special gift for our daughter's 7th birthday

sillygoose

I was going to suggest a Kindle or a Nook, Kobo or similar. ereaders can be had for £49 to £79. My favorite is the kindle although its most expensive because it now has good parental control built in that lets you control use of the built in web browser or online store. She could be given gifts by others of money towards it and Amazon gift vouchers to buy books with.

In the months before Christmas some ereaders were sold as low as £29 and the Kindle was being sold at £49 a couple weeks ago but they are all back at full price currently. January sales?

smithyjules

Hi Sillygoose. I did suggest an ereader to hubby earlier but with the tablet (kindle app is possible) and an mp3 player coming for audio books from mil he thinks she might be a bit overloaded with technology lol. She is also still at the precious age of enjoying the whole real book experience if you know what I mean. The Roald Dahl treasury was a joy to share with her last year. I'm sure an ereader will come along soon enough though.

Searching for an adoption that will arrive in time...wwf ones are 2-3 weeks. I will give born free a call tomorrow as theirs seems a shorter time but I'd like to check first.

squibbs25

We purchased ours through the Aspinall Foundation. They run Howletts Zoo and Port Lympne both situated in Kent.

This should take you to adoption page

http://www.aspinallfoundation.org/gift-shop/adoption-boxes

my daughter had Jara.
It might be worth phoning to see if they can deliver quicker.

The Aspinall Foundation offer 2 types of adoption.
The package above like we had (purchased via the gift shop)
Or the offer a pay monthly one but I don't know much about that they have a link at the bottom of the home page for that.

Hope that helps.

Lunar_Eclipse

smithyjules wrote: »

Searching for an adoption that will arrive in time...wwf ones are 2-3 weeks. I will give born free a call tomorrow as theirs seems a shorter time but I'd like to check first.

That's a shame. I did want to say though that having gone down this route, I did regret it a little when DD wanted to keep getting the biannual (?) newsletter which meant a recurring annual subscription cost of something like £20. It was not a cheap present, I just told myself we were helping protect dolphins which helped a little but not that much!

The tablet can also play audio books, surely? And I agree that if you have that, you don't need a Kindle, unless you sell the tablet and buy the Kindle Fire (there's no need for it all as you rightly point out.)

The kindle was one of our best value gifts for DD1, although her second (screen) has just broken. The first one was within a month. They are incredibly delicate.

mummyroysof3

What about the adopt packs amazon sell? Not sure if they any good but maybe worth a look

tea_lover

We adopted a giraffe for my niece from Dudley Zoo when she was 11. My sister also adopted me a donkey (for my 30th!) from a donkey sanctuary. Definitely one of my best presents ever Might be worth checking out local zoos and rescue places to see if they have shorter delivery times.

Hope you find something

gingin_2

What about the Scleich animals. They are good quality animal models that she can role play with.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dtoys&field-keywords=schleich+cats&rh=n%3A468292%2Ck%3Aschleich+cats

My daughter has been given some of the little sets and separate animals and loves to make videos of them with the ipad.

Toto

Amazon currently have some of these adopt an animal thing on their lightning deals. You only have 3hrs and 40 mins left to buy before they revert back to their usual price though


http://www.amazon.co.uk/deals-offers-savings/b/ref=amb_link_161932547_2?ie=UTF8&node=350613011&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=right-csm-1&pf_rd_r=1NJTGEH2Q288R1QS6EPZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=262815527&pf_rd_i=468294

smithyjules

The tablet can be used as an mp3 player but there is always the temptation to end up doing other things instead of allowing her to become completely absorbed in a story. Mp3 players aren't expensive either, I can imagine her really benefiting from just being able to switch off and escape into her imagination for a while. It's tough having a rather boisterous younger brother!

We have now adopted a tiger for her from Born Free and also invested in the tiger tracker from them too so she can watch videos and see update of the wonderful work they do. I also found the Born Free DVD on Amazon too so she can learn where it all came from.
Quite pleased really! Thank you all for your input. Fingers crossed she likes them!

jackyann

When I was 7, I was given a proper sewing basket, all kitted out. It followed me everywhere, and finally gave up the ghost after 50 years. It was one of the most special gifts I ever received.