Help! DH and I always buy a Christmas gift for each of his nieces and nephews... usually pretty easy. He has one nephew who will be 8 next month. Due to various family circumstances we never see him (mom and dad are split up, dad doesn't have much time with him, etc), so we don't know what sorts of things he likes or he's into (finding out from brother in law is not really an option - long story).

Anyway, we want to get him something he will like but we're kind of shooting in the dark here. Looking to spend around $20 so nothing crazy. My DH is super into sciency stuff like experiments, build your own rocket kit, or something interactive like a board game, but I am not sure if this kid has someone around a lot to really help him with that (again - kind of a crappy family situation).

I was thinking maybe a Lego kit? Is that cool for an 8 year old boy?

Any ideas would be much appreciated!