I babysit for an 8 year old boy (8 on Saturday) and his 10 year old sister. His sister made up her Christmas list, but he hadn't made his when I was there the other day, and even with his birthday coming up this weekend, he only told me one thing that he wanted (Tony Hawk Underground 2 for his GC -- I got him the American Wasteland at Target on BF, so that's pretty much covered). They have a huge stack of Gamecube games already, so it's tough to buy anything for that that they don't already have or that is $30-50.

I really only need to buy about one more thing for Christmas, and one more for his birthday this weekend, but I'm not sure what to get. He may have a list made by the time I go this week, but just in case, I'd like to be able to shop around for stuff that he might like.

It's pretty tough to buy for this age and I'm not sure what else he's in to but what I did once was buy a kids wallet and put a gift card in it. My kids love to go shopping with their "credit card" and it also helps to teach them about budgeting.

I have an 8 year old son and his passion is video games too. However, he also likes the Nerf guns, Star Wars Legos and Bionicles. Not sure if the child that you babysit for is into any of this stuff. I also like the idea that tdanette suggested. Last year, my son got TRU gift cards and had a lot of fun picking out what he wanted.

I have 8 yo twin boys...depends on the kid really...

mine are VERY into video games (gift card to a 'game' store would be great...like gamestop or even Target, etc)
Bionicles
magnetics
Crazy Frog music
anything grownups would consider 'gross' (there are some books they LOVE that are all about gross stuff...Grossology I think it's called...)
Captain Underpants books

My DS is 7yrs old.. and he's into Matchbox Cars, legos, Firetrucks, and anything musical.
He loves to listen to music, so we got him an mp3 player.
Also, depending on the weather, they love scooters and playing ball outside.
I think this age is easier than the older ones.
good luck, I"m sure whatever you get, he'll love. :)

It's pretty tough to buy for this age and I'm not sure what else he's in to but what I did once was buy a kids wallet and put a gift card in it. My kids love to go shopping with their "credit card" and it also helps to teach them about budgeting.

They get a type of allowance, and when they want to buy something they have to use their own money (from allowance, holidays, etc.), so they're pretty used to that already. It is a good idea, though.

Everyone had some good suggestions, but I'm still not sure lol. Hopefully, he'll have a list made up so I can look at it tomorrow, but I'm not counting on it, so keep the suggestions coming :)

Oh, it's just 2 more Christmas presents that I need now. I don't have a chance to get to the store before then, and I'm going to give him his presents on Thursday, so I am using one of the presents I got him for Xmas for his birthday.

When my nephew was 8 a couple of years ago I got him a telescope. He adored it.

Another neat thing is a rock tumbler or a crystal growing kit. They are all fun yet educational. :)

my son is 8 and he loves rockets and legos

even better the starwars legos.

for christmas we got him a new rocket.

look here, there are all kinds of rockets

http://www.nextag.com/toy-rocket/search-html

good luck

ogy I think it's called...)
Captain Underpants books

My son likes these books. But I think they are horrible. Some of the things in them are bad. A lady gave birth to her baby and then the doctor threw it out the window. And a lot of the words are spelled wrong. Doesn't seem like a good idea since these kids are just really getting into reading.

LEGOS! Can't go wrong with age appropriate Legos. :)

My 8 yo loves the tech deck finger skateboards. Basically anything on wheels.

My kids' sitter (college aged) loved to sit and draw with them on occasion, and bought each of them a big set of gel/milky pens and paper for Christmas one year.....not something a mom of 4 boys would consider (I guess I first thought it too girlish....), but I'll tell you they LOVED them and spent hours drawing/creating/doodling. Admittedly, though all of the 'pink' pens became mine......!!

And it gets them away from the TV!

(I miss that sitter!!)

how about a refurbed ipod with music he likes on it?

http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=52313

How about a gift card for gameworks if theres one by you.You could also do a kids place like jeepers or chucky E cheese and include some game tokens.

Cuddle Chimp?

My son is 7 yrs. old. He loves the magnetix toys. There are some for that price range that you listed.

maybe a football, you can get an MP3 player for that price range if you don't like the idea of a refurbished iPOD.

I'd like to get 2 items, since I like to give him and his sister the same amount of gifts (usually the same type of item, such as a board game, video game, movie, etc, although this year they'll only be getting 2 similar items, and 2 others). I'd rather not do a gift card, and need to keep the price range of each item reasonable.

I tried asking what he's been playing with lately, since I usually get there after they're asleep now, but he replied with "nothing really", so a big help that was lol.

legos it is:) thanks, i had the same problem

I got my 7 yo magnetix this year. His older brother has some and the 7 yo loves them. Lego and Hot Wheels are always a hit. Mine also wants binoculars and loves things like the crystal growing stuff already mentioned.

www.naturesworkshopplus.com has some good build it stuff and things like the crystal set.

I bought my kids the Leapfrog turbo twist. it helps with their math. Educational gifts are always appreciated by the parents! And leapfrog.com has them on sale right now. And the kids think it's fun too:)