when 3 edge pieces or corner pieces rotate amongst each other, and the other pieces STAY THE SAME!
Armed with this knowledge, it is straightforward (but sometimes laborious!) to solve a cube in random position without resorting to canned moves.
I wrote a paper on this for the second course, and while speaking about it, solved a cube "live." Clearly I used the "canned move" approach, and could have solved it earlier than the end of the speech, but just kept it close and cycled through a 3-cycle until the speech ended. 10 seconds later, I set the (solved) cube down and walked off.
Drama king? No. Geekest link? You betcha.
--
wwjd? jwrtfm!
Sadly, I suspect that the metal sets would no longer be considered safe for kids anymore. *shrug* Which makes sense from a pure safety perspective, as I know we banged ourselves up repeatedly making weapons out of the pieces in addition to scrapes from burrs on the pieces and a few cases of hair or skin getting caught in the open workings of the motor. *wry grin* And then there was that incident where I got thrown across the patio by an electric shock. But in retrospect, yanking the cord out of the outlet when on a rain-soacked patio was not the brightest of moves for all that I had good intentions. (My little sister, Eileen, was reaching for the plug. Her being a toddler, I knew she wouldn't remove it safely, so I did so. Ouch...)
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
Maybe I'm missing your point
There is no direct correlation between the internals and the faces -- other than the stickers are attached to the faces and preserve their relative placement on the pieces.
It's just got the nice sane starting point of each face is all one colour when it's complete. By definition once you've made all of the faces a solid colour, the internals of the cube will be consistent with that arrangement of faces.
If I take all of the stickers off of a rubiks cube, the faces don't know that. Heck, remove all of the stickers and re-surface each face in its entirety in one colour like a brand new cube. That will give you a fully working rubiks cube which appears to have been solved. Thereafter it will work exactly like all other cubes do.
Now, if you arbitrarily move stickers, you're in for a world of hurt. But most anyone moving the stickers to cheat isn't going to put them on randomly. If you're doing it to drive someone insane it would probably work, 'cus as you pointed out, a whole lot more permutations.
But I most decidedly saw a lot of people in the 80's just re-do the stickers to get a finished cube.
It might change wether blue and green are on opposite or adjacent faces and the like, but it is a rather effective way to get a cube 'finished'.
But you'd be really incorrect to think that if you made all of the faces each with one solid colour that the cube would cease to function. It's built in such a way as to guarantee it will continue to work.
Cheers
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
For some reason, applying vaseline to my toys to "improve the 'feel'" sounds vaguely wrong, let alone my kids' toys...
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
Hah! Good point. Risk always did seem to end that way especially since the end game has more to d with timing than anything else. At least an hour later you could probably talk to your friends again ... unlike Diplomacy.
Diplomacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomacy_(game) Now here is a game that will lose you friends. Simultaneous moves, social interaction and high-stakes negotiations. With Gamers. A recipe for destruction.
I have a friend who still recounts to people (who are rolling on the floor laughing) about getting chased around the room with a knife after he negotiated the sabotage and destruction of another player.
Classic.
Kids today are far too coddled. They need to play in weed-infested vacant lots where they can get a chance to play with rusty pieces of metal, weathered 2x4s with nails in them, and construction debris.
I remember dog crap playing a big part in street play in my childhood. No one picked up after their dogs back then, nor leashed them. Dog crap could be hurled at other kids, or rubbed into item which were then handed, all innocent-like, to other kids. At the Fourth of July, toys loaded with both fireworks and dog crap were a source of excitement and an incentive to great speed and agility.
To heck with your Gameboy Advances and LEGO Star Wars Episode VII sets. An old washing machine can with a little imagination serve as a time machine, and a discarded refrigerator makes a SWELL gas chamber for the final scene in Cops n' Robbers games and that actually kind of works for real!
Stefan
Helmets are great; I'm a convert (especially since I like my helmet-mount mirror). But proper riding techniques are better. The helmet's the last line of defense in safety and sadly over-emphasized. With kids, who are more likely to fall and still developing both motor skills and interaction with other traffic, they're most important.
To get back on topic, depending on temperment of the kid and financial situation, a bike can be a great gift.
There was an Erector Set, lots of girders and nuts and bolts and stuff. Even an engine.
My Chemistry set. I still remember what color you get when you mix Ferric Ammonium Sulfate and Tannic Acid! I remember starting to play with it Christmas afternoon, and my Mom insisted that my Dad sit in the room with me, I assume to make sure I didn't blow anything up. He sat there reading the whole time, only looking up when I said "Hey Dad! Look! I can pour this into this and it turns blue!"
My first Microscope. I forget the name of the set, it was a set of cardboard tubes, and lenses you could plug into either end. It worked great, and I remember Dad giving up a drop of blood so that we could take a look at it.
Kids today.. yeah, Gamecubes are cool, but they don't know what they're missing.
I am NOT a man!
I am a free number!
I had a die-cast metal gyroscope when I was a kid. One day I wound 15 feet of fishing line onto it, tied the end to a door knob and ran accross the room. I no sooner had put it on the floor when it started making this freakish humm - before I could reflect on the drawbacks of overclocking my Gyroscope it shattered and the spokes shot off in all directions - including two into my lower legs drawing blood. Some stuck into a pine bench accross the room, and some into the wall. Awesome - I'll never forget that. I think it must have been like starting the first nuclear chain reaction... "how high can we rev this sucker?"
I had a microscope and a telescope when I was a kid and I remember them being the coolest things I owned. A microscope or a telescope will introduce a child to a whole new world that they can't see on their own. They may even get to wondering about other aspects of life that they can't directly interact with or see with their naked eyes (e.g. how a tree works).
Welcome to the land of the free...pay toll ahead...no photography...please open your bag...
you do realize you just posted your sister's photo, name, job and location to thousands of desperate single geeks? is this some kind of subconscious retribution for her getting you shocked?
I am a bit younger than most who post on here, but K'Nex is another exciting toy that fosters creative and engineerng skills. I remember just building lots of planes that would bomb the crap out of unsuspective people below (yes i actually made K'Nex bombs my planes would carry).
No, it doesn't. It raises the question. Petitio Principii, as it is called in Latin, or 'begging the question' in English, is circular reasoning: assuming that which is to be proven.
This is not rocket science. It's the sort of thing one learns in any semi-decent grade school. Sheesh.
That said, this Christmas I'm hoping to receive a sweater or two--it's indeed sad when one gets so old that the dreaded gifts of one's youth are looked forward to.