While there might be less than 97 days till the New Year, there are even less until Christmas Day. I have 5 grandsons of which the oldest is seven years old.

I know what to get their parents. A cord of wood, 2 cases of food, a 2 burner propane stove, stuff like that.

I am out of touch with what children in that age group would like to do other than throw dirt at each other, and you can't do much of that around here at the end of December.

Seriously though, what is hot, and what is not, with kids that age? I don't want something that requires lots of batteries to operate because I think the price of batteries is going to triple next year. Any suggestions?

-- Nick (Santa@northpole.cold), September 28, 1999

Answers

You might try games...pick-up-sticks.....play costumes...sleds...boots...toy trucks(like the Tonka Trucks)...hats gloves....hot wheels...coloring books... puzzles...GI Joe stuff...plus many other item..... I bought play army costumes...footballs...basketballs... sledsand a million little things...plus game boys...then purchased solar rechargable batteries and charger at Radio Shack so the will have continued use of the game boys. Hope this helps.

-- Mary (NetDevL@aol.com), September 28, 1999.

Legos

-- BiGG (supersite@acronet.net), September 28, 1999.

Then again, if you're a Polly, here's how it might go:

-- Body bags for one and all
-- Airtight coffins, bright and shiny
-- "Eat me - I'm toast" badges, large and small
-- Kevlar snow suits, short and tall
-- Condoms galore for nights long, dark and cold
-- Last wills and testaments for young and old.

-- The (polly@wish.list), September 28, 1999.

Nick:

One of the only purchases I made that was for Y2k exclusively is a solar battery recharger. About 15-18 dollars. Have used it several times, works like a champ, on the panasonic rechargeables you can get at WalMart, like $6.95 for 4 AA's. Help keep my young teens busy with a pocket nintendo! Well worth it, I think, also helps me with flashlight and radio and cd player batteries. Something to think about- I got mine at www.beprepared.com, and was pleased with the service and quality. (ususal disclaimers apply)And useful even if theres no power problems, since Im saving money with rechargeables even tho the upfront cost is higher

-- LauraA (Laadedah@aol.com), September 28, 1999.

GI Joes, Rambo dolls, WWW wrestling dolls, BB gun, gun safety shooting lessons, sleeping bag, pup tent, bug-out-bag supplies, Rotweiller puppy, subscription to Soldier of Fortune.

-- Merry Xmas (Merry Xmas@merryxmasss.xcom), September 28, 1999.

///

TONKA.

Accept no substitute.

///

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), September 28, 1999.

*gasp* dare I mention....books!

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), September 28, 1999.

Fishing kits

-- && (&&@&&.&), September 28, 1999.

Board games, card games, & books. You might consider stocking up on some rechargable batteries.

-- flora (***@__._), September 28, 1999.

Well, of course, being a Grandma, the requisite underwear and socks are in order! : ) And the customary roll of quarters for the stocking will continue this year, too.

I haven't started my Christmas list yet, but for Mom's 74th birthday, she received pre-paid range time and instruction.

Gotta write all these good suggestions down!

-- Wilferd (WilferdW@aol.com), September 28, 1999.

Musical Instruments (though no drums ;^) )

-- LM (latemarch@usa.net), September 28, 1999.

Snowshoes!

-- PH (ag3@interlog.com), September 28, 1999.

We had a couple of good threads on the prep forum about board games, I can't seem to locate them now - maybe one of you hotshots can help. They seem frivolous on the face of it, but can bring a group together in an enjoyable way and teach sound economic, political as well as other important concepts.

-- flora (***@__._), September 28, 1999.

Every grandma I know has a junk drawer or cupboard in her kitchen filled with old plastic stuff and tupperware just for the toddlers to play with. Last christmas, when I was cluelessly shopping for toys for a friend's one year old son, I remembered this and headed for the kitchen junk section of the store. I filled a rubbermaid box with plastic and rubber utensils (spoons, funnels, spatulas, measuring cups, etc.) of various sizes and colors. Although the adults present at the unwrapping were not impressed, the kid loved them. Its been nearly a year and he still plays with them. He also knows when his mommy borrows one of HIS kitchen tools and he lets her know about it--loudly.

Easy to clean, won't damage furniture or other children, can't be swallowed, can be chewwed on and y2k compliant. And if she askes nicely, mommy might be able to borrow them.

-- Sam Mcgee (weissacre@gwtc.net), September 29, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr near Monterey, California

Mr. Microphone. Granted, this does take batteries, but... if mom and dad need to use it to briing a neighborhood meeting to attention, they'll probably lend it out.

Beanie Babies. Though they don't perform some survival function, they're small, and so can be easly taken along to perform their "confort animal" function. Good for boys and girls.

A soft comfort blanket. They might not appreciate this one unless there's a real bad Y2K.

Musical instruments mentioned by an earlier visitor to the thread. Specifically, guitar, harmonica, harminica holder, mouth organ (AKA Jews' harp), kazoo. Song book.

Fantasy hats (police, Zorro, etc etc --- my son's collected about 50 of these since birth) Yoyo. Fishing rod & other fishing equipment. Wagon. Timex wind up wristwatch. Compass. Chalk. Bike. SUE bag. Child-sized gardening tools. Slingshot & marbles (confab with parents on this one). Oujii board (again, consult parents)

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), September 29, 1999.

Some things never go out of style:

Art supplies: paper (photocopy/printer paper is great)plain & colored, washable markers, colored pencils,pastels, stencils, rubber stamps, how to draw (step by step) books featuring Marvel Comics, various action figures, animals etc. Plenty of glue sticks, white glue, tape, scissors,'glitter glue' is great (glitz without the mess) ruler, oops almost forgot crayons. Tempra paints & brushes (q-tips are great for little ones that destroy 'real' brushes). Be creative (or look for kits) googly eyes & brown paper bags can become ferocious dragon puppets.

No end to the possibilities.

As a bonus, they will improve hand eye coordination, dexterity, attention to detail, time on task and have yet another outlet to express feelings they may not be able to put into words. Not to mention the appreciation of a job well done.

Can you tell I was an art teacher?

No batteries required.

Moving on from art, Remember 'army men' (the little green plastic ones) every little boy I know has enjoyed playing with these, and they hold their interest for years.

The classics have been mentioned by others so I won't repeat.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), September 29, 1999.

For those who have little sun in the winter and solar battery chargers will be of no use, you might want to consider the BayGen Freeplay Lantern with the internal generator. If you purchase the patch cord, you can recharge every 30 minutes for any appliance that takes 2 AA batteries. This way it doesn't matter what the weather is like, you will have power for those CD players, cassette players and GameBoys. Legos are also always a winner! Hope this is helpful, Diane

-- Diane (prepare@highlandtraders.com), September 29, 1999.

Since you are talking about boys, the hottest thing around my part of the country is Poke'mon!!! My son, along with almost every boy in his class collects both the action figures and the trading cards. The cards are also used to play a strategy game. The kids here trade every day before school and when they get together the first thing that comes out is the little pocket monsters. If you can not find them at your local stores (the ones here are always out!), there are many good deals at the online auctions. I have gotten my son some that we couldn't find elsewhere and the prices have been fair and the people have been very honest about sending the merchandise. Good Luck!

-- kitten (kitten@vcn.net), September 30, 1999.

Nick,

I always liked homemade presents the best. A thought came to me for a 'priceless' gift you could make for your grandchildren for little cost. It would be a family scrapbook, or album. You could get color copies of old family pictures { the black and white photos show all their wonderful grey tones in color copy }. The thing that will be the most valuable part is the telling of the family stories in captions, or interspersed paragraphs. You could tell how kinfolk triumphed around the monkey wrenches that life slung at them. Don't forget the funny stories, they are sometimes the best { even if it didn't feel that way at the time! }. Good luck, you are the link between the past and the future.

-- flora (***@__._), September 30, 1999.