Present for 11 year old

Imp

It is nearly my nephew's birthday. As an uncle, taking my responsibilites seriously, I think it is important to get him presents which his parents are unlikely to think of. Browsing the internet, I have found these.

http://www.firetoys.co.uk/diabolos/fire-diabolos.html

The question is, which of the fire-diabolos would the good folk of moneysavingexpert recommend for an 11 year old.

Thanks,

Imp

balletshoes

erm, none of them, its literally playing with fire :eek:.

Are these "toys" legal for 11-year olds?

embob74

Surely OP is a wind-up?!

I think the reason the parents haven't thought of that as a present is because they want their child to remain unharmed!
I also think it's spam......

butler_helen

Hmmmmm my BIL would happily give this to my neice for use under supervision. However... I wouldn't. My god I wouldn't let my partner near it and he's an adult

Savvy_Sue

Unless the nephew is already skilled in playing with a diabolo, the answer is 'none of the above'.

I'd recommend the Oddballs site for all things juggling, and that might well be something his parents wouldn't think of. However, unless he gets the bug, he's unlikely to progress to playing with fire.

And I speak as a mum whose 16 yo was introduced to juggling by his school at the start of 6th form, and his A levels studies were accompanied by the rhythmic 'woosh' and 'thud' of juggling balls being thrown and dropped at regular intervals - it takes a LOT of practice to get good! :rotfl:

Nicki

Imp wrote: »

I I think it is important to get him presents which his parents are unlikely to think of.

I think you have certainly succeeded on that front

Would it be worth you spending just a few seconds considering why no sane parent would consider buying this for an 11 year old perhaps?

Lou67

One word: NO.

nickj_2

why don't you take him to a football match instead

Wicked_witch

Even a normal diabolo will be a disappointing present if he doesn't have someone who can already use one to teach him I'm afraid. It's not that easy to do.

You're a cool uncle though!

valk_scot

The correct present for an eleven year old is a gift voucher for an appropriate shop (Game?) and the largest bar of chocolate you can find. I have been doing this for years for my childrens' friends and no-one has ever looked disappointed, believe me.

If anyone gave either of my kids that gizmo for their birthday I'd either be asking for the receipt or an instant demonstration from the donor, depending on how annoyed I was.

Savvy_Sue

To be fair, I think there IS scope for an uncle to give 'off the wall' presents to encourage the little darlings to think outside the box. Even better if - as valk says - you can give a demonstration. But you have to be prepared for some of those 'outside the box' things to stay firmly inside the box if the recipients just don't 'get it'.

And I'd say diabolo / juggling stuff risks being too 'niche' to be widely used unless uncle can give demos and support.