Birthday Gift for a smart 6 year old girl
Would prefer it to not be "hair" 'makeup" girlish oriented, but rather something challenging for her mind. I am her Uncle, and would like something maybe aimed at DIY outside of Lego if you know what I mean. Budget is small, maybe 39.99? Can move either way if needed
Advice, much needed as a 36 y/o male with no kids
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Ask your sibling if it would be ok, to take her out to a museum or something similar.
Or aks them what she currently is into and try and get her something you know she'd love.
Would be lovely, unfortunately I live a few states away, so I can't don't that this time. I appreciate the thought though
I'd say experiences is still a good answer, its what we ask for when it comes to the kids. They have tons of toys already, they don't need more, and I'm too particular about tech for my.kids for anyone to buy them tech (without it just getting returned).
We go to animal preserves, science centers, art museums, renaissance fairs, etc. Tickets only for the kids, its more like "pick an event/activity" than anything else I guess.
Sometimes we wait for family to visit so they can go too, sometimes we just take lots of pictures.
Aside from that....
I once bought my niece a marble run. I got some shit for it, because I guess some people just don't get it? But she loved it, and my 6-year-old daughter now loves marble runs too.
My daughter also collects rocks, so a rock tumbler was a big one for her.
Another gift for a niece I got shit for was a drum. She loved it. She was so excited that it was a real instrument. My brother always said he'd get me back, but my daughter got a full-ass drum kit for Christmas, and I think it's great.
Oh, and make your own slime kits are huge right now. It's science-y, DIY, and kids love slime.
By her parents? Either way, who the hell criticizes a gift to someone else? Especially if the recipient ends up loving it!?
It was good natured. I wasn't offended.
I just think it's funny how some people are all about marble runs and some people just don't get it. No in between. Personally I'm all about marble runs.
I mean, the drum was an asshole move.
Look, I told you I was drunk and saw a crazy 1-day only deal!
EDIT: I thought you were joking too! 🤦♂️ I didn't see the edit from the original comment...
I think the problem with the marble run is the constant "rrrrrrr tick-tick rrrrr tick rrrr", but aside from the noise it's a great toy and a core component of any child's toy box. It's also the start of many Rube Goldberg machines running through your living room.
I had a marble run at about 6. It was awesome.
My 6 year old son absolutely loves the Snap Circuits kits. We've also started teaching him collectable card games (Pokémon, Yu Gi Oh , etc) which challenge his reading and strategy skills. Plus great quality time activity. There are tons of Stem kits out there for less than $40.
Sent me back mentioning those snap circuits lol. Have her build the simple AM radio and watch her mind be blown OP, you won't be disappointed
Yugioh and snap kits were my faves back then, now over 20y later I'm still playing yugioh and soldering, so I'd say it was a worthy investment of my family and my free time. Problem-solving card text is probably good for understanding programming logic, too.
I was about that age when I was gifted a microscope. No idea if you can still find them that cheap, though
Microscopes are definitely available in OP's price range.
I had one as a kid, and LOVED it. It came with a bunch of sample slides, but I always took some small bottles with me on my daily summer bike trips (we were free range back then), and collected samples from swamps, puddles, drainage ditches, etc.
By the time I got to high school, I sailed through science classes, because I already knew how to make slides, and had already seen much of the stuff we were discovering.
Yes, also had a microscope at around that age, even with some sample plates that you could look at, such as a squeezed fly.
I also got a microscope around this age - now I'm an environmental scientist
Another good one would be an easier STEMmy puzzle. I had one that was a bunch of shapes that had to fit together into its small case. Kinda of Tetris like.
Might be able to build one, could be worth looking into, thanks!
There is something super cool: pocket microscopes. You can take them out in nature since they are small, they are in your price range and they are astonishingly good!
Just piling on because I got a pocket microscope as a kid. It definitely led to me thinking about what objects in the world around me are made of. And if course I wondered about the components of those bits and pieces. Fast forward, and I now I have a chemistry degree 🙂
In my area's thrift stores, $500 microscopes are available for $10, no joke. People buy them for their kids, kids never use them, into the box and off to the donation center!
We gave our 5yo a microscope for his 5th birthday, and he loved it!
There are also kits for learning about electricity for kids of that age. For making a light switch or making a doorbell buzzer and simple things like that.
Now that sounds amazing, any kits or companies that sell something she may like
SnapCircuits!
They have a bunch of different kits, there’s like a music one that’ll even let you make a circuit that plays music from a phone.
They are absolutely a WONDERFUL introduction to electricity for a kid.
@[email protected] see my comment above, sorry i hit the wrong reply button :-)
I'll be sure to check it out, thanks for the ping
i had those as a kid, with clamp boards where you could plug in resistors, transistors, switches, diodes, a spool and in later editions even simple IC's, speakers, lamps, a potentionmeter and so on; was powered by a 9V battery and you could build a radio, flipflop's, alarm circuits and so on; i spent countless hours with that, was called Elektro Technik by Kosmos. They still have similar stuff on https://store.thamesandkosmos.com/ from what i saw, even if there aren't as many expansions as i had, but instead there's more robotics stuff (which is probably more fun for kids anyways)
Found it, this was the comment you were pointing me to right? I'll save it and I'm going to dig through all these sites/suggestions on Friday night/ Saturday to narrow it all down. Those do look cool! Thanks
K'NEX. I used to build all kinds of cool stuff out of those when I was a kid.
She needs a sword. It’s educational.
Is she too young for an Arduino starter kit?
https://store-usa.arduino.cc/products/arduino-starter-kit-multi-language
Edit: the great thing about these is that you can eventually add a raspberry pi to the mix for even more functionality and learning fun!
Or a calliope mini, they are geared towards elementary school kids.
I have a couple smart nieces. One of them did want LEGO — she wanted a whole LEGO-themed party. I was the only one who bought her an actual LEGO set, not one of the ones aimed specifically at girls (LEGO and Friends, IIRC). Yeah, guess whose she wanted to actually build — and guess who she recruited for help doing it, while all the other sets sat in boxes (dunno if they were ever opened).
Beyond that, I stuck to the "edutainment" aisle. Science-y stuff. Books are another good option, if you can find a fantasy series with light romance (but nothing erotic, obviously). That's more for older girls though, a six-year-old probably can't read. That being said, audiobooks are a thing, and if they're a tablet kid, an Audible/similar gift code might not be a bad idea. They can do a lot worse for themselves with a tablet than having someone read to them.
Also, crafting stuff. Crochet kit, beads, anything that lets her "make" something.
to add to the DIY section of your comment - air dry clay, a set of basic clay working tools, and a set of acrylic paints (+ varnish for the acrylics) could be very fun. cheap air dry clay is cheap (i've seen 1kg go for ~$3), a basic set of tools and paints also won't break the bank, and it's absolutely amazing fun!
even with 0 skill you can make nifty things - like minature foods (a blob? potato. cylinder? cucumber. ball? so many options here), simple figurines, animals, accessories for other things, candle holders - bascially, the only limit is your imagination.
though if you do think that'd be a good idea one word of warning - air dry clay is not food safe, any cups, plates, or dishes made with it can only ever be decorational. (the only clay you can eat off is the kind that you need to fire, glaze, and fire again at +900°C)
Spirograph, Crystal growing kit, search for stem toys for 6 year olds, ask her parents what she's into.
I've been doing stem toys for my niece for a few years and she always loves them. She just turned 9 in August.
those crystal growing kits are awesome! I might get myself one for Christmas jijiji
Thinkpad thin client with Gentoo
You gotta make sure there's that little dot in the middle of the keyboard or else it isn't worth it.
Board games. Catan junior, Loopin Chewie, Robot turtles, Tsuro, Abracada...What?, camel up.
Regular price
Catan Jr, didn't know that existed I'll have to look into what games are around. I know her Dad taught our parents how to play Settlers of Catan a number of years ago before she was born, so that's something that she may have parents/grandparents to play with. She has a brother that is 2 years younger, so maybe they'll be able to play that together soon enough.
Ticket to Ride: First Journey and Qwirkle are also good choices for that age range. Qwirkle is great because it's simple but fun for all ages. My kids loved it when they were young and still play it frequently at 16 and 25.
My niblings have liked the Kiwico and other sciencey kits I've sent them
My kids love the Kiwico boxes. They have different ones designed for different ages. You can buy a single one of get a subscription where they get a new one every month.
I looooved K’nex when I was a young girl, would recommend
Ill have to look into what that is, thanks for the suggestion!
Check out Meccano as well, similar idea as a construction toy.
Get a crystal growing kit and grow colourful crystals with her. It's gonna take multiple days and is a great entry to stem-topics.
Do you know what she likes? I think a lot of “cool” ideas are presented here, however, remember she is still 6, and kids that age learn a lot through unstructured play.
Toys that have multiple ways to play with them, such as craft beading kits and doll houses are stimulating to the brain in more ways, and often preferred by children to circuit building kits, for example. The former is well within your price range, if she is crafty.
Unfortunately I've only seen her a couple times because the distance and my time/money. I know she likes animals, they go to beach and waterparks. She likes Halloween, even when she was 3 she was trying to make friends with the giant blow up scary things. She's got a 2 wheeled scooter she likes. Baking, crafts. Swings, pools.. they are always going on trips it seems. (Thankfully my brother has a family shared album so I've seen 1000s of pictures of her growing up and always doing things). They are I suppose upper middle class, and I'm not lol. So it's one of those trying to find something that they wouldn't have off hand bought her when they saw it, and I know my brother likes Legos, so I assume she has any cheaper set she would have liked.
There are plenty of brain teaser type toys. Maybe something like Rush Hour or Snap Circuits
Books are always good too. When I was her age I was really into the Magic Treehouse series
Both of these are great and another cool one is laser maze!
Maybe not in the "smart mind challenging" category but there are plenty of craft kits for your budget: paint canvases by numbers, make your own accessories with clay, bead jewelry, basic engineering kits (build your own robot types), dig your own fossil kits, build-this-or-that-with-LEDlights, gardening kits for kids, etc.
My point is to expand your horizon a bit, it's perfectly fine that you want to cater to her intelligence and not just go for something girly in a cliche sense. But she can also enjoy crafting stuff.
Get her a rock tumbler.
Get a world map for her room and an age appropriate atlas.
What would an age inappropriate atlas be? 👀
Obviously, a book too heavy for a six year old to pick up.
A guide to nude beaches
That doesn't sound either like an atlas, or something necessarily inappropriate for a 6 year old.
Modeling clay and good quality paints.
Artistic, technical, no real "rules", and a good amount of skill building.
Educational books at or slightly above her reading level? My kid is crazy about dinosaurs, so he'll read and re-read books about them even though he doesn't understand all the words yet.
My favourite book when I was young was The Way Things Work.
It might have a few outdated references, but it's still really interesting stuff. The full adder section actually helped in the first year of my engineering degree.
Haha, that was a top one for me, too! Also the DK visual encyclopedia and Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia.
Sounds like a great idea, know any series that kids are into these days, when I was a kid it was goosebumps, the cabbage patch kids, and a few others like wishbone, but I'm sure those are out of style
Books: Narwhal and Jelly was a favorite at that age. Also if an adult reads with her, we were reading the Mercy the Pig, and Zoey and Sassafrass series at that age.
I’m pretty sure that was also about the age we got our first Snap Circuits set. It still gets pulled out and built every so often - the flying “helicopter” is still a favorite.
However, Play-Doh is one you can never go wrong with at that age.
Edit: Forgot to add that Dr. Seuss and PD Eastman books are very good for the typical 6-7 year old reading level.
+1 on the Dr Seuss - such a fun and joyful way to explore unusual language and weird concepts in fantastical worlds.
I'm not American (and I assume you are), so I'm afraid I can't help with that 😅
If you want diy that’s not Lego for a 6 yo, I’d go with magnetites. The original brand is best but the knock off brands are good too. Not all brands are compatible, though, so if you plan to get a recurring gift and add to it over time, I’d stick with the magnetile brand.
My 8yo boy loved them at that age. However, they don’t have the staying power of Lego. Why not Lego?
Probably cost, Lego's really expensive for what you get, sadly.
I disagree. Lego has a replayability and endurance that makes it great value in my opinion. For that price point, there are lots of Lego creator 3-in-1 kits that have a variety of instructions with the same bricks.
Cheaper brands and toys don't have the same quality, longevity and compatibility.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I completely agree about the replayability of Lego.
I was thinking more in terms of gift impact - to get something that looks great immediately, instead of in hindsight, can cost a fair bit.
The best gift IMO would be just a huge bucket/box of random bricks, to leave it all to the imagination, but for a kid that might not seem very exciting, at least at first.
Buy em from AliExpress
My brother has done quite well for himself, and married a lawyer and what not on top of it, so I know he's already got a game room with that really nice millennium falcon and such next to his game consoles. I just kind of figured any Legos she would have wanted that were on the cheaper side they would have bought her. So I figured more obscure gifts or something different would end up being something she already has.
Lego update their range every few months. If you know they like Lego and she does, I'd pick one and ask if they have it.
I'm sure any gift you out this much thought into will be perfect. From my kids point of view, they get excited about presents whether they end up playing with it or not. What I've found works for spenifn time together is zoom videos with books that you can read to them while they read too. So you both have a copy of the same book.
At 6 they will be learning to read, presumably, so you can also listen to them read to you. All of the Julia donaldson books are great. However, I'd still get a toy present. This is more a thought for developing a relationship while apart, seperate to the birthday. You can even just pick up a copy of their favourite book near you and then only one copy needed. I love overseas from my family and at that age they are not able to hold a conversation on zoom for long as their attention span is low. Having the book brings a focus.
I've had friends bake together over zoom and also build the Lego together over zoom, so if you have the time that would work also.
Kids don't differentiate between expensive and smaller sets of Lego at that age. The bigger sets are normally more advanced, so I wouldn't stress about the size or cost.
I recently had my kids friends for sleep over. We got some Lego that day as a reward for something else. It was about Aussie $30, so maybe 25 USA dollars, and was 3 Harry Potter characters. They each were entertained for about an hour making them. Then an hour playing and they could each bring one home. There were 3 characters to build. They got more fun out of that each and collectively than a 100 dollar set.
A microscope
mechanical 3D wooden puzzles are great! and if you get some time to hang around it'd be an amazing bonding experience to build one together :) and if not, nudge your sibling/cousin to build it with her
Not a parent, but when I was a kid I loved rubik's cubes. 4x4 or 5x5 ones are even more fun. (probably need a youtube video guide lol) Don't get the cheap ones, those suck, get those high quality ones. Should fit within the budget.
Don't get name brand either. https://www.thecubicle.com/ has good, cheap, reliable cubes.
At about that age, I enjoyed putting together dominos runs and knocking them down. I also liked wooden building blocks. Nowadays they have building made out of dense foam which probably hurt less when your baby brother knocks your tower onto your head.
My daughter around this age loves to draw, dance, dress, up in constumes (dinosaurs and what not). She is definitely interested in science and we have little lab kits and what not. I highly recommend Snap Circuits which should be in your budget. As with most things, important to do it with her at least once to help guide her and create that spark.
People underestimate kids. Whenever possible get them the real real of something, even if more limited. For instance my old man got her a real (cheap) cordless drill and a toolbox and she loved it. Kids know fake from real.
At this age interests come and go and it's more about breadth / exposure / exploration.
6 is a perfect time to introduce them to a musical instrument. Or music genres themselves! Chess with uncle? Use this chance to both bond and expose her to one of your interests, with mentorship.
Get her Minecraft; set up Scratch programming for her.
Maybe a musical instrument, like those blowing organs or a tiny guitar?
Or a puzzle? Can she read yet? Or will soon, maybe a book?
Does she like chess? Maybe a chess board or similar?
https://www.smartgames.eu/uk/one-player-games/iq-gears
My boys love this game.
Loads of replay value.
Awesome to also have it to teach others how to play. If she has that teaching spirit, this game is great.
A book maybe.
Thanks that would probably be a good idea
Great ideas, I am starting to wonder if I should start a instance on Lemmy or Piefed to host a gift idea sub, you guys have been wonderful
to add to the puzzles: there are dexterity puzzles like these that i know from ex-wifes job are a big hit in the age 6-10 bracket!
I just ordered a few of these craft kits for my neice’s 7th birthday.
Going to save this to look at later, thank you
Tobbie 2 - build and program a simple STEM robot.
Or an offline tablet with GCompris, Scratch(junior programming suite) and a selection of Kiwix libraries suitable for younger kids.
Or a few HABA boardgames.
It’s a bit more than your budget, but Edison robot is a pretty fun way to get into programming. It’s also used by schools in some countries. You may be able to find a v1 or v2 cheaper. I have a v1 and it is pretty cool.
Sudoku book, maybe? If the likes making things, origami paper and an insteuction book? OH, I remember as a kid this toy that was short plastic sticks with magnets at the end and ball bearings ao you would make structures and stuff with em, fun to play with and suits the vibe you're looking for I think.
There ar handheld sudoku machines on ebay for like $15. Their quality is likely not great tho.
https://a.co/d/eVUcC3P
These things are very cool. My son had one when he was about that age and he loved it.
There have been a lot of great recommendations on here, and I want to add Perplexus balls. My 5yo played a LOT with the blue one and we recently bought him the next one that is more difficult. He loves them.
I bought my kiddo a book about robots that came with a simple, buildable bot. It was well received
Charades for kids. It uses her creativity.
I hear cheap 3D pens are all the rage now.
ant farm
Get her started on the "exclusive club" membership scam. She makes a "Super Secret Smart Kids Only Club" in the backyard, charges neighborhood kids $5 to join, promises amazing activities and snacks. First meeting is just them sitting in a circle while she explains the "rules" for 10 minutes, hands out one Oreo each, then says they need to pay another $3 for "premium membership" to unlock the good stuff. The good stuff never materializes but somehow kids keep showing up... What? Oh.. GIFT, I thought you said... Nevermind.