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What's a cool gift for a 5-year old boy?

Using the key words "cool" and "Mom doesn't want," I suggest headphones for toddlers with parental controlled volume limiters for ear safety. 80db should be the maximum volume deliverable. Most run well under $25. I've bought them for my grandkids with devil's horns on the ear pieces. Fitting.

Many different designs are on the market, Amazon is a good place to start looking. Mom will be forever thankful.

I'm going to file this great idea away. (Mom would love the devil horns, and they would be fitting. This little guy is a real stinker from time to time.)

Although he's played with mom's IPhone since he was a baby, his parents are trying to control his electronics use in favor of being outside and doing. I suppose headphones are inevitable, sigh, but I am very hopeful that with other musical exposure, which should be significant, he will prefer live performances and learning himself how to play.
 
Get him a pooter to go with the fart machine. He can entertain the neighbors.

After the fart machine, I think I'd better be "good" for awhile. A little while. I am thinking about bongos, though. ;)
 
After the fart machine, I think I'd better be "good" for awhile. A little while. I am thinking about bongos, though. ;)

The parents and neighbors will love you for that. But who knows...he could turn out to be the next Desi Arnez. bongoplaying.png
 
I'm going to file this great idea away. (Mom would love the devil horns, and they would be fitting. This little guy is a real stinker from time to time.)

Although he's played with mom's IPhone since he was a baby, his parents are trying to control his electronics use in favor of being outside and doing. I suppose headphones are inevitable, sigh, but I am very hopeful that with other musical exposure, which should be significant, he will prefer live performances and learning himself how to play.

We keep our kids very physically active. Team sports and general running around. Did so with my kids, and now they with my grandkids. We also encouraged their reading and music making. My twin 3 yr old grandsons dance with their headphones on. Afterwards they must nap. Simply wonderful, 3 birds with one stone and I get to nap with them.

Forget the Bongos, a full trap set or a pair of kettle drums, timpani. The devil made me do it. :twisted:
 
We keep our kids very physically active. Team sports and general running around. Did so with my kids, and now they with my grandkids. We also encouraged their reading and music making. My twin 3 yr old grandsons dance with their headphones on. Afterwards they must nap. Simply wonderful, 3 birds with one stone and I get to nap with them.

Forget the Bongos, a full trap set or a pair of kettle drums, timpani. The devil made me do it. :twisted:

Oh, those come later. The bongos are my Trojan horse. Dad thinks playing imaginary drums with the kid is great, so I'll just be being "supportive" with real bongos.

Smiling as I think about the twins jammin' and then crashing with granddad. Win!
 
I did not read through all the posts but if it has already been mentioned a daisy red rider, a used one over 25 years old if you can find one. New ones are ok for the price but they break fast.
 
Babalu to you!

That's a Cuban tumbadora, aka Conga. An antique, with the head nailed into place and not tunable with braces holding the head in place like more modern Conga's and other drums. I wouldn't be surprised if his family and heirs still have it. Very desirable and well worth six figures today. Drummer, percussionist and band leader, "El Rey de los Timbales," had a pair of the Puerto Rican version that are now on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a show of antique Americano Hispanic instruments, from his daughters. Made the same way with nailed heads. Like Desi, Tito made them sing.

Here's Tito playing tom-toms but you can see other percussionists playing more modern tumbadora:

 
Thank you for sharing your knowledge of these instruments; I've learned something. And parts of that video clip were mesmerizing.
 




That's Louis Armstrong in the first clip.


Yes....a very young Louis Armstrong. I remember him more for his singing. Enjoyed both of those clips.
 
Thank you for sharing your knowledge of these instruments; I've learned something. And parts of that video clip were mesmerizing.

You're welcome. Give me music or give me death. :)

Tito often played free shows in the streets of east Harlem, with his entire band and many guests. The people loved him with all their hearts. He gave Carlos Santana his first guitar, always encouraging other young musicians. Dancing in the street with my wife to Tito's music, perfect moments. I'll never miss him, I just keep celebrating his music and passing on my passion for his music to my grandkids.
 
I need a gift for a 5-and-a-half year old and am stumped. I've learned that "Star Wars" Legos are all the rage, so that's my fall-back. Mom doesn't want any more Legos around, and I get it.

The little boy is interested in nature (and his mom loves bugs), so I've already given him an age-appropriate microscope and a few age-appropriate Giant Microbes (https://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/ ). For Christmas I bought him a brain Jello mold and also a hand mold, and these are bitchin'. I also gave him a fart machine that looks like remote and makes 15 sounds. So disgusting. He loved it and "thrilled" his parents for days. Mission accomplished. :mrgreen:

So any ideas for a cool little gift?

My God daughter recently requested and recieve a big cardboard box for her birthday.

Just got it from one of the self storage companies. She used and an old hacksaw blade (not too sharp) I had given her as part of her tool box previously to make a door and windows in it.
 
Yes....a very young Louis Armstrong. I remember him more for his singing. Enjoyed both of those clips.

Satchmo, another beloved musical groundbreaker, made the cornet his instrument. Hearing his solos when he played with The Duke Ellington Orchestra is always enlightening. He set the stage for so many, influencing Coltrane, Miles, and so many more. And he crossed the color barrier in Hollywood. Playing a man of talent, and not a subservient, ignorant colored man. He was elegant, and modest yet proud. There's another clip, of a duet with Mickey playing piano, and Louis on horn, both singing "My Woman" composed by King Oliver, I'll post it if I can find it, but I believe it is lost. I saw it many years ago, with Louis singing with his then smooth voice untarnished, and Mickey only about 15 years old. Few people remember how talented Mickey could be with any instrument he chose to play. During the second part of the clip, both of them switch instruments. Louis on piano, Mickey on the horn. Incredibly delicious.

You're welcome.
 

My God daughter recently requested and recieve a big cardboard box for her birthday.

Just got it from one of the self storage companies. She used and an old hacksaw blade (not too sharp) I had given her as part of her tool box previously to make a door and windows in it.

Now that's the ticket--using your imagination and making something!

One of the greatest days I ever spent as a little kid was inside an empty refrigerator box rolling down a snowy little hill.
 
Do they still go in for Jr. Chemistry sets? Might need additional home owners insurance.....
 
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