OT - Non-ordinary gift ideas for kids?

tarheelmatt

I am just not a fan of swinging by Walmart/Target and getting a toy and a card for kids birthdays.  I like items that they'll use or that is of value for them possibly later on in life.  Maybe a little weird, but that is the way I am.  

My good friend has both his son and daughters birthday party this Saturday.  The boy is two and his daughter is four.  

Thought about getting something from the U.S Mint, but feel like I may get some weird side-eye action.  Also thought about a savings bond too, but the same feeling I don't really want.  

Money or a gift card was also thought of too, but seems informal at times.  Granted I like money on my birthday.  

Anyone else like this?  Anyone know of something neat and possibly something they could cherish long down the road when a toy isn't desired or played with?  

Hokie_Smoker

A factory set of baseball cards, in about 10 years they'll have something cool. I got factory sets of cards every year from the time I was about 7 through 18, I still like to flip through them.

Darby_Crenshaw

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.

tarheelmatt

Hokie_Smoker said:

A factory set of baseball cards, in about 10 years they'll have something cool. I got factory sets of cards every year from the time I was about 7 through 18, I still like to flip through them.

I loved some ball cards too growing up and have looked at them from time-to-time as well.  Maybe something to look into for the boy.  He's named after my buddies favorite NFL player, Cameron Newton.  

tarheelmatt

Darby_Crenshaw said:

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 like the book idea and there will likely be a book involved as my wife is a Language Arts teacher.  

One of my best friends gave my little girl a mint set for her birthday that I thought was pretty cool.  Obliviously, not so much for her now, but later on I hope she'd appreciate it.  

gdenby

Some ideas.

The kids are pretty young. Don't know if I can remember anything received before the age of 4. I have a grandson who is about 20 months, he likes trucks that make sounds, and large clip together building blocks. I do recall spending a lot of time with early versions of Lego-like blocks and an old toy call Lincoln Logs.

I always liked coloring books, and my kids, pre-computer, spent many hours w. crayons and markers. I made a set of kid size drawing boards, and put them in a cabinet with lots of paper, and the crayons, etc. in lunch boxes. They spent many hours enjoying those.

I had a shelf full of books next to my bed. Made sure my kids did too. My grandson has one, and he's just getting to the point where he really interested in the content, not just pulling them off the shelf and throwing them around the room.

fishlessman

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

BRush00

Coming from a Non-Parent type, I'd vote for 'experiences' rather than 'presents'.  Personally, I remember a Christmas trip to Disneyland better than any christmas present-toy I've ever gotten.

Maybe Disney's not in the cards, but a camping trip, beach day, something fun and memorable.  Hopefully those memories will last for years to come.

Then again, given their age, maybe better to save this till a later birthday....

jimithing

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. 

theyolksonyou

Matching pair of minimaxes

And a toy. They'll love you forever

Legume

for kids that age, we've gone and put together gifts that were collections of age appropriate outdoor stuff -  bug nets, collection containers, plastic magnifying glass, flashlight, bucket or backpack to carry it in, etc.  I've seen 3-4 year old kids (boys and girls) lose their minds just running around in their backyard exploring.  you can add books about bugs, safari kind of clothes, kid binoculars, compass, etc.

theyolksonyou

@legume my kids loved that stuff.  We also had a little terrarium from national geographic that they would keep frogs or lizards in for a day or two before releasing them to the wild  

Phatchris

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

fishlessman

the only thing i have from that time in my life is my wooden toy box got different toys in it now though

GATraveller

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

Legume

Another thing we did with our kids - not as gifts but easily could've been - we would buy halloween costumes on clearance day after halloween in various sizes.  we always had a huge trunk filled with that stuff that our kids would use themselves, with neighborhood kids, etc.  Spacemen with cowboy hats and firemen with pirate eye patches were a common site, always good to get the kids to be active and work their imaginations.  And yes, I insisted they have real cap guns with real roll caps.

Legume

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.

fishlessman

Legume said:

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.

bet he will cut himself with every new knife he gets, i know i have

Legume

me too @fishlessman

Hokie_Smoker

You could always go with a SRF brisket and some Pappy Van Winkle, then say "What? Not age appropriate! I'll keep it my damn self then!"

Jstroke

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. 

tarheelmatt

@Legume , I really liked your bug catching idea.  

Found this on Amazon.  Thought I'd couple that with a bug book as well.  And may just buy two of them as the boy is getting older too.  

Actually, I may buy three, one for my little girl too!  

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FY2VDO/ref=ox_sc_imb_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARE6X5TFDQCZW

Book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0545273307/ref=ox_sc_imb_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Hook_emHornsfan_74

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.  

Danielson

http://www.amazon.com/WEDGiTS-Deluxe-Set-30-Piece/dp/B000068E3J
Best toy ever for kids and adults

Legume

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.

Hook_emHornsfan_74

Yeah I started when he was 1.  He is 5 now.  Doesn't really appreciate it yet, but I hope he will when he gets older.  He is starting T-ball today.  So maybe he will catch the bug.  

DoubleEgger

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

DoubleEgger

Tickets to the zoo in Asheboro? 

MelSharples

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...

tarheelmatt

DoubleEgger said:

Tickets to the zoo in Asheboro? 

I thought about doing that Michael.  I did get them the little adventure kit where they can observe the insects along with a book of insects they can learn about.  

Actually got three of the books.  One for each of my friends kids and one for my little girl.  

stlcharcoal

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.