birthday ideas for 5 year old

[stephiejw]

My niece is so not a "princess" girl. She does not like dolls and never has. She's an only child. She likes dinosaurs and so on. So I am looking for birthday ideas. She will be 6. I was all set to buy her Jr Labyrinth but I found out that she already has it. Rush Hour Jr if she doesn't have it? Totally Tut from Discovery toys? Is that a good game? She tends to play a lot of games since her dad loves games. Thanks so much for your ideas.

Stephanie
mother to Trevor- 2 in August

[SnuggleBuggles]

Rush Hour Jr. is pretty good. How about regular Labyrinth? The sales' person said that my ds (almost 5) was on the verge of being able to play it based on his experiences with the game. And if she has played Jr. Lab. then she has the basic skill down. We are actually going to buy the regular version for Fathers' Day from ds to dh because I think they are both up for more of a challenge. :)

The Cranium games are always good. We found 2 games at the independent game store that were also fun for ds. One is a card game called "I Have." It is a very quick moving game. The other is "Scavenger Hunt for Kids" which is simply a box filled with cards that contain 3 things you need to do to complete a scavenger hunt. I always want to do these hunts but can never come up with enough ideas on my own. :)

I haven't heard of Totally Tut. Have you checked BoardGameGeek.com for reviews and summary? very handy. Bummer, I just checked the site and it has no reviews. :(
http://boardgamegeek.com/game/11537

I know she isn't into princess stuff but the game Enchanted Forest from Ravensburger is really good. It's not totally girly, it's just a treasure hunt set in a kingdom.

Those are my game ideas.

Other idea would be summer toys.

HTH,
Beth
Beth

[egoldber]

A scooter

Roller skates (and pads)

Dinosaurs :)

My DD loves the small plastic animals and figures made by Safari. They are usually available in craft stores like Michaels and AC Moore. You can buy them individually or in "Toobs". They have themes like Pirates, Space, Rainforest Animals, Early America, etc.

Does she like drawing/painting/coloring? Art supplies are always good.

Is she reading yet? Even if not, books for new and beginning readers would be a good thing to have on her book shelf. Or chapter books.

[deannanb]

Legos

http://shop.lego.com/ByAge/Leaf.aspx?cn=100004&d=100001

they have some nice kits with not too many pieces.

[TracyBee]

My DD is completely into dinousaurs right now, too. Although she also loves her baby dolls.

For her birthday, I got her the Robert Sabuda Dinosaur pop-up book. I think that would work for any age child - even for adults.

My Dad got her this game for Christmas, which she loves. Although, it's not really a game, but a way to learn facts about dinosaurs. She also loves to just play with the figurines:

http://www.etoys.com/genProduct.html/PID/2329239/ctid/17/INstock/Y/D/

[kaitlinsmommy]

I just heard that Zingo is a fun game too.