This season’s hottest gifts run the gamut of motion sensitive gaming systems to harmonizing toothy creatures with inexplicable appeal. But now that Black Friday is done, Cyber-Monday wrapped, and the prices back up to what we normally pay, there is still a chance to save some money and get some great gifts for those left on your Christmas list. Or, you may be like me and skipped the insanity last weekend, thus still have pretty much everyone left to shop for.
There is no rule that says all your purchases have to be off the sale circulars. The toy companies and gaming manufacturers needn’t occupy all the space under your tree. I humbly present my top ten gifts that may not be state of the art or the newest and greatest on the shelves, but are still must haves for that geek on your list. Some of these are several years old and perhaps long forgotten, but GeekMoms training up GeekKids may find their progeny lacking in these basics. Even if you own some of these personally, it is always great to get your kids their very own. (Plus when they break it you still have yours in tact.)
10. A Magazine Subscription: I know, I know, this sounds like the corniest gift ever. But choose wisely and great rewards will you have. In a digital conscious age many of these magazines are available, at least in part, online. But there is a certain thrill that I still find in thumbing through a new, glossy, magazine. Plus, if you are buying for your kiddo, they get the fun of receiving mail of their very own. National Geographic is still a great publish and read. Popular Science, Wired Magazine, and Scientific American are great choices to for that geek in your life.
9. Rubik’s Cube: The gateway drug to geekdom. And never mind all those new incarnations with glitter and lights and buttons and squeals. I’m talking the old school kind with six boring, garish colors. Frills are unnecessary and it still remains the most addicting and infuriating puzzle toy on the market. They are available on ThinkGeek. For the record, it really is spelled Rubik’s not rubix. It is named after it’s Hungarian inventor, Erno Rubik.
8. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks: Everyone should have a zombie survival plan and education is the best defense against an otherwise indefatigable foe. Mel Brooks’ genius was passed to his son and Max shares this with us in a terrific book that is must have for geek and non-geek alike. Written very much like a Boy Scout how-to manual, Brooks takes himself so seriously it’s hard not to start stocking up on shot gun shells and bottled water.
7. Silly Putty: It is the long forgotten and surprisingly entertaining gift that makes the perfect stocking stuffer. The initial reaction to receiving the little egg of goo may not be epic but a week after Christmas when The Great Battery Round Up has begun a bit of Silly Putty and the Sunday comics will come in awfully handy.
6. Beaker Set: With a plethora of household chemistry experiments at your disposal thanks to Google and the internet, even the simplest experiments can feel so much more impressive with your own set of beakers to perform them in. The Carolina company offers the whole range of beakers from the standard Pyrex that can get a bit pricey to the less traditional but just as effective, not to mention cost efficient, plastic and polypropylene.
5. Batteries: My mom always gave me a full set of batteries of every size for Christmas. I could expect three things every year without fail. Socks, fruit, and batteries. This is still the rule. As I got older cell batteries were included with the AA, AAA, C, and D. In high school a 9-volt was briefly included but my mom somehow thought better of that. She is and was a very wise woman.
4. Comic Books: Any variety is good. With all the movie versions being released it is my personal fear that our children will forget where the stories came from. The Green Lantern, The Hornet, Batman, Superman, The Fantastic Four; they are all big hit movies now, but began as graphic novels and comics. Buy it in conjunction with a copy of the movie for greater effect. History tells us where we’ve been, and more important, where we are going. (Every now and then that degree of mine finds a voice.)
3. A Family Pack of Bunny Slippers: Buyers choice. Nothing says holiday like a family of very happy, fuzzy feet. Bunnyslippers.com offers a host of choices from animals to giant fuzzy tennis shoes. And the forced picture of everyone wearing them will make for good blackmail later.
2. Desk Toys: These also make great stocking stuffers. They are compact and more fun then you’d think. Traditionally reserved for executive desks, I was never one for upholding every tradition on the book. Miniature zen gardens, kinetic motion toys, koosh balls, liquid motion gadgets, and the like are available in full force on officeplayground.com. Any and all of them will provide plenty of entertainment and it is unexpected.
1. Video Game Emulators: There are a thousand and one sites out there that offer quality video game emulators of all the old school arcade games we learned to play on. The most well known is MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator). This emulator comes complete with demanding you “Insert Coins” before you can play. The controls are fully customizable and for the less then computer savvy, it’s pretty easy to navigate. You can download them to your PC or Mac and beep away at Space Invaders, Frogger, Pac-Man, Street Fighter, and tons of others. Many of these games are also available in compact console form. You plug these into your TV and most come with a joystick for maximum effect. The last arcade in my city closed down a little over a year ago and I was quite depressed until a friend showed me I didn’t have to give up the games. Emulators are a GeekMom’s best friend. These are also available for the console games systems like Atari, NES, and Sega. The best part of this gift is it can be free! Make sure you check your computer specs before downloading. You do need a bit of processor speed and occasionally a decent graphics card to handle some of the emulators. Remember, this is a gift. The kids get first dibs. (At least on Christmas Day, then all’s fair in love and war.)
Happy Shopping! Hope you rock out a few gifts old school!
Well- I just easily spent $70 on Desk Toys!
Oh! Can I add one to magazine subscriptions? Muse. We LOVE Muse. Well-suited to tweens/teens, the magazine covers fascinating science concepts. It’s an education unto itself, but nobody notices. http://amzn.to/erxzy5
Heck to the yes on muse! I have the first ever issue of muse tucked away in storage. That was back in the day! In fact it’s parent magazine The Smithsonian is terrific too. There are so many magazines outs there that aren’t just irrationally priced clothes and how to please your man lists.
What about science cookie cutters for ultimate kitchen geek gift?? 🙂
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