[twitter]We took the boys out for a field trip to the mall this weekend to see what they wanted for Christmas.
The idea is to let them loose in the store and see what they really engage with, like, want, and play with. Sure, they see lots of commercials and flyers, but what do they *really* like?
I wrote a post for Babble this week talking more about how we go about finding out exactly what the boys want for Christmas. The best idea on the list is taking pictures to ’email to Santa’ while we go on our ‘field trip.’
So, here’s what the boys, (and Mama and Daddy) picked out to ask Santa for this Christmas.
Okay we told them to pose with this one. We had problems with Zacharie and his fine motor skills in Kindergarten. While Charlie loves playing with pens and coloring, the pinching tweezers of Operation would make for fun practice.
And who knew there were all these different versions of the game?!
Again, one we’re steering the boys towards. We want to start having more family board game time and while the Uno Power game looks a fine for older kids, we could probably just start with Uno (Angry Birds) to get the kids working on numbers and strategy, and spending fun family time.
When it comes to playing with sets in the store, the Imaginext Batman sets are the ones they seem to linger at longest. They have a Transformers one that has seen a fair amount of play so while not on the “OMG MUST HAVE” list this would still be a good gift.
There is LEGO all over our house. The LEGO head storage bin is like the coin sorters. You pour everything in the top and then it sorts things by size as a much easier way to find things.
I’m not really a fan of LEGO sets, per se. The boys build them and then destroy them minutes later. I wish there were more (cheaper) bulk buying opportunities for free play, because I think that’s what made LEGO so magical when we were kids. Still, the boys love the sets and Charlie has been looking at this Aquaman one a long time, along with a shark and boat one.
When we returned from Las Vegas, we brought the boys a couple of magic tricks. They love performing, and it has helped with their confidence and dexterity. Here’s a magic box we found at Toys R Us.
I’m still looking for a science experiment type kit. I’d like something that can kill an hour on the very cold winter weekends when we’ll likely be stuck snowbound inside.
Now, Momma and Daddy’s wish list:
I’d love to grab Chris Hadfield’s book under the tree, along with the new one from Malcolm Gladwell. Truth be told, however, the audio books are better bets for me as I STILL haven’t gotten through Steve Jobs or Andre Agassi books that are sitting in my nightstand.
My wife is looking forward to Malala’s book this Christmas.
We’re campers. We need a new tent. Ours is flimsy, not good in wind and rain, and while it is a roof over our heads in the wilderness, it needs replacing. I need something bigger as we are now camping as a group of three (Mama is not a camper) and this 5 person tent will even let me stand up!
Along with the tent, we need mattresses and a pump. I’m over sleeping on the rocks.
So, dear Santa, we’ve all been really good boys and girls around here. I hope you have enough room in your sleigh for all these things.
How does our list compare to your kids’ wish list?
For more ideas on how you can find out what your kids really want for Christmas check out this post on Babble.com