What to Draw for a 10 Year Old Boy
Under $20
Felting friends
When my daughter and her friend first tried their hand at needle felting, they complained about accidentally poking themselves a few times. The craft, popularized in Japan, involves gathering and jabbing small tufts of wool (or even cat or dog hair) with a needle to transform it into soft, fluffy objects. The kids were proud of the results of their efforts—a soft, adorable owl—and also a little proud of their sore fingers. Each Woolbuddy Needle Felting Animal Kit comes with materials, needles, and instructions to make a different cutesy animal (you can choose from giraffes, owls, and cows, among others). And now that my daughter knows how to needle felt and has a set of needles, she can buy additional wool and use her imagination to make whatever she wants. (I'm pretty sure some family members are receiving felt animals as holiday gifts this year.) "It's a nice steppingstone to doing something open-ended," said the Bay Area Discovery Museum's Lisa Regalla, who recommended this kit for kids in this age group.
An at-home escape room
Thames & Kosmos's Exit: The Game—The House of Riddles is part of a series of hands-on, escape-room-style games that can be played at home. It's a fun way for older kids to work together to solve a mystery, said Brian Mayer, a gaming, learning, and library specialist in New York. Players are "locked" in an abandoned house and must figure out a series of riddles and puzzles so they can "escape." The Exit series won the 2017 Kennerspiel des Jahres award, which focuses on games intended for more seasoned players. There are about a dozen games in the series—with themes like "The Sunken Treasure" and "The Secret Lab"—but Mayer recommends "The House of Riddles" as a good introduction pick for most 10-year-olds. Because the games in this series require players to draw on and cut up game pieces, you can play them only once. Taking anywhere from one to two hours to complete, these games can provide entertaining activity for a sleepover or a stormy afternoon.
A groovy lamp
There's something mesmerizing and calming about gazing at the moving blobs of brightly colored wax in a lava lamp. Sometimes my kids and I stare at ours and try to guess the shapes that the blobs are forming, such as a tree or a cat or … a blobfish. It takes a little time for the lamp to warm up and for the wax to start moving, but once it gets going, the lamp brightens the mood in any room. Choose one in your 10-year-old's favorite colors to complement their tastes (the lamps from Lava the Original come in an array of colors and styles). These lamps do get hot, so they're probably not a good choice for very young kids. Remember to turn them off at night and let them cool down between uses to preserve the grooviness of the wax.
Vibrant poetry
A colorful twist on magnetic poetry, the Paint Chip Poetry game is fun both for kids and for adults with a love for words, said Hilary Conklin, professor at DePaul University's College of Education. The set has 400 paint-chip cards featuring a word or a phrase such as "out of the blue," "first kiss," and "the golden hour." Given one of 40 prompts—such as "when I was little" and "worth waiting for"—players string together their paint chips to compose a poem. There's no way to win—this game simply provides kids the chance to be creative, express themselves, and appreciate the blend of words and colors. If kids have a case of writer's block, the game can also get their creative juices flowing—and maybe even spark their next masterpiece.
An act of generosity
A donation to a near-and-dear charitable cause (prices vary)
A donation to a worthy organization is a gift to your child as well, teaching them empathy and generosity, and showing them how satisfying it feels to help others. You can search for ways to make an impact locally, such as through a nearby food bank or animal shelter; DonorsChoose also lets you search by zip code for teachers and schools that need support. If you're not sure which nonprofit to pick, services such as GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and Charity Navigator can help you choose one wisely. And some even offer a physical thank you gift in return: When a friend made a donation to the World Wildlife Fund for my kids, we received a delightfully soft, plush stuffed animal in the mail.
A classic shapes doodler
If you grew up playing with a Spirograph (like I did), this Fun Shapes Set will be as nostalgic for you to give your kid as it is creatively soothing for them to use. Inspired by the original Spirograph, which debuted in 1965, this version incorporates new shapes (diamond, heart, ellipse, and more) into the mix and can be used with other Spirograph sets. (If your kid really wants to maximize their technique, this video is a good place to start.) Pro tip: Try pairing the Spirograph with the Pilot FriXion ColorSticks Erasable Gel Ink Stick Pens, the erasable pick from our guide to the best pens.
$20 to $50
A well-drawn game
I can draw basic stick figures and landscapes only, but that's part of the fun of Telestrations, a board game that combines the childhood game of Telephone with pictures. Each player starts with a dry-erase marker, a small sketchbook, and a card with a list of objects. Draw one of the objects (like a shipwreck, a rhinoceros, or a typewriter) and pass the sketchbook on to the next player, who must then guess the object and draw their interpretation of it. By the end of the round, what started out as, say, "basketball hoop" might turn into "submarine," as it did during a round with my family. Telestrations is a fun, laugh-out-loud game—especially if you have a big group—and it's great for many kids ages 10 and up, said New York–based gaming, learning, and library specialist Brian Mayer.
A hammock for daydreaming
A portable, packable hammock is always a winner for camping trips or vacations, but it can also create a comfy, private spot for a kid to hang out in their own backyard while reading or daydreaming. After testing 10 low-profile hammocks, we liked the ENO SingleNest Hammock best. It packs down compactly and weighs only a pound, yet when it's strung between two trees (or other supports), it turns into a comfortable, snug sling for rest and relaxation. The ENO holds up to 400 pounds, so it can comfortably fit two kids at a time, providing a fun hangout spot. (Note that you'll need to buy suspension straps separately.) For hiding out indoors, we also love this Harkla sensory swing—featured in our guide to toys for kids with disabilities—which feels like being inside a soothing, color-washed cocoon.
Tools for doodling and journaling
A collection of tools for doodling and writing down thoughts is a great gift idea. My daughter treasures her set of rainbow-colored gel pens, which she received as a birthday gift and regularly uses for drawing and writing little notes. Pilot FriXion ColorSticks Erasable Gel Ink Stick Pens come in a set of 10, are priced right, and rank among Wirecutter's favorite pens. They not only write smoothly but also erase cleanly, behaving nothing like the smeary erasable pens you and your child may be familiar with. FriXion ink disappears like magic when you rub it with the firm plastic nub at the end of the pen—the heat from the friction causes the ink to become transparent. (A fun tip for sending secret messages: The ink reappears when you place the paper in the freezer.) For doodling, journaling, and daydreaming, pair the pens with a blank notebook, such as the Rhodia Rhodiarama SoftCover Notebook (a pick in our guide to the best notebooks and notepads) or the hardcover Leuchtturm1917 Bullet Journal (one of Wirecutter's favorite paper planners); both come in a range of lovely colors.
A Lego metropolis
Most of the intricate sets in Lego's Architecture series are recommended for kids ages 12 and up. But my kid—admittedly a Lego fanatic from toddlerhood—was able to complete the New York City set at a younger age, with just a tiny bit of adult help. Yes, there were some moments of intense frustration over the couple days it took him to build the nearly 600-piece project. But those were surpassed by his immense satisfaction with the final result, which we now proudly display on our mantle. What makes the Lego Architecture series (which includes the White House and Trafalgar Square, among other famous sites) so cool is that your child is replicating something from the real world and, in the process, developing a deep knowledge of its features. In the months after my son built this Lego set, we happened to be in New York. Walking down Fifth Avenue for the first time, he identified the Flatiron Building on his own, recognizing it from his hours of concentrated construction. My son has also built the Eiffel Tower set (now retired); hopefully he's not holding his breath for a trip to Paris.
A workbook for the imagination
For cookie monsters
Huge, misshapen, and heavy as all get-out—at 6 ounces apiece, they weigh roughly the same as a hockey puck—Levain Bakery's signature cookies look like they'd be terrible. But—insert your favorite expression about the perils of judging a book by its cover here—they're just the opposite. Blindingly rich, buttery, and moist, I used to stand in line waiting for them, rain or shine, at the bakery's original Upper West Side shop in New York. (The company has since expanded, with storefronts popping up throughout the East Coast.) When I moved to the suburbs and began pining for them, I started ordering the cookies by mail, and I've been pleasantly shocked at how well they survive the journey. (Levain also sells frozen versions of their cookies at grocery stores in New York and New Jersey, but I'm not a fan.) Typically I get the signature assortment that comes with all four flavors—chocolate chip walnut, dark chocolate chocolate chip, dark chocolate peanut butter chip, and oatmeal raisin—and the cookies have always arrived fresh. (Heating them up for five to 10 minutes before eating is key.) They'll stay good for about a week in an airtight container, but they freeze beautifully, too; as a special dessert for my son, I'll defrost a cookie, pop it in the oven, and then use it as the base for an absurdly delicious ice-cream sundae.
—Ingela Ratledge Amundson
Over $50
A stargazer's friend
The Personal Planetarium combines a star-gazing app with the fun of augmented reality. After downloading the free app, simply slip your phone inside the handheld viewer and point the contraption at the sky. Different modes reveal a variety of details above. In Deep Sky mode, my teenage son and I take a peek at the galaxies via images from real telescopes. The Personal Planetarium recognizes constellations in the sky and explains them via audio, which has been a fun learning experience for my preschooler (we also like to put the Mythology mode to use at bedtime). To work the Personal Planetarium, you need a phone with a screen that's at least 3½ inches or larger, including the iPhone 5, 6, 7, 8, SE, and X (running iOS 8.0 and later) and the Samsung Galaxy S5, S6, S7, and S8 (running OS4.2 and later). Planetarium field trips might have been delayed over this past year, but this gadget could be the next best thing, helping to bolster a lifelong passion for the solar system.
A beginner's skateboard
If your kid is interested in giving skateboarding a try, age 10 might be a great time for them to start. Your best bet is to take a budding skateboarder to a local skate shop, where they can build and customize a board on the spot or find a refurbished one at a discount. Barring that, Zumiez is a reliable retailer that carries a range of boards for beginners, said Rob Ferguson, founder of Rob Skate Academy in San Leandro, California, and a trainer for one of the members of the USA Olympic Skateboarding Team. For getting around, a cruiser board from Zumiez is a good choice, Ferguson said. Is your kid interested in learning tricks? Check out a standard skateboard from Zumiez. And don't forget the safety gear—like a helmet, wrist guards, and knee and elbow pads—for protection during those inevitable wipeouts.
A tablet for digital doodling
If your kid already loves to draw on paper and is interested in experimenting with digital art, an entry-level drawing tablet may open new doors of art and creativity. A drawing tablet connects to any computer and lets you use a stylus to draw digital images with an impressive degree of precision. For a creative kid who wants to try their hand at digital comics, sketching, animation, photo retouching, or even just doodling or note-taking, a drawing tablet can be a fun and useful tool. After testing nine of them, we chose the Wacom Intuos S as our favorite drawing tablet for beginners. It was one of the most precise and customizable, its pen was comfortable enough to use for long drawing sessions, and it comes with the most software, including Corel Painter Essentials 7.
Build a computer
Piper Computer Kit ($300 at the time of publication)
This item was $200 when we originally published this guide. The fluctuation may be due to availability issues, and we will continue to monitor the price and provide updates.
My daughter and two friends spent an afternoon putting together the Piper Computer Kit, an all-in-one computer-building and programming project. For about two hours, they read the blueprint, assembled the pieces, and backtracked (when they realized they had accidentally screwed on a part before they were ready). Much of the fun came from fitting together all of the components to form the frame of the computer, a compact wooden box that opens and closes like a laptop. One of my daughter's friends exclaimed, "It's like a real computer. It even has Google!" when it powered up for the first time. A Minecraft game teaches kids to program the Raspberry Pi computer, turning it into a working computer with a browser and word processor. STEM education expert Elizabeth Gajdzik recommended the Piper kit as a fun learning project for kids. It exercises both their dexterity and their spatial-reasoning skills during construction, as well as their abstract reasoning as they learn to program. Note: A new, third-generation version of this kit has been released since the original publication of this guide. According to a company rep, it is "quite similar" to the previous generation, but this one has a slightly faster Raspberry Pi A+, a bigger breadboard (construction base), thicker gauge wood, and a more efficient 7″ LCD screen and battery. It is now made in California instead of China.
Snap pictures with friends
A 10-year-old has never known a world without iPhone selfies, but they can still experience the infectious joy of snapping an instant photo and watching it develop into a real-world object. A top pick in Wirecutter's guide to the best instant cameras, the Fujifilm Instax Square SQ6 takes the best photos among the instant cameras we've tested, with brighter colors and better detail. The SQ6 produces reliably good images in full auto mode, so even a beginner can usually capture a great shot (which is good news, since the film costs about a dollar per exposure). It also has fun features for photo experimentation, such as orange, green and purple flashes, which cast color over the image and offer a more hands-on way to get creative than swiping through Instagram filters. The camera body has a pleasingly retro look and comes in a variety of metallic hues, and it has a strap. Whether your kid uses it for independent photography exploration or brings it out at get-togethers with friends, the SQ6 is great for making tangible memories. For a smaller, simpler, and cheaper instant camera, check out the Instax Mini 9; its photos are not as high in quality as those of the SQ6, but it still delivers lots of instant-photo fun.
This article was edited by Ingela Ratledge Amundson, Co urtney Schley, and Kalee Thompson. Additional reporting by Julie Kim.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/gifts/best-toys-gifts-for-10-year-olds/
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