Gift Ideas

Overview

Some of the ideas that jump to mind here include: airplanes, automobiles, the compass, harnessing electricity, fire, sliced bread, the light bulb, refrigeration, the wheel…

This gift idea has a lot of flexibility depending on the invention you choose. You can work with just one great invention or incorporate a bunch of them.
The easiest way to figure out what to give is to see some examples:
- Automobiles/the wheel: bicycle ride, go karting, car/motorcycle (real or toy), vehicle related gifts (eg: motor association membership, tire gauge), driving lessons, vehicle based movies (eg: The Fast and the Furious, Cars, Easy Rider), etc. Check out our Automotive or Road Trip theme pages for more ideas.
- Airplanes: a flight anywhere, flight lessons (many small airports offer introductory flight lessons at a reasonable price),
- Sliced bread: a bread maker, bread knife, a loaf of bread or just take your giftee out for a sandwich.
- Electricity: any electronics work here or make a point of watching the next lightning storm that rolls through.
- Fire (although technically not an invention, humans learned to harness it so it still works under this theme): candles, matches, lighters, campfires, fireworks, movies with fire and explosions (eg: Die Hard), etc. With a little imagination, you can also include a trip to see a local sports team if they’re name is associated with fire (eg: Flames, Blazers, Devils). See our Elements or Pyromaniac themes for more suggestions around fire.
- Light bulbs: lamp, chandelier, light bulb, flashlight…
As always, we encourage you to think outside the box. For example, the wheel doesn’t have to be on a vehicle. It can be anything round (eg: a pottery wheel or classes, cheese wheel, wagon wheel).
An online search would broaden your options. The sky’s the limit here, you can sell almost anything as a great invention. For example, if you love beer, work it into the presentation. As with most themes, there’s lots of room for interpretation and creativity.
Consider a trip to the local science centre where you can often learn about how things like electricity work.
Have a suggestion for a great invention we haven’t covered here? Let us know and we’ll try to add it onto the list.

Wrapping

Try wrapping your gift with plain paper and applying pictures of great inventions onto the gift or draw them on yourself.
Tie a small invention related item into the ribbon around the gift (eg: matches, light bulb).

Presentation

You could ask your giftee to guess what great invention the gift revolves around when they open it.
Use quotes or phrases that relate to your theme when you present the gifts or in your card. For example:
- You’re the greatest thing since sliced bread! Happy birthday!
- Hope the wheels are in motion for a great birthday this year!
- Get all fired up on your birthday!