Tis the week leading up to Christmas. But don't panic. For the remainder of the week, we will post last-minute gift ideas ripe for the plucking, wrapping, and giving. Starting things off? A wildly helpful last-minute gift guide for kids.
Last Minute Shopping Guide For SF Kids (by Deborah Neisuler)
As we all know, San Francisco kids are awesome and precious in every way. (Not at all pretentious or annoying in their double-wide strollers.) And now, since your friends are starting to have kids and (gasp) raise them in the city, there is a new expectation for you to lavish those children with expensive, age-appropriate, environmentally friendly gifts for the holidays. The nerve!
To help you out, because SFist cares, here are some suggestions for last-minute rugrat shopping.
Museum Stores
Pros: The de Young and SF MOMA have awesome kids’ sections with those modern kinds of toys that you wish you had when you were a kid. Museum stores also tend to stock lots of green toys.
Cons: Expensive. At museum stores, you’re trading off fun and earth-hugginess for price. Prepare to spend some major ducats at these shops.
Walgreens
Pros: Super for last-minute gift buying, the toy aisle at Walgreens is more comprehensive than you would imagine. They also stock tons of popular and affordable toys that all kids go gaga over. Think Angry Birds, Power Rangers (they’re back), Tranformers, all things Disney, and My Little Pony. If you’re in a real Xmas hurry, look up to find pre-tissue-papered gift bags hiding on the top shelves.
Cons: It's Walgreens.
Out-of-the-box Ideas
San Francisco has so many wonderful little nonprofits and startups. Tis the season to support some local business while doing some good. Two great examples:
A gift subscription to San Francisco's FarFaria
FarFaria is a great little SF startup (Intuary is the parent company) that is changing the way children experience storytime. With hundreds of stories available at their fingertips, children can read to themselves or listen to a narrated story while following along. Our favorite thing about FarFaria is that it allows parents to read aloud to their kids without having to try to lure their children away from the cluttered bookshelf five times in one night. Also, the illustrations are stunning!
Subscriptions are $21.99 for six months and $39.99 for a whole year. (Totally worth it!)
Adopt an Acre or a Reef at the Insect Discovery Lab
This San Francisco nonprofit has been educating Bay Area youth about amazing insects for over 20 years. While the organizations sends out adorable geeks to schools to educate and demystify exotic insects, they also collect money to help save rainforest and coral reefs. A green gift such as this would be ideal for any tweens or teens in your life who either love the Earth or need a swift dose of reality. Your choice.
