Do you have 'wow' factor Christmas gift?

[newg]

for now I'm just doing a big "wow" gift for both girls........this year we're doing a power wheels car (not sure if it's from us or santa though)...
next year I'm thinking a doll house......

I remember growing up, that the big gift was not always what I was expecting........like a super cool, huge, lego thing......or a bean bag chair with my name on it, a tent and sleeping bag.........

[Mamma2004]

Right now, I'm thinking I'm get a variety of sizes of boxes and put 1 gift in each (board game or something) and stack 3-4 in a tower for a larger lookin gift.

This is hard. We went to TRU to look around today and he found 4 or 5 board games he would like, a couple DS games, and some Spy Gear items. Nothing overly exciting, really, but he'd like them all and play with them quite a bit, I am sure.

Kris, our DC are almost the same age and my DS is very excited about playing spy/detective/etc. He played super spy at a birthday party today, in fact.

He has identified something in the 2011 Playmobil catalogue (of course). What Spy Gear items did your DS like at TRUS??? I would love to hear your (his) ideas!

[KrisM]

Kris, our DC are almost the same age and my DS is very excited about playing spy/detective/etc. He played super spy at a birthday party today, in fact.

He has identified something in the 2011 Playmobil catalogue (of course). What Spy Gear items did your DS like at TRUS??? I would love to hear your (his) ideas!

Well, he has the watch already and really likes it. He likes his mirrored glasses, and night scope. Those were birthday gifts in the spring. On his list are the door alarm (terrible reveiws, so I'm looking for alternatives), Video Trakr (already have it from a Meijer clearance sale!), video watch, and ultimate mission set.

He also liked the CSI things: walkie talkies, bionic ear, metal detector.

I'm happy I happened to pick up the Video Trakr for only $45 last month. I'll probably put a few of the other items together for a spy kit. Oh, he also likes the books Time Spies and at the end, there are directions for things like invisible ink, and I'm going to go through those and put together a kit of the things he needs to do the activities.

I'm also looking at some books:
Spy Science
Top Secret
Super Little Giant Book of Secret Codes
Brainiac;s Secret Agent Activity Book
I'm hoping to find them at Barnes and Noble so I can check them out in person.

[traciann]

I never really thought about wow gifts, but I make sure to get the one item my older girl really, really wants. Last year at 5 was the first time she really requested something from santa so I made sure to get what she wanted.

[vonfirmath]

The only thing I really have planned are the Garnet Hill doll houses. Not sure if that will really get the big thrill I am hoping for though.

...My sister and I got our doll houses the same year (She was 3, I was 5). I can still remember walking out into the living room and finding these two huge SHEET covered things (too big to wrap) and NOT BEING ALLOWED TO PULL THE SHEET OFF! We had to open our stockings first. And then go eat breakfast. All the time we kept looking at the big sheet covered packages until FINALLY we could pull the sheet off (though Dad teased us at first we had to open everything else first!)

The furniture/doll family/etc was wrapped up in separate packages under the tree. So we "furnished" the doll house as we opened the other gifts

I don't know what brand the doll houses were. They were FABULOUS and got lots and lots of play.
Here are pictures my dad took for me recently of just the dollhouse part: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schreff...7606931230755/

They put it together from a kit (working in the garage after we went to bed several weeks before Christmas). Customized some of the pieces. Mom did some sewing for it. Etc.

Dollhouse8, on Flickr

I cannot wait for my daughter to be old enough to pass my dollhouse down to her!

PS The dollhouse was from my parents. Growing up, the "big gifts" were always from my parents. Santa brought a few things. But not the big wows.

[Melaine]

...My sister and I got our doll houses the same year (She was 3, I was 5). I can still remember walking out into the living room and finding these two huge SHEET covered things (too big to wrap) and NOT BEING ALLOWED TO PULL THE SHEET OFF! We had to open our stockings first. And then go eat breakfast. All the time we kept looking at the big sheet covered packages until FINALLY we could pull the sheet off (though Dad teased us at first we had to open everything else first!)

The furniture/doll family/etc was wrapped up in separate packages under the tree. So we "furnished" the doll house as we opened the other gifts

I don't know what brand the doll houses were. They were FABULOUS and got lots and lots of play.
Here are pictures my dad took for me recently of just the dollhouse part: http://www.flickr.com/photos/schreff...7606931230755/

They put it together from a kit (working in the garage after we went to bed several weeks before Christmas). Customized some of the pieces. Mom did some sewing for it. Etc.

Dollhouse8, on Flickr

I cannot wait for my daughter to be old enough to pass my dollhouse down to her!

PS The dollhouse was from my parents. Growing up, the "big gifts" were always from my parents. Santa brought a few things. But not the big wows.

Oh that is GORGEOUS! That is definitely a WOW gift!!

You know, I also remember a Christmas when I got a dollhouse, although it was a really small one. Does anyone remember the Oh Jenny dollhouse? Anyway, it was a really fun Christmas because we traveled to my Great Uncle's, who lived at the beach. And I loooooved that dollhouse and it was a wow gift. Maybe the one we have will be a wow also. I need to open it and look at it and see if it's really going to do the trick.

[new_mommy25]

Oh that is GORGEOUS! That is definitely a WOW gift!!

You know, I also remember a Christmas when I got a dollhouse, although it was a really small one. Does anyone remember the Oh Jenny dollhouse? Anyway, it was a really fun Christmas because we traveled to my Great Uncle's, who lived at the beach. And I loooooved that dollhouse and it was a wow gift. Maybe the one we have will be a wow also. I need to open it and look at it and see if it's really going to do the trick.

I had the Oh Jenny dollhouse!! It was the best! Mine came with a swimming pool, treehouse, stable. I really wish my parents had kept it because I loved that thing so much. That was definitely a wow! gift for me because it was something I never expected my parents to get.

[flygirl555]

What a FUN discussion!

Although we don't have kids yet (I'm due in three weeks with twins), I do remember one Christmas with my nieces where we were at a craft fair and bought them those simple bird marionettes where you "rock" the handle from side-to-side and they "walk".

I think my SIL was miffed because her and her husband and my in-laws bought the girls lots of expensive / "wow" gifts (e.g. - a jumping ball pit, a game console system), but these puppets were the biggest hit on Christmas day. I also get them a book for all their special occasions (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) and write a note in the inside cover to personalize it for them. By the time they're ready for college, they should have a decent library.

[Mamma2004]

Kris, thanks for sharing your suggestions! I'll have to check them out for DS.

In answer to your question, our DS doesn't always have THE wow gift. One year he got the Playmobil Circus from my parents. He LOVED it. I don't even remember what Santa brought that year; it didn't matter.

As for this year, I have no idea! I'll follow your thread...Good luck!

[kboyle]

my kids always get a "wow" gift from my parents, they generally do one BIG gift for each of them. we do "wow" gifts too, but it's never as big as theirs.

in the past they have given: Spike the dino, GeoTrax set, last yr was ipod touch for ds1, this yrs bday was a nintendo 3ds for ds2.

this yr ds1 is getting a kindle (not sure ds1 & 2 will share the Kindle Fire or if i'll just get ds1 a reg e-ink kindle), ds2 (if not sharing the Fire) will get 3 new ds games, and ds3 will get the leappad...from my parents.

our big "wow" gifts have generally been legos for the past 3 years. this yr it's Hogwarts Express (ds1 didn't want HOgwarts?!), Pirates/Carribean Whitecap Bay (or we may exchange and get Black Pearl), and ds3 is getting The Burrow...he's 4, lol his wow isn't as big as theirs