OT - Non-ordinary gift ideas for kids?

savings bonds aren't really that great an investment, and kids don't quite "get it", especially at two and four years old.

coins as an investment, not really a good investment either, but as a keepsake.... well.  my dad used to buy a full set of the coins minted in the child's birth year (called "birth sets", not one coin from every mint, just one of every denomination).  you can get them in a case, around $20 bucks.  it's a nice token gift, but don't expect them to appreciate in value. it's just a nice thing for the sock drawer.  kid may bust them out when they are twelve and spend it on the ice cream man, and that'd be ok.

for kids that young, you'd want to still augment the whole thing with a book or toy they can play with that day.

i dunno.  for a birthday, just a toy at that age is fine honestly.  nothing noisy!  the commemorative stuff can be saved for christenings, milestone birthdays, etc.

i would go with supersoakers, its more fun watching the kids shoot the parents   the 4 year old might want a bag full of crumpled up 1 dollar bills, looks like alot when the bag is full of money. problem with money nowadays is the kid doesnt get to spend it themselves, seems the parents decide what the kid uses the money for and goes overboard influencing the child into buying something they may not want or like. by the time they are six you can start scaring the parents with their first pocket knife

Depends on how many other people will be giving them gifts.  If they've got 20 people bringing gifts then the kids will have plenty to play with and you can get something they won't necessarily use right now.  But if there are less than 10 you probably want to get them something to play with. 

Kids have no concept of monetary value so it doesn't matter if the gift is $10 or $100.  Just make it something interesting. 

This place has really well made wooden toys...http://friendlymantis.com

Give them a slackline.  Bought one for my kids when they were 4 and 6 - they love it - helps teach balance and agility.

but then there was the archery sets and pocket knives I bought a little too soon - or maybe a little too unsupervised.  as I was putting up hay bales for the archery, heard one of them crying because they had been shooting arrows at each other while waiting and one got hit on the arm (no blood). 

first knives were small case double-blade pocket knives, one cut the crap out of his finger in the first 5 minutes of whittling.

me too @fishlessman

This one is tough and I agree I like to give things that are unusual and a good experience. Remember there are two different kinds of experiences first experience of going to the beach or the science Museum and the second is the experience of having something very nice like a nice wooden toy. Or a nice wooden toy box. It gives them a nice experience to have the toy now and it also gives the experience of looking at it and touching and playing with something really worth it. 

I buy my nephew an autographed baseball every year for his bday.  That way when he is older he will have a nice collection going.  Oh and I also throw in a toy or legos as he gets older.  

Hook_emHornsfan_74 said:

I buy my nephew an autographed baseball every year for his bday.  That way when he is older he will have a nice collection going.  Oh and I also throw in a toy or legos as he gets older.  

I freaking LOVE this idea!  Now I have to wait for grandkids, mine are too old to start.

I like the idea of something that gets them out of the house. 

Can't go wrong with books, my kids still go back and re-read the books in their collections, toys get played with a few times then are forgotten about. A big sticker book is always a good idea as well. I like the coin idea but it will not be appreciated unless the Dad or Mom is a collector as well.

If you hate the parents then by all means give them something with batteries that repeats the same nauseating music or sayings over and over at high volumes. There's a special place in hell for people who give those gifts...

I have four young children and every birthday, Christmas, whatever the family brings over a bunch of junk plastic toys for them.  All cheap Chinese stuff--it's not a week later and it's broken or the pieces are no longer together.  I have boxes upon boxes of this crap that gets thrown out.  I can't give it to Goodwill because it's in a dozen pieces.

So, the rule was (although hard to enforce), is that if they bring a new plastic item into my house, they are taking one home to their house.  It helped as they started losing storage space.

What I am really trying to get them to do is give the kids experiences rather than leave them with some POS that I have to put together or teach them to play with.  Get them a Zoo membership, take one of them out to lunch, take them to the park, ANYTHING--just spend time with my kids rather than giving them material goods and candy.

So, that's my suggestion to you......look around the community for something a 2 & 4 y/o would enjoy with their parents or with your kids on a play date.  Nothing they have to use on a certain day/time, but some sort of membership or free (anytime) passes to places are great.  Monkey Joe's, BounceU, SkyZone, or something like that would be places they would love.  Or get a gift certificate to a restaurant that they you know the kids likes but they can go to as a family.

Whatever the case, you're on the right track of thinking not giving some not off the rack from WalMart. 

Edited to add: Magazine subscription too......kids love getting mail.