GoKawiilThe only Father's Day gift I can recall my own dad getting was a plate of fried sardines. It was prepared by my mother, his ex-wife, who knew how gratefully he'd receive a dish he grew up with in the Italian neighborhood of a steel town dying with such theatrical flair that Bruce Springsteen named a song after it. (An acoustic Springsteen song, at that.) We lived in a nearby city that had plenty of red-sauce restaurants, but they weren't serving tinned fish in those days. As my father had only the most limited of food preparation skills and didn't date the kind of women who could cook, this was the only way he'd ever taste that flavor again.
As Father's Day gifts go, being united with a long-lost recipe from childhood is pretty good. If you can pull it off, that's what you should give your dad this year. Otherwise, I have here a few ideas I've spent the last few months gathering for various types of dads and across many different budgets. With the exception of a few things picked by other dads on the team, these are all things I've personally tested and approved, and I hope they make your dad as happy as those sardines made mine.
For the Dad Who Plays With His Kids
Photograph: Martin Cizmar
Courtesy of Amazon Chevron Chevron Save to wishlist Save to wishlist Spyra SpyraFour Electric Water Blaster $169 Amazon
Maybe your dad has fond memories of the Super Soakers of his youth, but the SpyraFour is the new best water gun ever made. WIRED has been covering the German brand's powerful electric squirt guns since 2023, and they've only gotten better over time. Just ask my daughter, who has to use the SpyraThree while I blast away at her with this gun that refills much faster (it sucks up enough water for about 20 shots in a cool 12 seconds) and has a full digital smart display to select between shooting styles and show you how much ammo you've got left. This is a very powerful squirt gun that shoots accurately up to 50 feet, and it's recommended for kids who are at least 14. I can confirm that when I let my 11-year-old and her friends play with it, the battle often ends in tears. This only adds to the appeal as a gift for any dad over 40—when I was her age, we threw rocks at each other, and I had to go to the emergency room to get stitches you can still see. Good times.
Photograph: Martin Cizmar Save to wishlist Save to wishlist Aerobie Pro Ring $11 Shop Now $16 $9 (44% off) Walmart Playing catch is one of those classic activities dads and kids love to do. Over time, I've found, it transitions from the kid asking to toss the Frisbee around to the adult asking. Yes, the Aerobie is still the best flying disc you can buy, but the real reason to gift it is as an excuse to toss it around and talk. Courtesy of Amazon Save to wishlist Save to wishlist St. Pierre Tournament Bocce Set $150 Amazon Bocce is the best backyard game—it's great for people of all ages and has no learning curve, though it's possible to get better with practice. I hoard bocce sets from thrift stores and have owned like four; the best set is one like this from St. Pierre, which is made in America and is the brand they use in tournament play.
For the Grill Dad
Photograph: Martin Cizmar Save to wishlist Save to wishlist Mibrasa Hibachi MH 300 PLUS $895 Mibrasa
Live-fire cooking has been the hottest trend in grilling for half a decade now, possibly as a reaction to the rise of super-automated pellet grills and high-tech smart grilling. The latest up-and-coming device is the charcoal oven, which Spanish brand Mibrasa is best known for (the smallest model, the Nano, runs just under $12,000). That would be an amazing gift for your dad if the budget allows. However, those of more modest means can confidently gift this super-premium hibachi grill from Mibrasa, which is made of heavy-gauge steel.
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