If you are like millions of other parents across the world, you have a child who is obsessed with Dora the Explorer. They talk about Dora, sing about Dora, pretend to be Dora, and all around love anything that relates to their favorite bilingual adventurer. When it comes time to buy your child a gift for their birthday, or whatever other special occasion might merit gift giving, the obvious course of action would be to get your child a Dora the Explorer gift of some kind. The challenge is, with so much merchandise on the market, and children's amorphous tastes, it often becomes difficult to pick out exactly which things will make good gifts and which ones will not.



Obviously, this problem's solution relies heavily on your knowledge of your child's preferences. If they have a favorite character from the Dora cast, then your job may become a bit easier. Or if, for instance, they prefer a certain kind of toy or game, or enjoy story books, then that too will help you in picking out what to get them. You may also want to consider trying to get some of this information from your child in conversation, as that could easily save you a great deal of time and frustration in the long run.

If your child is approaching the age at which they are learning how to read, or if they simply enjoy having stories read to them, then you may want to consider buying your child a few Dora the Explorer story books. There are a wide variety of picture books to choose from, each one with a plot that is guaranteed to be fun, and maybe even teach your child a thing or two. You may also want to consider a few of these books for the subject matter they deal with. For instance, if your child has a new sibling on the way, there is a Dora book on that subject which might help with any feelings of insecurity. There are also some books that focus on the educational aspect more.

There are, of course, a large variety of Dora the Explorer toys that you can choose from. There are several different varieties of puzzles, ranging in difficulty from simple puzzles of around 12 pieces, to ones which have 48 or so, meaning you can find puzzles for whatever skill level your child might be comfortable with. If they prefer dolls to puzzles, there is a large selection of figures and play sets such as the Animal Rescue Adventure set, which has Dora and her cousin Diego rescue a jaguar cub. There is also a Lego play set that allows your child to build a playground for Dora and Boots to play in. The pieces are all very simple and easy to assemble, so you will not have to worry about it being too difficult.

Lastly, you may want to consider buying your child one of the Dora the Explorer music CDs that are available. These CDs contain all the upbeat music your child knows from the Dora cartoon, and much more, which is sure to keep them going for hours.

Copyright © Jared Winston, 2007. All Rights Reserved.