by Max Lehmann

Created on: August 16, 2010   Last Updated: August 17, 2010

There's something a little odd about a world where many of the best chefs are men but the toy cooking equipment is labelled as being for girls. Similarly cars are seen as a boy's toy but it's generally mom who drops the kids off at school then picks them up and drives them to their extracurricular activities. Meanwhile, girl toys are available in a wide variety of pinks when as recently as the 1940s the red based colour was seen as masculine while blue was attributed to girls for its pale delicacy.

To some extent gender stereotypes exist as a reflection of society, a few steps behind but slowly catching up as Barbie takes on the role of the President and boys get to express their nurturing side with the latest inception of the Tamogotchi style toys that took off in the late 90s. Indeed, while an employer would be dragged through the courts for advertising roles as suitable for only one gender, nearly every toy shop is crammed full of toys and games split into very distinct sections and labelled as being for boys or girls.

Many parents make a valiant effort to avoid these stereotypes and provide the cliche expectations to the opposite gender deliberately. Little kids love to immitate adults and girls and boys will enjoy pretending to vacuum or care for teddies or dolls, but somewhere along the line they will get wise to the enforced genderisation of particular roles and toys and due to advertising, peer pressure, or disapproving adults outside their own family, will start to lean towards what they are "supposed" to like. Thousands of girls' parents despair as they plead for sparkly pretty toys and insist on playing princess or fairy after years of concerted effort to get them interested in rough and tumble and macho toys.

Despite this, it's easy to avoid the whole issue with a little thought. Cast aside thoughts of miniature builders, nurses and doctors and think back to what you enjoyed as a child. Kids love playing board games, running around outside and climbing, doing enormous paintings and all kinds of crafts. This makes life extremely easy for the discerning gift buyer.

For the outdoorsy types of kids look for frisbees, diablos, unicycles, balls, and insect observation kits.

Check out the board and card game sections of a toy store - there are new games launched every year and many old favourites see a regular makeover. You can sometimes even find kit form games that let the kid build what they then play with.

With both of the above, if you're working hard

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