Holiday gifts

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

I'm a little late with this entry, but better late than never.

It seems that there are some holidays that are more favorable to certain types of gifts than others. For example, snow skis might be more welcome during the Xmas holidays than in mid-summer.  And chocolate candies might go over more on Halloween than on the 4th of July.

It would seem that there are at least two holidays that lend themselves to Rocketry gifts.  One might be the 4th of July, though it is more appropriately reserved for fireworks than model rockets.

The other, obviously, would be as an Easter basket gift.


Now, some parents might give a paper kite to their kids when the winds get gusty and steady in the spring.  But when it's rainy or windy, you'll probably want your kids indoors for a while yet, and a focused assembly project like a model rocket might be the perfect gift.


I know that I'm preaching to the choir here, but how many of us have thought about giving a gift of a model rocket kit to our ten year old nephew or son?

It's a way to sow the seed of anticipation, for when the weather turns warmer and clear...to launch that rocket that he's so carefully built over the last several days.

(Now, I know that I'm being a bit sexist here, but honestly, our membership is almost entirely  male, so I'm only reflecting reality.)

My biggest mistake has not been giving too large a rocket kit to a kid... but giving it too early. That is, age seven is probably too young to assemble much of a rocket, but by age 10, he's likely got the motor skills and the patience to assemble something with instructions.

My father waited until I was almost 14 before giving me my first Heathkit stereo assembly project, and he hovered at first, making sure that I understood the steps, the process of soldering, and kit building.  I will forever treasure those hours that we invested in those kits.

It's just a shame that someone hadn't introduced me to model rocketry a little earlier, as I could have started at age ten, instead of waiting until age 57.

How about you?  Do you know a young man that could benefit from the Easter gift of a small model rocketry assembly kit?  It's not too late to sew the seeds for this spring season.

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