This
year's best Christmas presents for kids
12: Comic Maker kit £8.99
Not only a pretty acceptable present but an ingenious way of uniting the
generations - this kit enables child and grandparent alike to create their
own comic strip adventures with characters from the Beano .
11: Zoo Glove £9.95
For the very youngest members of your brood, a fistful of fingerpuppets that
can act out any story your tipsy Christmas imagination can concoct.
10: Oxfam vet care kit £17
Telling a child that they aren't getting any Christmas presents this year
because you've made a charitable donation in their name instead will leave a
scar that will endure well into adulthood. A small reminder, though, that
there's a world outside the cosy world of turkey sandwiches and discarded
giftwrap is worthwhile for child as well as the ultimate beneficiary.
Oxfams's vet care kit, which makes a massive contribution to the
vaccinations and veterinary care of goats, donkeys, sheep and other
livestock around the world is just the ticket.
9: Underground Ernie train set
£19.99
A train set's a classic. Brought right up to date with the addition of the
acceptable face of Ken Livingstone's transport policy this jolly little
affair should keep the CBeebies generation amused on many a wet Winter
weekend.
8: Playmobil Take along Dolls' House
£24.99
A dolls house that scores over any other small properties you might be viewing
this month by folding up into a neat little case which can be carried around
to the homes of any relatives you may feel obliged to visit and – most
importantly – not requiring any assembly on the part of an already frazzled
adult!
7: Tomy Cella Puzzle Maker £14.99
Once you've made even the most fiendish jigsaw more than a couple of times the
novelty begins to pall somewhat. That's why this kit offering the
opportunity of making a new and original jigsaw every day, from any image
that might be available, is an impressively future-proof buy.
6: Elemental Toys Dinosaur
Scooter £59.50
Everyone likes dinosaurs. Everyone like scooters. Construct a fusion of the
two using ethically sourced timber that will help ensure that we don't end
up like the aforementioned giant reptiles did and you have a guaranteed hit
with preschoolers and ecologically concerned parents alike.
5: High School Musical
SingIt! £29.99
Take the basic game mechanics of all-conquering PS2 series SingStar and add
songs and choreography from Disney's supernaturally popular High School
Musical and you have a world beating holiday season title for the younger
consumer. The fact that this game is available for practically every console
means that it almost demands to be bought. Two microphones are included so
that budding Gabriellas can drag their reluctant Troy up for a sensational
duet.
4: Personalised Pop Art print £35.00
Every well-adjusted teenage girl has at least one photo of herself that she
likes. Some unusually mature teenage boys have one too. Transform these
photos into an authentic-looking Warhol poster and you have a moderately
tasteful wall adornment that not only reinforces your child's positive self
image but (more importantly) also occupies space in your home that might
otherwise be taken up by something ghastly involving someone from X Factor.
3: Remote Control Remy
the Rat £15.00
Remy the rat is the hero of this season's inescapable Pixar junior blockbuster
Ratatouille. For reasons that those of us over eighteen will probably never
quite understand kids will never tire of sending him scuttling around the
house using the cheese-shaped remote control.
2: Solar Helicopter £16.99
It would be nice to give nothing but ecologically sound wooden gifts from
sustainable forests, but the trouble is that once a child has one vaguely
horse shaped piece of wood any further horse shaped pieces of wood with have
limited 'wow' factor. That's about to change with the advent of this
ingenious creation which tops off a quite recognisably helicopter shaped
piece of wood with a solar powered rotor that will spin round whenever it's
exposed to sunlight. Just make sure one of the grownups doesn't pinch it.
1: Where is Moldova? £36.00
Board games are, we're assured, coming back: It's only fair that when you lure
the younger generation away from their Xboxes that it's with a game that
none of the family has played before, so that none of the family has had a
chance to swot up on the questions. Where is Moldova is an
entertaining board game of the old school that might just prove educational
for the budding Foreign Correspondent in your family.
