New Year's gift ideas for a child
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Constructor
For a child of any age and gender, you can always pick up a constructor. Both adults and children like to fold it, which is a good reason to spend several winter evenings together with a child.
The smallest children (aged from one and a half to five years) will suit simple solutions that contain large blocks — bricks, windows, doors, arches, cars, figures of animals and people. Firstly, it is easier for a child with undeveloped motor skills to collect large elements, and secondly, they are more difficult to swallow (and such an idea is almost guaranteed to come to mind for every kid). The most popular series of such constructors is Lego Duplo, the sets of which cover a variety of aspects of interest to young children (from farms with animals to motorized trains).
The Danish company Lego is also the leader among all other age categories of designers. Its product range includes special series for boys, for girls and just interesting sets that will appeal to everyone.
A more low-cost-friendly alternative to the Danish brand is high-quality solutions from the Middle Kingdom from Brick, Sluban, Bela and Ausini. Their specialized constructors for girls are often made in the form of dollhouses, and for boys there are a lot of models for automotive, military and other subjects. A detailed description of the popular series of these constructors is given in the material "Cheaper than LEGO: constructors Brick, Sluban, Bela and Ausini".
Today's parents remember well screw constructors that were popular in their childhood. They allow you to develop quite complex skills, since the structural elements of such models need to be connected with bolts and nuts.
Car track or railway
Probably, all boys love to play cars. But it's one thing to roll cars and trucks on the floor, and another is to put them on a specialized racing track with slopes, bridges and crossings and even a real roller coaster.
Children's car tracks allow a child to feel like a real racer who enters difficult turns with dexterity and rushes to the finish line, bypassing all rivals. At the same time, the boys develop reaction speed, observation and purposefulness. There are many configurations of car tracks on the market: circular, straight, multi-level, stunt, eights, etc. The more interesting it will be for kids to play, the more diverse the track looks.
The largest number of offers are presented by the brand Hot Wheels, which is famous for creating miniature copies of cars and manufacturing radio-controlled cars. The widest range of car tracks from this manufacturer will definitely satisfy the requirements of the most capricious child.
A branch of the automotive theme is similar in structure railways. They use locomotives and wagons as the main actors. However, serious models also include automobile crossings, highways-duplicates of the railway track and a number of buildings from which you can create a real city in miniature.
The movement of the train on the trackbed is usually carried out without the participation of a child, because the locomotive is powered by its own battery or replaceable batteries. But anyway, the little railwayman will not remain idle, since it is necessary to manually switch the arrows on the train route and control the traffic lights signals.
For younger children, there are simpler railway tracks. For example, kids will like the imitation of the train from Chaggington — the hero of the animated series of the same name, which can be found in the set Chuggington Kokos Old Town .
Radio-controlled models
Both children and adults play with radio-controlled models with great joy. Therefore, such a gift can be a great help for a family pastime.
Of course, the most popular in this category are cars on radio control. The modern market offers a great variety of cars to choose from for almost any "taste and colour": models for circuit racing, SUVs, rally, for performing various tricks and others. Advanced sports models are equipped with an internal combustion engine (using special fuel or gasoline), while amateur cars often work from batteries in the form of a battery or batteries. You can read more about the variety of radio-controlled cars in the material at the following link.
No less well-known type of radio-controlled models are aircraft: aircraft, helicopters and quadcopters. To launch such "toys", you will need an open space and good weather conditions. By the way, the world speed record of radio—controlled aircraft is 589 km/h — it was up to this indicator that the Jetcat P 160 SE jet model was able to accelerate in 2010.
If there is a large pond near the house, the child can purchase a radio-controlled boat. This category includes yachts, catamarans, sailing vessels and even real submarines capable of diving and surfacing. In order not to lose sight of the submarine, it is advisable to launch it only in clear water.
Kids who haven't reached school age yet will like radio-controlled animals. These include all kinds of wriggling snakes, tail-wagging dogs or furry spiders. A brief educational guide on the main types of radio-controlled toys is given in the article at the link.
Doll or soft toy
For girls, dolls are one of the most favorite types of toys. Often they become so close to children that it is impossible to separate a child from a doll-girlfriend even at night.
A good gift option for children who have recently come out of infancy is dolls . This type includes dolls made in the form of toy babies. Girls really like to take care of the "baby", feed it from a bottle and change clothes. Depending on the model, the dolls may differ in size or be able to pronounce different phrases. Usually such toys do not have a gender.
Another popular type is the classic a doll depicting girls or women. In this category , the undisputed leader is the internationally adored Barbie . However, no less interesting are the fabulous Winx fairies and the popular "monstrous" Monster High. You can easily please a girl by picking up a doll of your favorite character from the animated series.
Note the fact that dolls can be sold not only by themselves, but also with additional items (from small accessories like handbags to additional sets in the form of a house with a fully furnished interior). Often all kinds of add-ons are sold separately.
Another welcome gift for any girl (regardless of age) can be a large soft toy. And here, for sure, everything depends only on your imagination — both huge teddy bears (Fancy, Aurora, etc.) and gentle Hello Kitty cats are on the market, or absolutely non-prickly hedgehogs and other Orange animals.
Telescope
The craving for the unknown lies in the depths of every child's soul. And what else could be more mysterious than the starry sky? Observing the Moon and constellations can become not only an interesting entertainment, but also serve as a significant boost in the love of education. And a telescope will help to create such a thrust.
For beginners astronomers will suit simple and unpretentious lens refractor telescopes. They are suitable for observing planets and other objects of near space. Examples of suitable models are Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ from 3 330 up to 3 977 ₴ and Edu-Toys TS023 .
More serious hobbies require the availability of appropriate equipment. In this case, you will need a universal model or telescope for observing objects deep space. Such solutions are significantly more expensive, but anyway, the tongue will not turn to call them a boring and banal gift.
Game console
The game console will be an excellent purchase not only for the child, but also for the whole family. Especially when it comes to modern platforms Microsoft Xbox One 500GB and Sony PlayStation 4 . In addition to supporting games, these consoles perform a number of multimedia functions — from streaming movies to browsing the Internet.In addition, both consoles support contactless controllers that allow you to control game characters using body movements.
Against the background of the original Sony console, its older version stands out — Sony PlayStation 4 Pro . It is equipped with a frequency-accelerated processor and a more performant graphics accelerator, which opens up the possibility of running games in resolutions up to 4K. The happy owners of UltraHD TVs will experience special joy from this modification of the set-top box.
More affordable solutions are portable versions of flagship consoles in the face of Sony PlayStation 4 Slim 500Gb from 15 999 up to 17 899 ₴ and Microsoft Xbox One S 500GB . The models boast compact dimensions and good functionality. In addition, the Sony console gamepad got a separate LED on the touch panel, which informs about the health status of the character.
A great addition for the console can be a hit of the season — a virtual reality helmet Sony PlayStation VR , with which you can completely plunge into the gameplay. More details about the new types of gaming devices are written in the material "Game consoles 2016-2017: the most interesting novelties".
Game manipulator
Feel like driving a Formula 1 car or at the helm of an airplane will help game manipulators. With their help, the child can plunge more deeply into the virtual world of a computer simulator of racing or flight .
The controller in the form of car steering wheel takes the child straight to the virtual car salon. Thanks to the feedback function, a small driver will be able to feel the simulation of the effects of the car's behavior when driving on a bad road surface or steering wheel resistance when entering a skid. Even more emotions are caused by a set additionally equipped with a switch knob gear and pedals. Each of these solutions increases the realism of control in car simulators. Convenient and realistic models of computer steering wheels are presented in the material "Feel like a racer! TOP 5 gaming handlebars".
For small pilots who prefer to fly an airplane or spacecraft, manipulators in the form of joystick or steering wheel are more suitable. Representatives of the latter category are distinguished by a high degree of detail and realism, and on their basis it is possible to build a computer-based exercise aircraft. Accordingly, older children, as well as their dads, will be glad to receive such a gift.
Finally, don't discount gamepads. Although their main prerogative is to interact with game consoles, paired with a PC, they also show themselves very well. Especially when it comes to sports simulators, fighting games, platformers, auto racing and slashers. To the question "Which gamepad to choose for PC: XInput or DirectInput" the corresponding article will answer.
E-book
The wave of popularity of e-books is a thing of the past. Nevertheless, readers do not lose their attractiveness, because in comparison with the screens of a smartphone, laptop or tablet, the display of an e-book tyres the eyes much less when reading. This is due to the use of "electronic ink" technology, the visible properties of which are as close as possible to ordinary paper. Accordingly, reading an e-book is practically no different from reading a paper one, except that an entire library can be stored on the reader at the same time.
The public prefers books produced by the Ukrainian company PocketBook and the American Amazon. For example, the available reader {!!! block='price' idgood='345068' !!! It is equipped with a large 6-inch display (unfortunately, non-touch), and also has a fully Russified interface, a microSD memory card slot, pre-installed dictionaries for reading foreign literature and boasts long-term battery life.
A richer functionality has Amazon Kindle Gen 8 2016 — the current version of one of the most popular "readers" in the world. It has everything a user might need, including a voice reading function. But there was still a fly in the ointment — the device lacks support for the FB2 format, which is most often found in e-books. However, the book reads all other formats without problems, so it can be safely recommended for purchase.
Sledge or skates
Since the New Year falls right at the height of the cold season, the child will be glad to see a sled or skates as a gift under the Christmas tree. Firstly, with them, the child will be able to get the most out of the snowy winter, and secondly, skating can develop into something more (for example, into a serious hobby of hockey or figure skating).
For children of almost any age, classic sleds (sleds) are suitable. With their help, you can both walk with children and allow them to descend from a snow-covered slide on their own. For the youngest children, it is advisable to look after a model with a push handle — in this case, the child will be constantly in sight.
To stand out from the grey mass of a child older than five years old will help snowcat — a kind of cross between a scooter and a snowmobile, equipped with a steering wheel to control the trajectory of movement. An example of a good model of this type is Stiga Snow Kick , in which skis can be replaced with wheels for driving on asphalt. And the most advanced is a new generation of sleds with a detachable seat and LED lighting around the perimeter of the case (for example, Khw Snow Baby Fun from 9 451 up to 11 439 ₴). More information about popular models of sleds is described in the material "Preparing a sled for winter: the seven best sleds for children".
The main rules when choosing skates are tight leg coverage, reliable ankle retention and no restrictions in movements. If the child has no riding experience or it is too little, it is better to look at the usual walking pair. These skates are designed for leisurely skating for your own pleasure, without high speeds or any acrobatic numbers. Among the popular models, children most often buy Tempish F21 Ice from 2 790 ₴ for boys and Tempish Expanze Lady for girls. Both models support the ability to adjust the size. On the one hand, this avoids the situation when the purchased skates do not fit in size, and on the other — they can be safely taken "for growth".
If a child has a strong interest in winter sports, namely hockey, he can safely buy a specialized hockey pair. This type of skates is characterized by increased rigidity of the boot, which significantly increases handling and manoeuvrability on ice. It is also very convenient and practically "unkillable". In this category, a popular representative is Tempish Vancouver .
We have selected seven sleds and snowcats that parents can use for walking with their children and their independent kata.
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