Children who are intellectually gifted seek novelty, challenge, and quick paced learning. Gifted children typically master games quickly, solve puzzles readily and get bored with repetition. Finding them the perfect holiday gifts can be a challenge for their parents! Luckily, there are several catalog and online retailers who cater to the gifted children’s market.
Each of the following retailers sells its products online, while Mindware and Highlights for Children also sell their products through catalogs.
Mindware
Mindware, www.mindware.com, sells a wide variety of tantalizing products with an educational bent. Brain teasers, puzzles, books, building sets and games range in price from under $10 to hundreds of dollars. The popular Lego Robotics Mindstorms motorized robot which lets children follow a blueprint to build a motorized robot and then program it on the computer is just one of the many popular items sold by Mindware. When shopping at Mindware online for your gifted child, be sure to check the clearance center for substantially discounted products. If you prefer shopping from a catalog to shopping online, the Mindware website allows you to request a free catalog. Mindware offers a satisfaction guarantee and promises a full refund or exchange to customers not satisfied with any product. Mindware’s shipping charges, return policy, delivery options, order tracking and other important information is described in detail in the website under the “Customer Service” section.
Think Geek
Think Geek, www.thinkgeek.com, advertises itself as a seller of stuff for smart masses. Its broad range of products include electronics, clothing, toys, gadgets and computer enhancements. Think Geek’s toys, gadgets and computer enhancements are especially intriguing to the teenage gifted child. Think Geek is a source for LighTalk II (which allows users to scan an image and recreate it in the air), robots, irregular IQ cubes (variations on the Rubik’s cube concept) and hydrodynamic building kits. Homeschooling families can find such educational enhancements as a magnetic periodic table of elements and Antworks space age habitat for ant farming. Think Geek aims to make its customers happy geeks; it spells out its return policy under the “About Us” heading on its website, in the section titled “RMA Returns and Information.” Think Geek offers full refunds within 30 days.
EducationalLearningGames.com
EducationalLearningGames.com, www.educationallearninggames.com, offers a catalog of toys, games and learning materials for babies through grade 12 students. It posts the National Association for Gifted Children shopping recommendations on its site. The products sold by EducationalLearningGames.com include geography and history games, spelling games, grammar games, phonics, logic and Mensa games, puzzles, and drama and foreign language materials, among others. Orders over $75 are eligible for free shipping in the continental U.S. Shipping charges on orders that don’t qualify for free shipping are clearly spelled out in the Customer Service section of the website. EducationalLearningGames.com offers a satisfaction guaranteed policy but requires returns to be made within 10 days of the date ordered.
Highlights for Children
Highlights for Children, www.highlights.com, is well known for its children’s magazine of the same name. However, Highlights also operates a bustling catalog and online toy business with intellectually inspiring toys and games that appeal to gifted children. Highlights offers many explore and discover kits: fuel cell operated cars, erector sets, and test tube adventures are examples of the science oriented offerings at Highlights. Highlights sells creative art products, geography games and books and puzzles as well. Shoppers who prefer catalog shopping can click on the “Request a Catalog” link and receive a free catalog. Highlights explains its return policy in its Customer Service Section of its website- be sure and click on “Customer Service-Highlights Catalog” as there are separate policies for magazine subscriptions. Shipping and handling and prices are also explained clearly on the website.
Parents struggling to find challenging gifts for their gifted children this holiday season need look no further than these four websites to find a vast selection of uniquely intellectual holiday gifts with wide appeal.
