Presents are often difficult things to buy for young children, especially if you have been out of the loop for a while and are not aware of the current trends in TV, music and technology. The act of present buying is made all the more difficult if you are not in close, regular contact with the child so don’t know what they are into. Generally as a rule for eight-year-old boys, toy cars (especially sports cars or trucks) are popular, as well as action figures and games. Despite the rise of technology, eight-year-old male imaginations are still active and the love of competition, fighting and winning are all still present. However, games consoles, such as a Nintendo DS, are popular and there are many games to choose from. If you have a fair amount of money to spend, this would almost certainly be a popular present. Another idea would involve football. Boots, strips, goal nets, balls- all of these are very welcome to football loving boys. For a six-year-old girl, stereotypes are still abound and dolls, especially baby dolls, are extremely popular. It appears that the mothering instinct of many girls begins to emerge around this age and baby dolls seem to be popular. However, they are often still young enough to appreciate a cuddly toy of some description. Toy animals are often received very well. For a creative child, painting and drawing sets are often appreciated, especially if they contain a lot of the colour pink! Clothing is often more appreciated by parents than children, unless it is a costume of some kind but one with a popular TV character of the day would almost certainly be worn straight away. Cartoon characters like Scooby-Doo and X-Men are still apparently popular and will be for a fair while to come.
