Gifts for a 6 year old in Australia

What changes at six

Six-year-olds can follow rules now. They can sit through a 30-minute game, finish a kit with a little help and lose without the table going over. Most of the time, anyway. That opens up gifts that were wasted at four: real strategy games, gear builds, chemistry sets with slime in them.

They have not stopped playing, though. Sand, foam balls, pool floats and dinosaurs still win. The best gifts at this age sit across that line: a game with grown-up rules and a kid theme, or a science kit that ends with something gross in a beaker.

Buy a game the family will play

If you buy one thing from this list, make it a board game the parents will enjoy too. A game only the child likes gets played twice. A game the adults like gets played every Sunday.

Kid versions of serious games are the safe bet. Junior editions of the big family strategy games keep the decisions that make the originals good and cut the rules a six-year-old cannot hold in their head. A fast pattern-spotting card game is the other route, because a sharp kid can beat the adults on speed alone.

Skip anything that needs reading unless you know the child reads well. Picture-based games travel further at six.

Building kits and science sets

Look for a kit that ends with something that moves or something to keep. A gear kit that walks, a clay car that rolls, gemstones they chiselled out themselves. A kit that ends with a flat diagram and a pile of leftover parts goes in the cupboard.

Mess is part of the deal. Plaster dust, slime and acrylic paint all need a tray, a mat or the garden. If the parents are tidy people with a cream carpet, buy a magnetic building set instead. Magnetic tiles and small interlocking building pieces are open-ended, quiet and add to any set the family already owns.

Check the small-parts warning. Plenty of good six-plus kits are a choking risk for a toddler in the same house.

Headphones, audio players and consoles

A six-year-old with a tablet needs headphones that cap the volume. The Skullcandy Grom does that, runs for days on a charge and is sold in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, which is why it sits at the top. On a plane the limit may feel too quiet. That is the trade for protecting young ears.

Card-based audio players are the screen-free option for bedtime and car trips. They cost more up front and the content costs extra later, so ask the parents before you start a child on one.

A first games console is a parent's call. If they have said yes, a handheld is the lower-cost start for a child who plays alone.

Outdoor and sport

Six is when kids start to have a sport, and a cheap piece of practice gear for that sport gets more use than a toy. Mini hockey sticks, a soccer trainer on a cord, a high-bounce ball for the driveway. Match the gift to the season where they live: a surf mat in an Australian December, snow mitts in a Canadian one.

Questions people ask

What should I spend on a gift for a 6 year old?

For a classmate's party, a small kit or a ball in the stocking-filler range is plenty, and the other parents will thank you. For a niece, nephew or grandchild, a mid-priced board game or building set is where most of the good picks sit. Save the expensive things, like a console or an audio player, for parents who have agreed to them.

Are board games too hard for a 6 year old?

Not if you buy the junior editions. The kid versions of well-known family strategy games keep the real decisions while cutting the hard rules, and most play in about 15 to 30 minutes. Choose games that use pictures instead of reading. A fast pattern-spotting card game lets a quick child beat the adults, which they love.

What is a good gift for a 6 year old who has everything?

Something they make or do rather than something they own. A dig kit, a build that moves or a craft that turns into a toy all give an afternoon of work and a finished thing to show. A family game also works, because it brings adults into the room, which most kids want more than another toy.

Is a 6 year old too old for magnetic tiles?

No. Six-year-olds build bigger and more ambitious structures than toddlers do, and that is when a small set runs out. A larger set, or one that adds to tiles the family already owns, gets used for years. If the child already has plenty, a set of small interlocking pieces suits the same builder with a finer, more detailed result.