What do you get a 13 yr old boy for Christmas?

MommyToAshley wrote: Ashley's cousins are between the age of 7 and 13. The younger ones, I bought toys/games for. And, I was able to pick out a gift for the almost 13 year old girl, but have no idea what to get a 13 year old boy????? I thought about getting some music CD's but I have no idea what he likes to listen to. I didn't want to give him a gift certificate when the others will have gifts to open.

jdkjd replied: The thing about a gift card though, is that HE will be able to buy whatever he wants! I would have loved a gift card at that age. They are so particular.

Do you know if he likes Lord of the Rings or Star Wars-those DVDs would be good presents...

jdkjd replied: Oooo...or the Harry Potter movie!

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Lol my nephew is 13 and he is really hard to buy for. All he ever asks for is action figures and he has a ton of them already - he keeps them all in a plastic bag and carries them with him everywhere!
So this year I got him a game for his gameboy. I know... bad auntie!

ediep replied: my nephew is 12, I got him a jogging suit and socks....I know.... very boring, but I figured he could always use clothes.

MichaelsMommy replied: Does he have a xbox or game set up like that? Maybe a new video game
to use in it?

Josie83 replied: Goodness only knows. Both Jason and I are hopeless about buying presents, its bad enough for me to think about what I'm getting my own daughter never mind anyone else's child! I would personally probably get gift tokens, but if you're against that then its not valid! Is he into any sports teams that you could buy him a shirt or something, or some memoribilia? Is he into the Simpsons or anything else? A lot of that stuff isn't too hard to come by! xx

ctymom replied: I dont know what to get for my own 13 and 15 year olds! Erica was easy. I had to cut back on the possibilities. Slowly but surely I'm able to get things but they didnt really have Christmas lists. And when I told them straight out that Santa wont know what to bring if they didnt start talking. (The saying around here about Santa.... the day you stop believing is the day you stop receiving. )

So basically I'm not help.

Pamela

jcc64 replied: My oldest Alec is in that same demographic- very hard to buy for. If he's like my son, he's Joe iPod- maybe you could get him a gift cert. to itunes, where he could download legally(if that's an issue for you). I know gift cert are not much fun for the giver, but kids this age are so particular and specific about what they like. Ask his parents if there's a PS2/Gamecube, etc game he'd like. Most kids this age really like the Simpsons- I got my son a Simpsons Trivia game. I would avoid clothes entirely. The other way to go is cool/goofy stuff for his room. Target has a whole line aimed at this age group- stuff like lava lamps, fiber optic thingies, lamps that have motion features(y'know, the stuff that stoners used to love, but has recently gone more mass market). My kids love this stuff, and it's usually pretty affordable (@$20).

MommyToAshley replied: Thanks for all the ideas!

Josie83 replied:
As usual, Jeanne has some great ideas! xx

DansMom replied: I know this depends on the kid, but at that age some kids start getting into trying to draw well and seriously. Art supplies (charcoal pencils and drawing paper) along with a book about drawing basics (from my experience, boys tend to like books about illustrating or cartooning, while girls tend to like books about portraits and drawing animals ...). At that age, I really liked the book "Drawing on the right side of the brain". You draw things upside down and such in order to really see the shapes rather than predict them. Like I said, it does depend on the kid---but just another idea.

jcc64 replied:

OMG I LOVED that book- it totally changed the way I looked at art. I didn't "discover" it until I was close to college age.

MommyToAshley replied:
I LOVED that book too! It's what got me seriously interested in drawing in High School and I ended up with a partial art scholarship. I never pursued drawing and art as a career, and I really miss it now that I don't have time for it as a hobby.

A&A'smommy replied: my brother is 14, he likes video games, boyish movies and well he is easy to buy for. A gift cert. for a music store sounds great to me!