A Foolproof Birthday Present (For $1)

My parents once gave us a booklet of cheques that were no longer valid. My siblings and I had so much fun filling them out for millions of dollars!

We moved to Italy for my husband’s work, and I recently made the BEST discovery on how Italians (at least the ones in my city) do gifts for children’s birthday parties. I showed up with the requisite gift bag of stuff I didn’t know whether the kid would like, and the mom looked at me like she had no idea what to do with it. I asked my only other english-speaking acquaintance at the party, and she said, “Oh! Here you just give the parents money — usually around €5 — and they pool it to get the kid something nice.”

WHAT. It’s brilliant. I don’t have to shop and the kid doesn’t get a bunch of things he doesn’t want/need but one special big gift? How do I bring this idea back to the states with us?!

I would’ve been all over this as a kid. So good!

As dumb as it sounds, TAPE is always a hit! It doesn’t even matter what kind if tape it is. Kids just get excited about having their own and feeling like they can use as much as they want. My husband’s grandmother won all of Christmas a couple years ago when she gave my two and five year old boys their own 5-packs of a masking tape. It’s not just my kids either. My son has given it to friends at birthday parties (usually with some other craft supplies), and the tape wins every time.

A flashlight with batteries of course is a delight for kids up to 5 or 6 or so. Parents wont let them use the adult one so as not to wear out the batteries.

I’ve had those along with these (a roll of raffle tickets) on my Amazon list for a long time: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UUK7ZE/?coliid=I1L0E5TZ7SBO97&colid=1ZS62AML9490O&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I’m pretty sure my kids would love both.

Dude Toby is so much classier than me.

My four year-old ALWAYS asks for light up balloons, for EVERY occasion. They are an awesome low-cost gift, and bring endless joy. They are like 4 bucks at Walgreens. Turn off all the lights and have yourself a little kiddo dance party.

I used to love ‘grading papers’ when I was a child. I would play Teacher and my parents bought me some of those old-school grading books to keep track of fake test scores and homework. The best gifts aren’t the most expensive ones but rather the ones that spark the imagination!

I love this list! We played Post Office for hours with old transfer forms from my mum and dad and rubber stamps, having our little brother run around the house and deliver the “mail” :)
A gift for kids that always is a big hit with the under 5 year olds is a simple paper crane with flapping wings. Just look up “origami flapping bird” on youtube to learn it, it’s one step simpler than the classic paper crane.
I let the kids draw something on a square of paper and then transform that into the crane – they love it.

That’s a great idea, I would have love it when I was a child!
Here are the greatest hits from our story of cheap but fun presents:
– for a small group of 3yo kids friends of my son, we wrapped little flashlights in simple white paper sheets, we switched them on through the paper, switched off the room light and gave to them in the dark: huuuuuge surprise!
– for a 8yo creative girl, I collect for a period before her birthday every sort of stuff (coloured papers cutouts, fabric offcuts, ribbons, buttons, pieces of wavy cardboard – I don’t know if you say so in english – and anything that caught my eye), then I put everything into a cute box and she adored it.
– For kids of any age, I make notebooks. It sounds complicated but it means basically to fold some sheets in two, choose a heavier paper for cover and then staple all together with a long stapler (this is the only thing required). You can print a special cover with a kid photo, or use different colours sheets for the inside, make a regular format notebook or very tiny one, add a ribbon as bookmark. The secret is the occasion and how you make it special: for a trip, it will be a travel journal, for a visit in a museum, it will serve as a sketches book, or you can put surprise pages inside simply drawing or writing little things here and there. No limits to your imagination, and the more you know the child, the better. When we have dinner with friends, especially when -rarely- we go at a restaurant, I usually bring a few pages simple notebooks for my son and the other kids and some crayons: they stay seated all the time, drawing on their own notebook or exchanging them to play together.

We are the last in our group of friends to have children so we seem to always have a delivery of hand-me-downs on our porch. When our boys have birthdays our rule is “absolutely no gifts, and if you bring one, you’ll be taking it home with you.” We’ve been told by other parents that they are the best birthdays to attend because there is no pressure to wonder what we want, what we could use, what price range is appropriate etc.

That said, I do always bring a gift to an older sibling when a new baby is born and I find bubbles are a great option. Again, so inexpensive and they just draw kids into each other’s company. It’s a very social activity for even the most introverted children, and when they run out, a little dish soap tops it up!

A light up soccer ball that lights when you kick it! You can get them in toddler sizes, they’re under $10 most places, and it’s like light up sneakers, but for a whole group of partygoing young folks.

One of the best gifts I ever got my kids was a magnetic whiteboard and a set of dry erase markers. I gave it to my daughter when she was about 8 and she’s still using it at 12.5. It’s great for playing teacher, doodling, playing games like tic-tac-toe and hangman, and coloring stuff together with friends.
Other really successful gifts I have given my girls are crafts kits (especially beading and cross-stitch, which keep them pretty busy) and a hairdresser’s mannequin head for them to practice hairdos and braids.
But the best gift I ever gave has to be a photo album I made for one of them. I printed a ton of pictures just of that child, from birth to current age, being sure to include important events and holidays, etc. (There are pictures of her with siblings and her parents and grandparents, but the focus is on her.) I wrote her name on the cover in big fancy letters. I gave it to her about four years ago and she’s still adding to it…

Giant cardboard boxes (like from an appliance) are free and make excellent rocket ships.

First of all, these are sophisticated dinners. You are raising some classy kids! Second: What is keto? Third: I hope that wine is $10 for a bottle.

The lesson that children (2-4.5 yos) love most in my in home preschool: a little canvas bag called the tool kit. It has a couple magnifying glasses, mini flashlights, a small tape measure, and a small hour glass (minute timer from a game). I think any combo of these or similar would be fun, for older kids too. They’re open ended and lead to exploration.

Band-aids! A favorite gift for all occasions.

So cool!!! (This was secretly my favorite part of my waitressing job when I was in college – and also pushing the slip down on the sharp spike for the kitchen!)

We often will get a friend whatever favorite book our kids are enjoying at the moment. Shirley Hughes’ books have never ever failed us.

For late elementary kids, we like to get one of the maker’s kits at AC Moore or a craft store in whatever interest the kid has – science, robots, sewing, soap, jewelry, uhhhhhh so many options I can’t even recall.

This makes me so so so happy! When I was little, I always loved going to the local stationery shop (pre-Staples, Office Max, etc.) and had a ball with all the paper products, pens, pencils, and everything else office-y related. I distinctly remember picking out some receipt books and pens for friends for their birthdays in elementary school and we all thought they were the coolest things for playing Store, Restaurant, and even School :) I’m so happy these little simple pleasures are still around “kids these days” still love them!

When our girls were young, there would be dinners when we would pull all leftovers from fridge and to the counter. Husband and I would sit at the table and girls would come around and take our dinner orders on their little notepads…. “Yes, we have that… Would you like that with a scoop of potatoes…. Sorry, we just sold out of the chicken.” I would hop up and heat the order in microwave. They would squeal with giggles when I would tell our waitresses, “Order up.” It was all a hoot. Then. Suddenly…. They grew up. Sigh.

Such a great idea! My nieces and nephews play restaurant all the time – even at 10 years old! They LOVE taking drink orders at dinner time while setting the table. Thanks for the idea!

Oooh, this is is SUCH a good idea! Similarly, tickets — the little tear-apart ones used for school raffles and such — have produced hours of fun at our house.