This year has been one of the weirdest years in recent memory, but we still have Christmas coming around the corner.
Even if you aren’t gathering together you may still want to buy gifts for your loved ones. What are you supposed to get for someone who is very hard to shop for? I myself am kind of hard to shop for. So I did some research, and found some good ideas. So be prepared for one of the only comical, yet serious, gift guides you’ll ever need.
- Elementary School Age
Here are the top 10 holiday gifts for 6-12 year olds, according to today.com.
1. For 6-7 year olds, we have the walkie-talkie. Don’t go too low tech (15 ft range), but also don’t go too high tech such as a shortwave transmitter. A good bonus is if one of you self quarantines, just leave one of the walkie talkies with them.
2. One of the best for 8+ kids would be the pogo stick. Those are so fun, and, as a bonus, if you bring it with you in public, people will automatically social distance from you.
3. A Guess Who? Board game for pretty much any age. For information on winning game strategies, check out Mark Rober’s video on the Guess Who strategy.
4. A good 10-12 year old gift is a yeti cup. A true classic. There are also several off brands that will work just fine too.
5. A Lego set is a very good gift for any age. Plus, if you wind up in a foot chase, just throw some Legos behind you. They will be off your tail within 100 yards.
6. A copy of their favorite book series. If your kids don’t have one, they should get one. I have said before in one of my other articles that my top 3 favorites are The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Chronicles of Narnia series, and Crispin: The Cross of Lead trilogy.
7. An Outdoor Spikeball Game. I don’t know much about spikeball, but the description says,
“Throw the ball at the net and catch it wherever it goes.”. I don’t know about you, but that sounds fun.
8. A Star Wars Droid inventor kit. Definitely for the person who loves to build stuff. Also, you can program them with basic coding.
9. Chalkboard t-shirt. (record scratch) Whaaat? Yes I know, I didn’t even hear about it until 30 seconds ago when I was researching these. Don’t get me wrong, that does sound kind of cool.
10. The Portable Charging Station. If they ever end up hacking through the jungle with a low battery on their phone, they can just whip out this handy gadget and charge their phone. Assuming they ever hack through the jungle.
- Middle and High School Age
1. WiFi drone with camera. There are some off brands that will work just fine that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Plus, some will automatically stream to social media.
2. JBL Clip 3 Portable Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth Speaker (Man, that takes, like, an entire breath to say. Sure sounds cool though). These are good for long car rides.
3. A New Phone case. Don’t make it too fancy (super-duper-2×3000-power-laser-blaster phone case with a bright shiny design that you need sunglasses just to look at for more than 5 seconds).
4. Nike pull-over hoodie. These are so cool. They are comfortable, and work as great gifts. Of course, if they weren’t good gifts then I wouldn’t be mentioning them, right?
5. Airpods with a case. These will absolutely never get tangled, and they have their own case to keep them in. There are several off brands that will work just fine as well.
6. Leather laptop case. I also had never heard of it until I researched it (this is why I do research kids). You can also personalize it, such as putting your initials on it.
7. A digital watch. Yes, another true classic. They have many colors and varieties. Ask the person, whom you plan to get the watch for, what color they want (“if I was to hypothetically get you a watch…”).
8. Settlers of Catan. One of my favorites. A true game of strategy. Up to 4 players can play this, unless you have the expansion pack. There are also many extensions, such as seafarers, explorers and pirates, and many others.
9. Personalized mug. You can either put the name of the recipient on the mug, or put a quote or funny saying on it. I once saw a mug with “I before E, except when your foriegn neighbor Keith receives eight counterfeit beige sleighs from feisty caffeinated weightlifters. Weird.” (get it?).
10. Gaming headset (man, that just sounds cool). According to Today.com many gaming headsets cancel out background noise and are compatible with multiple gaming systems.
And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
- What NOT to get for your family member.
THIS is where it gets crazy. Here we go, and make sure you aren’t eating anything when you read this, I don’t want anyone to choke (some of these products may not be real, but this is most likely why they are funny).
1. A Snack hat. I think it would be a tray mounted on a helmet. I personally don’t think this is real, but it might be, knowing how people think.
2. Their very own all-seeing eye of Sauron. Way too non-practical. Also it would probably set off the smoke alarm too often. If you want to improvise, an Amazon Alexa will work just fine.
3. Cargo socks. Whaaaat? Why would someone want that? Ok, it does sound kind of cool, but you could just use your pockets.
4. Pet virtual reality. This could work if your dog is sick, and the VR makes the pills look like meat. But otherwise I can’t think of any reason to get one, if they exist.
5. The One Ring to rule them all. Also a bad idea, But you could get out of awkward situations easily. Still, don’t get it. Of course, if you choose to neglect my advice, don’t blame me if riders dressed in black start hunting you down.
6. A 4th gaming system. Just don’t. You would probably have more luck with another game instead. At least I think so.
