Smart Stuff: Our Essential Gift Guide
Our panel of teachers, parents, curriculum specialists (and of course kids!) put hundreds of products through their paces to come up with our favorites. Here are our top picks:
iPod Touch
Not quite ready to shell out $400 for an iPhone? Your teen will forgive you if you put this under the tree instead. The Touch has the look and feel of the iPhone, but without the calling capacity. The 3.5 inch wide-screen and simple-as-can-be touch interface are here, as is the elegant zoom-- just a finger tap away. Teens will focus on the 1,750 songs, 10,000 photos and 10 hours of video they can store (and that's the cheaper model!), but you should focus on the Wi-Fi ability, which makes web browsing possible. Sure, they can use it to wile away the hours on Facebook. But they can also read countless international newspapers (a great way to practice that French!), browse YouTube to get help with calculus problem sets, or do a daily brain puzzle on the way to school. Plus, with free applications like "Remember the Milk", they can add homework assignments on the fly and set a reminder to go off later, when they're in the middle of their third episode of Heroes. (Apple, $299.00)
Hydrocar
Even if you choke at the thought of handing over the keys to the Prius, you can get your kid excited about driving electric. Just start small. Really small. The Hydrocar measures a mere 8 inches, but it runs completely clean, with help from a reversible Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cell, and good old H2O. Fuel cell technology could well be the wave of the future, and 14-year-olds are able to understand the chemistry involved. This car is less complicated to build than you might think. But building it is only the tip of the iceberg. The second, more important and difficult part is connecting the fuel cell to the energy source, producing hydrogen gas, and getting the car to move. Does it take patience? Absolutely. But it makes science jump off the page and onto the asphalt. Parents, start your engines! (Discovery Store, $79.95)
Balderdash
This bluffing game is a recipe for laughter. Players earn points by guessing answers to weird questions with unbelievable, but true answers. What is the definition of sialogogue? If you guessed "anything that creates the flow of saliva" you win a point and advance your piece on the game board. You can also advance if you successfully bluff other players into thinking your answer is correct. The educational component of the game lies in writing imaginative and authoritative definitions to fool, charm or stump the crowd-- an excellent creative writing and vocabulary workout. Players also learn to "read" their opponents' body language and distinguish their writing style. The fun component comes when the answers are read out loud. It just goes to show that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. (Mattel, 2 or more players, $22.99)
FLY Fusion
Get your kid one of these pens and they'll be begging you to let them take notes in class. In a nutshell, the Fly Fusion is a pen and scanner in one. The pen can write like a regular old ballpoint, but it can also read 70 images per second off the specialized paper in the included notebook. So kids can scribble to their heart's content, then upload their handwritten notes and instantly convert them into digital files or emails. Plus, the pen can download MP3s, translate words into French or Spanish, and spell check an essay on the fly, as you write it. The inside flap of the notebook has a calculator and scheduling tool built in--with just a few taps, students can score quick calculations, or jot down some notes about that looming essay assignment. (Leapfrog, $79.99)
ReadyMade Magazine
Is your teen a DIY genius, hard-wired to take crafts and home improvement to the next level? Maybe not. But Ready Made magazine may be just the thing to put your teen's inventive mind to good use. Putting the "reuse" back in the eco-adage "reduce, reuse, recycle," this mag is brimming with ideas to transform old stuff, like eight-track tape decks, discarded construction netting, and outgrown comic books, into hip new highlights for the home. Ready Made also features profiles of luminaries living the sustainable and creative life, techie tricks, and contests for making mundane stuff, like dead pens, into masterpieces. (Meredith Corp., $19.00/year [6 issues])
SimCity Societies
Do demographic problems, such as suburban sprawl and rural isolation, strike your teen as simply business as usual? Give him a lesson in city planning with SimCity Societies, the new computer game where players build cities piece by piece. Players can make cities grim and industrial, efficient and eco-conscious, culturally robust, or futuristic and totalitarian. The way they balance workplaces, residential areas, entertainment venues, and municipal services directly affects the attitudes of the citizens. The engaging graphics and creative possibilities will keep your teen at it for hours, but it's the player's position as omnipotent creator that will really get them going. While this game figures high on the list for teen-friendly fun, it may also empower them with the knowledge that cities are made, not born, and that putting some thought into what makes societies work can make a big difference. (Electronic Arts, $49.99)
Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP SLR Camera
First off, let us say, this is not a point and shoot. Don't even consider it for a kid who wants to snap a few vacation pictures. That said, although it's got a hefty price tag, this thing is actually a steal when it comes to SLR cameras, which can easily cost upwards of a thousand bucks. The Rebel shoots three frames per second, is compatible with over fifty external lenses, has a plethora of automatic and manual controls, and still manages to be relatively small and light in the bargain. Absolutely not for a beginner photographer, but if you've got a teen with serious passion, give it a shot. (Canon, $499).
Word Sweep
In this game of quick-draw vocabulary challenges, players test their skills by guessing three words after hearing their dictionary definitions. These can be of "everyday," "intermediate," or "challenging" levels, and when they say challenging, they mean it. So, what sets this game apart from quizzing your kid with a dictionary? All three words follow one another in the dictionary. For example, "dual" is defined as "consisting of two parts or elements", "dub" is defined as "add sounds or dialogue to a film or broadcast", and "dubious" is defined as "questionable in quality or origin". This game makes a perfect pairing to textbook SAT practice, and it's fun enough to be enjoyed by adults, too. (Intellinitiative Inc., 2 to 4 players, $24.99)
Galileo Thermometer and Weather Ball
Like a lava lamp that conveys the weather, this little contraption also dishes out some great lessons in science. The set includes a wooden base, a hand-blown glass barometer with a frosted world map, and a Galileo thermometer. The weather ball, or storm glass, is regarded as the oldest barometer in the world. Plain and simple, it tells barometric pressure: a low level of liquid in the glass ball indicates high pressure and fair weather, a high level means take your umbrella. The accompanying thermometer is a liquid tube with five colored bulbs that rise and sink depending on warmth. When the temperature rises, the liquid in the tube becomes less dense and the bulbs sink. When the temperature drops, the bulbs rise from the bottom. This is bubbly a parent can get behind. (Edmund Scientific, $29.95)
Comic Life Deluxe Edition
Fun, powerful, and easy as pie, this is creative software at its best. Pop this into the computer and in no time flat, your kid can turn his life into a comic strip using his favorite digital photos. Choose from more than 300 templates, drag and drop images from iPhoto, pick a font, and get speech bubbling! Special effect lettering and captions make those cartoon balloons look absolutely expert. Teens can also use their own drawings, simply by scanning them in, saving them in a folder, and dropping them into place. A cool tool for script storyboarding, homemade comics or cards, and some offbeat writing practice. (Freeverse, $29.95)
iKaraoke for iPod
With this unique iPod attachment, belting out favorite songs karaoke-style has never been more convenient. The lightweight microphone is about the size and shape of a fountain pen. Would-be singers just plug it into an iPod, select whether they'd like to connect to the stereo or over FM radio, choose a song, flip the switch to fade out the lead vocals, and take over! Just make sure you know the lyrics, because unlike regular karaoke machines, you'll receive no prompts. Because extracting one voice from instrumentals and backup isn't an exact science, the lead singer's voice won't fade out on some tracks, and on others, it may linger quietly in the background. Instead of being annoying, this can be a boon to those fumbling to find the tune. Overall, the fantastic fun of instant karaoke makes this a must-have for your teen's next celebration and a nice way to hone those public speaking and self-confidence skills. (Griffin Technology, $49.99)
Clocky
There's no way your kid is going to do well in school if he never makes it there. It's a fact: teens sleep, a lot. Often they sleep straight on through their alarm clocks, and sometimes they even hit snooze in their sleep. What's the solution? Why, an alarm clock that can run and hide, of course. Introducing Clocky, the clock with an alarm so annoying, sleep has no chance. Teens that don't hit the "off" button soon enough, will watch in horror as the clock jumps off the bedside table and skitters away, trilling until they chase it down. Intense? Yes. But just weird enough to work... (Nanda, $49.95)
Corel Painter Essentials 4
This home painter's studio is the perfect program for both beginners dabbling in digital art and serious art students and designers. With two streamlined "workspaces," one for painting and drawing on a blank canvas, the other for working on photos, finding your way around is a snap. And, while some other programs seem like they take all the creativity out of, well, creating, Corel doesn't do all the work for you. It's just a studio with an impossibly well-stocked art box of brushes, colors, textures, and mediums. Plus, it has functionality which allows you to blend paint on a palette to create the perfect color, use tracing paper to sketch over images, explore techniques such as charcoal, sumi-e, airbrush and pastel, and transcend the limitations of manual art production. An absolute must-have for the young visual artist. (Corel, $99.00)
The Declaration
It's the year 2140 and old age is a thing of the past. All but a few citizens of this brave new world have signed a declaration, promising not to bring any children into the world, in exchange for longevity drugs that keep their bodies working indefinitely. Children born without permission, known as "surpluses," are taken by force and placed into work camps. Anna, who has been at Grange Hall since infancy, is thoroughly brainwashed until a stranger arrives, whispering that he was sent by her parents to smuggle her to safety. This chilling book is a heart-pounding escape, freaky sci-fi, and compelling love story, wrapped up into one. Almost impossible to put down, it's a good pick for reluctant readers. (Bloomsbury, $16.95)
The Intellectual Devotional
For those teens excited to hit the college stride, but nervous about competing in a new intellectual environment, The Intellectual Devotional is the perfect pick. Modeled after bedside books of meditative or inspirational passages, this book aims not to quiet the mind, but to awaken it. Meant to be read a page a day over the course of the year, it contains 365 brief articles on essential and obscure topics in history, literature, science and mathematics, philosophy, religion, and the arts. These interesting, digestible passages are a treat to read, and the "additional facts" following every entry put the information into entertaining context. Check out the new American History edition for a year's worth of facts from our nation's past. (Rodale, $24.00)
The Beach
This national bestseller, written by its author at the ripe old age of 26, was a pretty mediocre movie. But it's a riveting book. With the pacing of a thriller and themes teens can relate to (the dark side of peer pressure, the quest to be original, the search for meaning in life...), the book is like a modern day Lord of the Flies mixed with a sprinkling of Robinson Crusoe. A genuine page turner, perfect for mature teens. (Riverhead, $13.00)
Shadow of the Wind
There is a secret place hidden under the streets of Barcelona called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. A labyrinth of passageways stuffed to capacity and kept by a clandestine clan from the secondhand bookseller's guild, it is a place where the rarest of books are protected from oblivion. Ten-year-old Daniel is taken by his father and as tradition dictates, is allowed to choose one to take home with him. He chooses The Shadow of the Wind. So starts an epic adventure of murder, intrigue, and love. If you've got an advanced reader in the house, this novel provides just the right mix of literary challenge and pumping pace. (Penguin, $15.00)
Life of Pi
Piscine Patel is a normal 16-year-old boy whose biggest problem is his odd name, until his zookeeper father decides to move the family to Canada. A harrowing shipwreck leaves Pi floating on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a wounded zebra, a potted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The tiger makes quick work of all the other passengers and Pi is left for the next 200 plus days with a severely grumbling stomach and only his wits to survive. This novel won the Booker Prize, but don't let that scare you. This is a fun fable, and a good choice for mid-high school teens. (Canongate Pub Ltd, $8)
Mixed-Up Politician
This little toy puts a whole new spin on the term "politically incorrect." The box contains 200 magnetized, scrambled words that make up famous quotes uttered by politicians. Can your teen put the quotes together correctly, or perhaps mix them up in hilarious combinations? "I believe a thousand points of light are growing on Mr. Gorbachev," for example. Not only does it add creativity to any boring locker or refrigerator, but it supports language building and teaches kids about the interesting, questionable things politicians say. The perfect stocking stuffer for the holiday season. (Magnetic Poetry Kit, $9.95)
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 "Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp are book enthusiasts who spent months investigating what kids love to read for their book The Kids' Book Club Book. Here are their top picks for middle school readers/high school readers." |
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The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
The unusual narrator of this book, Christopher Boone, has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. The book's plot - Christopher investigates the death of a neighborhood dog - is secondary to the fascinating glimpse it gives the reader into the mind of someone with Asperger's - how he processes information and tries to maintain order in his life through patterns and rituals, like eating foods of a certain color. A book to spark conversations about our differences, and why we should tolerate them.
Speak A teenage girl retreats into silence and is ostracized by her friends after being traumatized by an event at a party. Speak explores the painful emotions of a teenager who is silenced, and is an excellent vehicle for introducing a discussion of sensitive topics such as sexual assault.
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The Gospel According to Larry
Using a pseudonym, a seventeen-year-old boy creates a website to promote his ideas about consumerism and inspire political activism among teens - a website that captures national attention, as well as that of his classmates. This inventive, humorous and touching story explores consumerism and materialism in our culture, as well as the ability of teens to change the world.
Persepolis: The Story Of A Childhood Although written in a comic-book format, this memoir tells the serious story of Satrapi's coming of age in 1980s Iran, when a repressive government changed the lives of her family through harsh laws, torture, and killings. Satrapi does a beautiful job relating her story through the innocent eyes of a young girl, and readers easily appreciate the human costs of government actions, as well as the complexity of Iran's past. Good to pair with the sequel, Persepolis 2: The Story Of A Return.
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