Gift ideas for boys

Boys are generally easy to buy gifts for, however in this day and age it’s always a good idea to try and buy some games or activities that get them away from the TV screen or computer monitor. These gift ideas for boys are all fun and mostly are well within the budget of most families.

Where possible I've tried to focus on education gifts, or gifts that help the young man exercise (without him realizing!).

As a young boy I have great memories of my action man saving the world from the enemy – whether I was kayaking down a river, or trying to survive the harsh deserts in the Sahara – it didn’t matter, my Action Man was always ready for action, and always got the job done. While some will say that Action Man portrays an aggressive world and one which paints war with ‘rose colored glasses’, I feel that children don’t look at it that way and simply enjoy the fun of creating adventures.

Whether your boy loves baseball, soccer, basketball, football or rugby, you can’t go wrong with buying him a ball – not only will it provide hours of enjoyment, but it also gets him to leave his computer for a few hours.

OK every boy wants a car, but surprisingly many are not allowed to drive until 16 – what a shame eh! Well prepare your boy for the vigor of driving by giving him a replica car, specifically a sports car! As a child I had a huge collection of match-box cars and really had so much fun with them!

Rooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrr! How many times has a young boy ran up to you with his T-Rex and blasted out a blood curdling roar – obviously the boy enjoys his dinosaur! There’s something about the dinosaur that brings the cave-man out of a young boy – it’s a fun toy to play with, especially if he gets to eat the little humans!

Who doesn’t love Elmo? I know I do and I’m over 40! Elmo is special to most kids, and especially younger kids; see their excitement as they get their very own talking Elmo! This is a great gift for boys!

As a boy grows older they adapt and change – they dispel with some of the more childish games and become more ‘grown up’. One of the things I did when I was around eleven was to begin reading – one of the first books I read was Lord of the Rings. So why not pull your boy away from the computer with a great introduction to the world of Tolkien? The Hobbit is a great book full of adventure and humor; with dwarves, wizards and dragons, your boy can imagine a whole new world.

 There's something about chewing a piece of gum as a boy that makes you feel all grown up; perhaps it's because your favortie sports star chews gum, or maybe it's simply because dad does, whatever it is, it's a manly thing to do!

 OK pehaps the real thing isn't quite appropriate for a young boy, but there's no doubt that the 'rebel' element of riding a motorbike really appeals to boys. Whether it's the roar of the engine, the wind in hair or the cool clothes, every boy dreams of riding a Harley Davison and impressing all the teen girls!

 Even young teeny boppers love their music, and now that electronic gadgets are a must have rather than a luxury there's nothing better for the young music fan that the superb iPod Nano Touch. It's easy to use, fun but more than that allows the boy blast out the latest rock tunes!

 As a boy I was always fascinated every time we passed a building site or road works. The machines that they used were simply amazing, and I often imagined myself in charge of one of the bulldozers or cranes. I remember playing with my toy trucks for hours, and thoroughly enjoyed myself as I became engrossed with digging and building.

Unfortunately, when I was young there were not many trucks that I could ride in and I had to satisfy my self with model trucks - if only these wonderful bulldozers were around when I was young.

Is your son a reader? Does he spend hours reading the latest book? Then this greate little gadget really is an ideal gift for your young reader - imagine his delight finding a device with hundreds of books on it that he can take anywhere with him - not only is it cool, but it will definately make your young man read. This is a perfect gift for boys who like gadgets.

 Two of my favorite pastimes when I was young was watching Star Wars and building houses with Lego. Unfortunately, the leap of faith that bought them together didn't happen until I had grown up and I therefore missed out on Lego Star Wars.

I bought some Lego Star Wars for my Nephew and he spends ours re-living the adventures of all his favorite characters, so much so that he even created his own YouTube videos using the Lego.

This really is a fun toy for a young boy to have - it allows him to create something with his imagination, and also relive some of his favorite adventures.

 Mario is one of the first computer characters that I remember. There's something about this little plumber that makes him memorable, and I spent many hours playing some of the fun games that Nintendo published.

Mario is a superstar of video games and there's no doubt that any young man would love to play his latest games.

 When I was a teenager, one of the best outside games we had involved either a pea-shooter or a spud-gun. These games of Cowboys and Indians, or army games are perhaps not politically correct these days, but they were intensely fun!

These days, games like this are more high-tech and are more about 'tag team' rather than war. The latest craze is the Nerf gun; it's amazing how many different varieties of gun you can get - the nerf gun is a safer version of paintball gun, and fires a dart with a soft 'sucker' on the end. It's fun, but most of all it gets your son out in the fresh air and provides lots of exercise.

 I remember watching the Transformer cartoons as a child and wishing that I had something that could transform into a robot when required. Now, with two blockbusting movies out and a whole host of toys dedicated to the Transformer phenomenon, these toys are getting better and better and more fun to play with.

My personal favorite is Optimus Prime!

 Some things never go out of fashion. For hundreds of years budding artists have been using paint to create masterpieces in their own homes, and occasionally some have actually succeeded! Why not find out if you have a budding Da Vinci in your house and purchase some paint!

It's fun and taps into the creative side of your son!

 No, Quadrilla isn't the latest super hero monster, but is a wonderfully fun kit that allows your son to build a fun marble railway.  Using blocks, tracks and other items,  you'll be amazed at the tracks that your son can create - not only is it fun, but it teaches your son logic as he has to work out the function of each piece and how it interacts with the next.

Great fun and educational, what more could you want?

 Boys like cars. Unfortunately boys cannot drive cars until they are older, so let them have some fun with a remote controlled car instead. let them enjoy the exhileration of racing their car around a circuit against their friends. It's fast, fun and easy!

Vrooooom! Off they go!

 I have to admit that as a child I was not great when it came to items like skateboards or roller skates. However, the good old scooter often became my saving grace as it provided me with a means to get around, but also gave me a little more stability than the trusty skateboard.

Today's scooters aer a lot sleeker than the ones I used to have and not only do they keep boy's fit, but they also allow him to get places quickly and easily.

 Choo Choo could often be heard coming out of my room. I was lucky, my Dad was good at DIY and build me a drop down board on which I could lay my tracks for my train set. I spent many an hour driving trains; not only that, but I had immense fun playing with all sorts of accessories including tunnels, mountains and train stations.

I hope your son enjoys his train set as much as I enjoyed mine.

 While the action figure in my day was either Action Man or Spider Man, today's boy has a whole host of action figures to pick from. With the rise in popularity of UFC, there are now a whole host of action figures for the older boy.

These figures portray all the stars of the UFC world.

Why not help your budding spy or adventurer sneak up on his enemies and catch them as they perpetrate their evil schemes with this handy video camera that can take up to 40 minutes of video in pitch dark. It’s fun easy to use and incredibly sneaky – your son will love it. This is a great gift for boys who are creative!

I tried to avoid Video Game consoles as I prefer young boys and men to go outside and get some real exercise, however, the Wii console at least gives your son some exercise as it includes a motion sensing controller.

If you can’t get your son away from the TV at least let him enjoy games while moving around. With sports games, action games, puzzle games etc available for the Wii, your son will never be bored.

I bet you thought I’d say Xbox! Trying to stay with an educational theme, the Xylophone provides a young boy his first experience with music. This simple to play, color coded instrument, is a great way for a young man to learn about music and to enjoy creating his own tunes and songs.

Yahtzee is a easy to play fun dice game that is great for a young boy. Not only is it fun, but it also starts to teach a young man how to strategize; it teaches rudimentary probabilities as the player often has to ascertain the chances of rolling certain combination of numbers.

It’s a great game for a rainy day.

Zombies have transfixed and scared mankind for as long as time has existed – well almost. Most boys are interested in all sorts of monsters, and the Zombie is quite often a favorite. What better than to dress up as a flesh eating zombie to scare your sister!

These masks are ideal for Halloween, but even more are ideal to sneak in to a teenage girls birthday party and scare them!