Presents for an eleven year old. Perplexus and Here Comes Science.

Velocity is speed and direction. I know this (and quite a lot more) thanks to John and John of They Might Be Giants. I mentioned their album Here Come The 123's after Christmas here and should add that it is still listened to regularly. Well, my second eldest turned eleven a few weeks ago and Here Comes Science was in his pile. Danzel of Silver Shoes and Rabbit Holes had mentioned it to me and I'm so glad I took note.

If you are at home these Easter holidays with kids who mooch around the kitchen claiming there is nothing (nothing!) to do other than Xbox or Playstation or Nintendo ds, stick this cd on. (It is of course available in in more modern formats but if you get the old fashioned cd, you also get a dvd with the songs plus their videos, which are great.) If nothing else I guarantee they will shut up for a little while. There's also a good chance this blessed silence will be following by singing.

We also got him this.

Called Perplexus, its a puzzley thing that I got on Amazon.co.uk. It cost about €30 including shipping and I had to get it sent to a Northern Irish Parcel Motel Address as the seller wouldn't post to The Republic. Needless to say I read quite a few reviews before buying and found it received glowing notices on every kid blog out there. Erica on What Do We Do All Day pointed out that as it is 3D, it's the opposite of screentime. That sold me, making the rainy trip up the Parcel Motel where it got stuck in the post box and I had to enter our code about ten times as the rain did something to the touch screen, worth it.

And they have all played with it. As have I, actually. It's not too easy, which is a good thing and if it hasn't gathered dust by the end of the Easter break then I will consider it a success. So far, all activity indicates this will be the case.

Stuff from Christmas that worked out: They Might Be Giants Here Come The 123s

I bought this for my youngest, hoping it would be as successful as Slugs and Bugs and Lullabies was last year. But oh dear, the first time we listened to it I had to fight the urge to turn down the volume or even just press stop.  I was never a huge fan of They Might Be Giants in 1989 (that's when Birdhouse in Your Soul was released), favouring instead Soul II Soul and Nenah Cherry. (It was difficult to hang with a buffalo stance in South Dublin, but I tried really, really hard.)

Anyways, this got great reviews and the songs on Slugs and Bugs had been so easy on the ear that this genre was something I wanted to investigate. My older three boys are in school, but I'm at home every day with a three year old;  finding something we can both listen to is really valuable.

So initially, it was disappointing. Then we saw there was a DVD with both the songs and their videos in the pack too and we gave it a try.

Maybe it was because we have had such a heavy diet of Peppa Pig and The Rhyme Rocket over the past few months but to my eyes, the videos were just lovely. And all of a sudden, the songs grew on us. Before we knew it we were all humming along, trying to remember the words and playing the CD over and over again.

And it is extra nice, when you have been listening to your kids "negotiating"(that's a very diplomatic way of putting it) whose turn it is on the Xbox or who ate the last Cadburys' Rose, to hear them singing together. Because the words in these songs are all as catchy as the tunes themselves.

All in all, this is something from Christmas that worked out. Highly recommended.