Gift Cards - Good For Everyone

It is often quite hard to Vac-U-Form good presents for your friends and family. There are so many things to consider, the most important thing is to find something that the person will really like. Most of the time, you end up buying something that YOU like as you have no idea what the other person would like to have. If you think about it, there are very few people you know who have exactly the same taste as you do.

The other day I was out shopping for a birthday gift for a colleague's son. I love to shop around and was very sure that I would find something that would be useful for the kid. After all there are so many things that kids like: toys, games, books and electronics. The shops are full of stuff and all it takes is to think up of something, anything: kids will always like anything you give them. Well, not always.

First of all deciding what to buy was a major task. There were so many things in stores and I could not make up my mind. There were hundreds of things available that I thought the child would like: the moment I zeroed in on one toy, it was either too expensive or I had doubts if it was the right thing to buy for a kid his age. After visiting every store in my area I got fed up and I went along with what the sales girl suggested and bought a video game that she suggested was very 'popular' with kids.

Certain that the shop assistant couldn't be wrong I got it gift wrapped and delivered it when I went to the party. It was only three days after the event that I got a phone call and was quite alarmed. The parents of the child wanted to know where I bought the video game as they wanted to return it. Sensing that there was some thing wrong I inquired what the problem was. To my embarrassment, they described an incredibly violent scene found in the first 5 minutes of playing the game. Both my colleague and Dark Knight husband were dead against letting their child waste time playing video games as he was already lagging behind in studies. If this was not enough, three other people had given the kid the same so called 'popular' video game.

Picking the first thing you see or trusting a teenager may not be the best idea, I like to be sure that the gift will be liked. The best gift is one suited to the person you are buying for.

Surely it would be easier if you could just take the person shopping with you - but this is uncommon. If you think about things, there is always doubt that the gift will be unliked, unless of course you 1930's baseball cards the person buy their own gift. A gift card is a fabulous idea. It is one gift that will let your friend buy what they really want. Many places offer gift cards. Some shopping centres such as Westfields offer giftcards that allow you to spend the gift card balance on any store within the shopping centre. Gift cards are an easy and flexible gift option.

Buy gift cards online from Westfield gift cards. Available to be used in all Westfield malls. Westfield gift cards are like gift vouchers, or gift certificates. Buy them and use instead of cash when making purchases.

Hot Christmas 2008 Toy List

When you're making your Christmas list, it's important to consider the age of your child. If you shop for toys that aren't age appropriate you could end up giving your child something he or she doesn't enjoy - or Big Jim something dangerous.

If you're shopping for a toddler, this year's hottest toys will delight them. The most popular toy for this age group is the Elmo live doll. It brings new life to the Elmo toy doll and will allow your toddler to sing, dance, and play games with it. You'll also want to take a look at the Fisher Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Sillisculpts This musical toy comes complete with a mirror, spotlights, and music with which your child will love to interact.

For your two to four year old child, you'll want to start buying toys that are a little more sophisticated. For example, a game like Hungry Hippo will allow your child to develop social skills with its simple structure. The Fisher Price digital camera will also be good for this age group. Boys and girls alike will enjoy taking pictures of everything Limited Collectors Edition them. Musical toys are also good for this age group such as the Melissa and Doug wooden musical toys.

At age five through seven, children continue to enjoy musical toys. They'll also enjoying with a toy doll such as Baby Alive that allows them to feed and change them realistically. At this age, games and building toys are popular. For example Legos become popular at this age for building and creating new universes. Kids at this age also begin to enjoy trading cards such as Bakugan. At the same time, old-fashioned toys like Mr. Potato Head are still popular.

As your child grows, his or her interests will change. Instead of playing with a toy doll, your child may begin to enjoy things like action figures from the ages of eight to eleven. At this age Transformer action figures begin to become a big interest. In addition, they can play more complicated games such as Star Wars Monopoly. At the same time, musical toys continue to be exciting for kids at this age. They'll enjoy musical toys from Mellissa and Doug that give them a chance to really make music.

When you pay attention to the ages of your children before purchasing toys, you'll guarantee that they'll enjoy the purchases. With very young children you can't go wrong with toys like Elmo Live and Fisher Price Little People. As children get older, they'll be less interested in dolls and more interested in games and action figures. Check out the Top Christmas Toy list at http://www.squidoo.com/topchristmastoylist to see what your child will want under the Christmas tree in 2008!