# Christmas gift for 16 year old boy?



## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

I know we already have a similar thread, but I need input.

DS1 is 16. He's interested in all kinds of things.

He draws (very well - says he might pursue comic art as a career). He likes playing with other mediums (eg. clay, origami, paint, etc.), but hasn't done a lot with any of them.
He juggles (balls, clubs, rings, flowersticks, spinning plate, diabolo)
He plays guitar.
He's on the school gymnastics team.
He's on the school's Ultimate frisbee team (season overlaps with gymnastics by about a week in March).
He's in the Interact Club (volunteering - will be manning a Salvation Army kettle next weekend, for instance)
He's in choir.
His favourite subject is science - loves it.
He likes to write (he recently wrote a very short story for English that brought me to tears, but it was about a stillbirth, so that's not that hard, I have to admit).
He wants to learn blacksmithing at some point.
He's taken a short course in swinging trapeze.
He _loves_ acting (and has also talked about possibly being an actor/stuntman).
He wants to learn what he calls "old fashioned" skills - wool spinning, glass blowing, leatherworking (has a introductory kit for that already), woodworking/carving, etc. etc. etc.
He likes to snowboard, mountain bike, roller blade, pogo stick!, etc. and would like to learn to ride a unicycle.
I could go on forever. He's an incredibly enthusiastic, energetic, gifted kid. But, we had already decided what to get him for Christmas. For reasons I can't get into (because he occasionally reads my posts here, if I leave them up - and I do, because the kids call me or decorate the carpet with toothpaste or whatever), we probably can't get him what we were going to get him.

I have _no_ ideas!!! Honestly, I should be able to come up with something at the drop of a hat - he has _so_ many interests. But, I'm just not having any thoughts. We're looking at a budget of probably about $100 or so, but could possibly go higher as my mom and stepdad were going to go in on our original idea with us.


----------



## franglass (Dec 5, 2009)

Your son sounds like a fantastic person!

As a community college professor of English, I want to suggest a few gifts. If he doesn't already have one, a laptop computer would be fantastic.

I know you said your budget was $100, but if grandpa and grandma really can chip in, some brands are very reasonable. They only have room for Microsoft Office and internet (so no scientific number-crunching is going to happen), but he can write to his heart's content.

I don't think you should dissuade him from a career in Science, but any present that can encourage him to write will help him. Scientists need to write, and science faculty come to us *constantly*, begging us to teach our students to write. I recommend Anne Lamott's _Bird by Bird_, which is an irreverent, fun book about writing. If he writes creatively, he will be inspired by it. He can write stories and even plays.

Anyway, if you can do the laptop and a book about writing, you'll be doing him a favor.

Best of luck!

Heidi


----------



## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

I don't think he's really interested in a career in Science. I think that will be more of an area of interest/hobby for him.

I'll give some thoughts to those ideas, but I think a laptop is out of the question. He doesn't have a great track record with electronics. I know a laptop is bigger than a cellphone (jumped in a pool with his original one, and the speaker on current one is broken), or an iPod (lost his), but I'm...nervous. Mom and stepdad will probably only be pitching in about what we're spending, so we don't have _huge_ amounts of money.

But, I never would have thought of a writing book, but that's why I asked for ideas! Thanks.


----------



## A&A (Apr 5, 2004)

This book:

http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9781579128142


----------



## ollyoxenfree (Jun 11, 2009)

He sounds like a terrific person. With so many varied interests, you could probably find something entirely new and he'd have fun with it.

Suggestions from your list:

Set of artists' pencils, charcoal, calligraphy pen and ink, and drafting supplies like flexible curves.

Knives

Carving tools

Does he like to compose music? Moleskine has a nice bound pocket-sized notebook for musical notations . It's small, but perhaps you could combine it with some music writing software like Garage Band . I think they have a PC version if you don't have a Mac.

There are lots of acting/film weekend workshops and after-school courses for teens. There's also film editing software too. DS (also 16) uses Adobe Premiere at school. He's been asking us to get a home version.

Our 16 y.o. ds asked for a skateboard this year. We're getting him a used one and a new helmet. He didn't ask for the helmet, but he's getting it, lol!

He'll also get a t-shirt, a couple of books, and an iTunes giftcard.

We're also getting a ping pong table as a family gift.

Hope some of those ideas help.


----------



## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *A&A* 
This book:

http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9781579128142

I might ask dh to get that for _me_! It looks great!


----------



## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Oh - I like the acting workshops idea. He wants to start taking acting classes, but we haven't been able to fit it into either the budget or his schedule yet. He dropped drama as of last year, because...it's complicated, but I understand it. There were some serious teaching/scheduling issues at his school.

I'm _really_ fuzzy headed this year. Finding a gift for ds1 is usually _really_ easy, because he's just so enthusiastic about everything. We bought the leatherworking kit a couple years ago, based on one random comment he'd made, and he loved it! I'm usually a lot better at this. I've thought about music and/or animation software before, but I think I'll wait until we have a new PC. This one is getting tired.

Carving knives...he might really enjoy those, but I'll give it a year. He's still not 100% where I'd like him to be in terms of putting his stuff in a safe place, and the idea of ds2 and a carving knife scares me.

Such great ideas here. He's getting something similar to one suggestion as his second gift, so I can't use it, but I knew this was the place to spark my brain!! You ladies rock.


----------



## wahaha (Dec 4, 2011)

Perhaps tutu?


----------



## SunRise (Apr 18, 2005)

A unicycle? We found one on craigslist for 25 dollars. - He could use some of his juggling skills on top of a unicycle.

An ereader (Nook / Kindle). The basic nook is just around 100 dollars. Nook is "Barnes and Noble" ereader. I wonder if Chapters has something similar.

A watch - but maybe those are outdated now a days. I remember getting a special kind of watch at that age.


----------



## Super~Single~Mama (Sep 23, 2008)

The Kindle Touch starts at $99 if you get it with special offers. I like the size of kindles better than the nooks, and I've played with them lots.


----------



## TiredX2 (Jan 7, 2002)

I was soooo confused when I saw this thread because I thought the OP's oldest was older than 16.

But he wasn't two years ago, lol!


----------



## mariamadly (Jul 28, 2009)

A set of locksmithing tools? Add a Master padlock, and it's kind of the ultimate tavern puzzle. Check on legality, of course.

He sounds like such a neat person!


----------

