What Fourth and Fifth Graders Want

I've had several families ask me if I had any gift ideas for the holiday season and I realized I did. I spend a lot of time with fourth and fifth graders, as you know, and have some ideas for things that are always hits. You can also check out a blog entry I wrote about math gifts I wrote a few years ago. Some of the links are out dated but a search at the given site will probably turn up similar items.

Weaving supplies – I love anything that Harrisville Designs makes. It's all high quality. Everything works and the yarns are 100% wool. We've been using their Easy Weaver for our theme this year. They have a new "lollipop weaver" that looks great, too. 4/5s love to make miles of fingerweaving and this fits right in with that need.
Polyhedral Dice – 4/5s make up endless games with these. Buy a 30 sided die and watch their eyes light up.
Goblet – We got this game as a class gift a few years ago and the kids have really loved it. Just the right amount of strategy and fast to play.
Tower of Hanoi – a classic logic puzzle. Many kids have all of their indoor recesses with this.
Shrinky Dinks – Available at the Sketchy Artist in Northfield, these and a good set of colored pencils and you won't hear from your Heron for a day. Great for Village, too!
Electricity and magnet stuff — I love the handheld generator from xump. That, a few alligator clips and some 1.5 volt lightbulbs and sockets (all available at this site) and you're in business. Add a buzzer and a knife switch or a contact key switch and you have even more possibilities. (Cheapest alligator clips in the state are at Axman Surplus, by the way)
Gift Certificate to AxMan Surplus — more fun than you can shake a rubber chicken at.
Leyden Jar – This is an old static electricity experiment where you can gather charges and then release them all at once. That's right — you can zap your friends. Safe but capable of gathering enough of a charge that you realize why you wouldn't want to be hit by lightning.
Citiblocks or Kapla – I know it feels like a late age to be investing in blocks for kids but I've been amazed at how much 4/5s love these blocks. They make intricate constructions and have the fine motor skills to balance these unique blocks well. I've seen ping pong balls used to make cause/effect machines.
Ballista Kit – 4/5s love all catapults and trebuchets. Consider Backyard Ballistics if you're looking for a book. I haven't made this kit but I've made the catapult by the same company. It works well and uses wood and glue so it offers something different than Legos or K'nex. By the way, there is no gender split when it comes to flinging stuff.
Origami Paper – Available at the Sketchy Artist or, for a wider variety, try Paper Jade. They have free shipping. I highly recommend the book we used for our origami boxes — Origami Boxes. It's out of print but you can also download a copy from Sribd (but I'm not sure what copyright laws that breaks).
Blink and Set – Two card games (both of which I think are at Monkey See, Monkey Read) that focus on visual perception. Blink is a super fast game. Set is also based on speed but the challenge is really in finding patterns.