After the first 10 years or so it can get difficult to shop for your dad; how many ties can you give a man anyway? Instead of buying him something that he needs, buy him something that he wants. Or better yet, something that he used to want, like toys that he could never get as a kid. Here are some suggestions for hobbies in Perth to get you started:
Choo! Choo!
Is there any child out there, girl or boy, who did not like trains? Trains and slot car tracks were some of the few sophisticated toys that were available even in the 19th century. As soon as inventors adapted the steam engine to a smaller scale, toymakers immediately made use of that technology to bring joy and delight to children. Once vehicles became popular on the road, children had the opportunity to enjoy that as toys. Even if your father doesn’t seem to like it now, buy him a set of road networks to spend time assembling it and then playing around with it. I guarantee that you will watch the years fall off him then.
Bob the Builder
Many young boys dreamt of becoming construction workers, engineers, designers and architects thanks to toys that encouraged them to build such as building blocks. So go to a slot car tracks for sale and buy your old man a set of building blocks. Now that he is an adult, he could probably handle the tiny, sharp-edged pieces that his parents wouldn’t have bought him as a kid. This is an especially great gift your dad was actually involved in construction and is now retired because it will allow him to start building again, albeit on a smaller scale than he is used to.
Reel Time
As young rapscallions, your father and his cronies would have definitely watched (or tried to watch) a few movies that were not quite cleared for their age limit. They may have been marked PG-13 for their violence or sexual nature, and your father would perhaps love a trip down memory lane – in secret. Talk to his friends, find out what movies he never got to watch and then make a serious effort to find at least one. Play it for him somewhere private, where others cannot get at him and leave him to enjoy it in private, unless he asks you to join him.
There may be other, more specific things, you can do to help him relive his childhood as a gift. Speak to him and actually listen if you want to find out what makes him tick.