What to get two 9 year olds?

My two children have birthday's in July, both, 9, no not twins, before you ask. 

And we are facing a dilemma as parents as what to get them. 1 boy, 1 girl. 

Both are obviously still children and child like, with the ability to play and have fun, but also are at that age, whereby they want more mature 'playthings'.

When we were growing up, there were no computer games, I-pods, mobile phones, and 3 or at the most 4 channels on the TV. We were ultimately still kids wanting toys for our birthdays. But in the 21st century things have changed for 9 year old's and their wants for birthdays...

My son, still loves Lego, Bakugan, Pokemon, soldiers, war type toys, Star Wars, guns etc. He should be easy to buy for, but how easy is it to buy for a child who loves listening to music on a mp3 player, has three games consoles at his disposal, watches 50+ different TV channels? These are distractions that take away from playing and enjoying simple things like toys. 

Will a toy or range of toys be enough? 

This decision is not taken lightly anymore, buying for a child is a complex issue. 30 years ago when i was nine, i don't recall even being asked, i just got. Most likely Action Man, or some Lego, or some more cars. Today buying the wrong toy, for a maturing 9 year old boy can be disastrous. I know my son has grown out of Ben 10 - already, but he is still in the Ben 10 age bracket, my parents, and his other relatives might not know this and go buy him a Ben 10 toy, which he'll dismiss out of hand. But for cost conscious relatives buying a computer game upwards of £20 a time, is not always the solution, and do I want my son playing MORE computer games, when less is better? What to do?

I'm thinking that as summer is coming, outdoor type toys are the answer. Nerf have a superb range of role play and safe weapons. It moves the playability of guns that make sounds to actually firing stuff more real, boys (and Dads) love these sorta things. You only have to go to boystoys.com firebox.com or play.com to see what's on offer to older boys.

Another idea is to buy a car, but one that is remote controlled, giving the prospect of 'electronic' play with the same fun of traditional cars. I know RC is not new but again, its a growing area, that moves away slightly from branded licenced toys and is a bit different. Boys have always and will always love cars at whatever age, he may be too old now for Cars 2 merchandise, but Fast 5, is a different thing, and maybe the way forward.

There are plenty of cool boys outdoor toys, footballs, cricket, Razor Scooters, my son has also mentioned the desire for a Go Kart. This might be a present we can buy, but what of the smaller relative friendly presents, what do we tell them? 

Lego is still fun, and more complex sets even in the child friendly ranges of Star Wars & Pirates of the Caribbean are pretty cool, I even love these, and its my Birthday coming soon - here's hoping for the Queen Anne's Revenge!!! In my previous post, about action figures I suggested that this years glut of action friendly films will be a good market place for toys for boys, and I think personally that we won't have a problem buying something - even if its a Thor Hammer, or Jack Sparrow costume. Boys will always want to be boys and play, if you get it right!

Tbh, the issue for the lad, is not too difficult. There are TOYS for boys of all ages, I still love toys, and can play with computers and action figures / cars etc without dropping either. 

Girls on the other hand - now they are different.

If we think boys are growing up fast, lets look at the girls. My daughter doesn't want to play with 'things' anymore, unless its super small and can fit in her pocket, and is cute. And to be honest these are not toys, they are just the standard cute throwaway collectibles that change from one week to the next. Iwako, Squinkies & Gacha toys are not birthday present material.

Hello Kitty has transcended the age barriers but the toys are mainly aimed at the very young, with the fashion range aimed at Tweens and above. 

Dolls were traditionally designed for girls right up to age 12-13, but these appear to have gone out of fashion, with erm, fashion being in fashion. 

My daughter's favourite shop appears to be Claire's Accessories, with toys totally off the agenda. And as her friends grow up, she wants to be like them, and they don't play with toys either. 

Most of her day is spent on a laptop or with her head listening to Taylor Swift on her mp3 player. I wasn't into music until about 13, which is 4 years from her age now.  I'm not sure how to solve the girl aged 9 birthday present issue. I could go and buy clothes, jewelery , make up, which is what she wants, but I, also as a toy lover, seller and collector feel that she is still of an age that should and could still enjoy the pleasure of toys.

Perhaps the mature dolls, of popular music stars is the way to go. She loves music, I know there are ranges of Saturdays & One Direction dolls on the horizon. Bieber and JLS and even Princess Catherine dolls have been selling super well to all ages. Fashion, Music, Dolls - is this the answer?

Girls don't appear to care for smaller action figures or construction toys, like Lego. Soft toys are always easy but just end up cluttering the room, and with those that already take up space, we don't need any more! 

So what to do? Interactive games and toys are perhaps another way of engaging with 9 year old girls. The 'Mama' series of DS games are fun ways to encourage girls, but the flipside is that these are also are making them more mature. Traditionally girls toys like horses, puppies, cute and cuddly are still popular, but tend to come and go with trends, and friends.

Girls are also less attracted to outdoor toys that the boys like; guns and water games are out, as are overly sporty toys, and gadgets are not for girls, so much -  but perhaps if our young daughters are growing up we can make use of their skills and get them toys that are useful, there are plenty of 'design your own' type toys, bags, hats, jewelery, etc,. and still plenty of 'have the girls round' party type fun games. Books, are also an alternative, but hey this is a toy sellers blog...and we're trying to get girls back on side with toys...

The market is pretty saturated with toys for both boys and girls, and perhaps that's the problem for girls, there's too much and often too young to really appeal to the tweens, and unlike the boys, what the girls like today, won't be the same tomorrow, is it Katy Perry or Lady Gaga? One Direction or the Wanted, JLS or whoever... not sure they had Duran Duran dolls in my day, but then bands were for teenagers...Being a Dad of a 9 year old going on 15 is hard!

Girls are growing up fast, but we need to make sure they still enjoy their childhood, after all, the tradition of dolls and prams has been going back years, and having children in real life is a mature realisation, which girls have been acting out since these toys were invented, so why are we not continuing this. I'm wondering as we have a new arrival on the horizon ourselves, whether we should encourage our own daughter to have the same baby stuff we have but in miniature 'play' sizes, prams, cot, etc, so that she can act out our realities?

I'm not sure this post has made it any clearer for me... my son will certainly be easier to buy for, but my daughter less so, but that's just her, I'm sure some 9 year old girls are easier to find things for, Ponies, Sylvanian Families, Barbies etc, they still top the lists for under 10's, and I have seen many quality ranges of these toys around, including top branded items from the likes of Schleich, and Breyer, who offer playable maturer girls (and boys) toys.

And as much as we're looking for new toys to buy, our kids still play with their old ones, and those designed for younger children, including... Playmobile, cars, Puppies (and other things) in my Pocket, Barbie, they still act out with these, and maybe i'll just add to these with more playability, after all that's what the manufacturers want, you to buy more of what your kids actually do like.

I'm sure whatever option we take, it'll be right on some levels and wrong on another, but asking them is the first step, and knowing whats going on in the world of kids these days is the place to start. There's nothing worse than getting it wrong.

Any ideas???