Moving away from the toy asiles at Target…..what are some good gift ideas that promote discovery, exploration, ect……I am overwhelmed already with how much junk we have, so would like to learn how to give lasting, meaningful gifts.
We like things that we can create with…open ended. Lego, snap circuits, playmobil, blocks, little cars, wooden trains and tons of books. Other gifts include things like outdoor toys (beach buckets, shovels, balls, veggie seeds. The best gift we give for birthdays is a day out with either mom or dad alone. Lunch, movie, hike, museum have all created wonderful memories.
My younger son loves nature gifts, and my older son loves gifts that help him learn more about history and famous people. With those in mind:
-a bird call -a bird house or bird feeder (my son loved his clear bird feeder that attaches to a window so that he can closely watch the birds) -binoculars or a pocket microscope -a nature journal with a set of quality colored pencils -a field guide or poster. My son likes his Sibley bird poster -biographies of famous people or audio books (my kids listen to their audio books over and over again) -grow kits (grow a butterfly, grow a ladybug, grow a frog, an ant farm – we LOVE to do these!)
Some other family favorites:
-museum memberships or passes -educational board games (Ticket to Ride and 10 Days in the USA are big hits around here) -educational DVDs (my oldest son loved Liberty’s Kids and America: The Story of Us; my younger son really likes the Magic School Bus series) -art supplies
We try to give out kids lasting stuff. Examples of things we have given them: sleeping bags, camping equipment, fishing poles, this Christmas we are going to get them binoculars. My kids are 5, 3, 7m. We bought nice sleeping bags that should fit them until age 10 or so. We like art supplies, or out door things such as a scooter, or bike. Or magnifying glass.
We are in the process of some major purging. In our house what is consistently most played with/used is:
Girls – baby dolls and accessories, play kitchen and accessories, Legos and books
Boys – train set, cars/trucks, balls, Legos and books
My oldest is big into fishing and hunting so a lot of his gifts are outdoorsy – for his birthday coming up we got him a knot book, a new fishing rod that better matches his skills and abilities (no more cheap equipment for him, I’m afraid), and possibly a weather station with rain gauge, thermometer and weather vane. My mom bought him a gear kit for legos to make more moving parts. He’s also eyeing some of those wooden kits that are pre cut (I believe it was a pirate ship) at Lowes. My 5 year old daughter’s favorite gift was a box of gently used preemie and NB clothes for her baby dolls. She is starting to get into sewing now and is asking for a pink sewing machine so that will likely be next on the list (an adult one, not a flimsy kid version). I have been impressed with her hand sewing ability. She’s not terribly coordinated but did a nice job on a simple running stitch embroidered heart for my friend’s baby quilt. DH’s whole side of the family always buys clothes so I am fortunate that they get new wardrobes twice a year (and the time, effort and money isn’t wasted on random toys and things).
Oh, and art supplies. My kids were so excited when DH’s aunt bought them skeins of white paper. Stamp pads, colored pencils, markers, pens, etc. are also well received.
All the above ideas are great! We also have really enjoyed many of the logic games that Timberdoodle sells. My daughter really has loved getting a lovely tea cup, or tea set (a real one to use for tea time with poetry). My boys are still young and you can’t beat getting them a ball to run around with outside. I think this Christmas we might get my daughter a special shadow box to display her rock collection in. A treasured thing of hers is this lovely little box with butterlies on it that she stores all of her flowers in that she’s pressed from nature walks. I’m sure these would actually be better served being pasted into a notebook, but to her, putting something in a pretty little box warms her heart.
Classical Kids CDs are great. We love Beethoven lives upstairs and Mr. Bach Comes to Call the most.
Sewing kit with fabric scraps as well as basic supplies like needles and thread. Maybe some printed instructions on how to make projects on the child’s ability level.
Yarn, crochet hook, and beginning crochet book or video
Recorder and beginner recorder book or video
Craft kits
2nd camping supplies recommendation. For my own kids things like tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks. For friends things like flashlights or headlamp, mess kit, poncho, canteen, etc….
My friend and I made bean bags in fun fabric one year. We painted numbers on tin cans to stack in a triangle and keep score by how many cans and what point values dropped down. The handwritten card came with a few bean bag game ideas I printed off the internet. We put the cans and bean bags in a basket (looks like a basket you get when you buy fresh produce or fruit in a bushel).
Card stock, ribbons, hole puncher, decorative edge scissors, stamps, ink pads and other fixings to make homemade cards or bookmarks.
Kitchen apron with some kitchen utensils like spatula, muffin tins, cookie cutters, etc…..
Art easel, paper on a roll, canvas, paints, good quality brushes, artist apron
Books like Favorite Poems old and New, James Herriot Treasury for Children, A Child’s Garden of Verses, Handbook of Nature Study, Meet the Orchestra, and others.
For young ones, we love the Tales of Beatrix Potter DVDs. The ones, maybe by BBC but not sure, that are calm and have illustrations that match up to the ones in the book.
A tree to plant in the yard with info about the tree,
Budget permitting, a telescope.
Compass
Field guides
Fancy pen and stationary.
Origami paper and instructions
Gift pass to a local planetarium if this is an option
We started giving useful gifts as already mentioned! Outdoor things,building things,books,etc..A website I like for ideas from crafts to outdoor adventure to hobbies is http://www.jmcremps.com .