My daughter will be turning 6 in a few weeks and relatives are asking for gift ideas for her upcoming party. We have three children, she is our second, and I feel like we already have every toy her heart could desire. We also have lots of craft stuff already. Other than clothes, do you have any fun, unique gift ideas that aren't regular toys but would still make her day? I'd love to hear any and all ideas. Thanks so much!
Thank you all for the wonderful gift ideas! I've passed on several to family members that have inquired and I also made a list of others for the future!
My daughter is a sweet little girl with a big heart! She does a wonderful job of filling up a box of toys a few times a year to donate to those in need and she also gives from her own piggy bank to our church and to help purchase mittens, hats and toys for kids less fortunate than herself during the holidays. I have asked her many times what she would like but she honestly doesn't even know. Being the middle child, she looks to her older sister and will ask for whatever she knows her sister wants even though she herself doesn't like that at all. I love the gift of an experience! My husband and I have done that the past few years for our children. Instead of giving a bunch of toys, we'll get one small present and then take them someplace special! All three of our children look forward to it! For Christmas this year, we gave each child "A Year of Dates with mom & dad". Every month, each child gets a 1:1 date with either mom or dad (we rotate each month between mom & dad). On the first day of the month, they open their envelope to see who their date will be with and what we'll be doing together! With three kids in the family very close in age, they love the quality alone time.
Thanks again!!!
I know most will say experiences, which is definitely a great idea.
But if I were 6 again, I would want someone to start a college fund for me. It will make her LIFE, not just her day. Already have one? Just have them add to it. Trust me, it probably still won't be enough.
Signed,
one broke lawyer
I would ask for experiences:
A day pass to the zoo, a water park, jump places, amusement parks, Build A Bear, that kind of thing. It sounds like she has no need for more things, so this would be a good way for her to recieve gifts that would have meaning.
Good Luck!
Experiences...roller skating, ice skating, bowling, children's play, zoo, aquarium. Books that tie into that experience so they read about that activity before they go. Kids love this, parents get to take their child without breaking the bank, the family has great family time/outing, and you don't have a bunch of junk they don't need.
Here's the thing - a 6 year old wants presents. She expects gifts.
How about something for summer - bathing suit and towel. Her own beach bag. Pool toys. A sprinkler for the lawn. A Slip N' Slide.
They make Lego sets for girls now.
It's nice to get something that is your own and not a hand me down or has to be shared with others. How about a diary and some fancy pens with feathers and sparkles.
How about a craft that teaches her to garden - I just got one that is a hedgehog. Put in the dirt and seeds and watch it grow.
Hope that helps!
Experiences.
A kids' cooking class. Trip to the local waterpark. To the zoo. Skating. To a baseball game (girls like that stuff too!). To visit the top of a REALLY tall building.
Gifts are pretty easy to forget, but experiences stay with you for the rest of your life.
Experiences - membership at your local zoo, museum, science center, nature center, etc. Dinner out at her favorite restaurant. A weekend art camp or science camp or robot camp or whatever camp she would love. NOT so big on clothes. My son has more clothes than he can wear - but that is my thing, not his thing. Clothes are a necessity at 6 - not a gift.
On the Lego topic - there should NOT be any such thing as lego for girls. Lego is Lego is Lego and it is for ALL kids. That creepy girl lego is simpler and bigger and pink and is basically dumbed down lego. Lego is a great gift - get the real stuff.
Ask her, she might surprise you with what is on her want list. My hubs at that age really wanted a fondue set. I remember really wanting a make your own rocket kit.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
Books, college fund, magazine subscriptions, membership to zoo, kids museum, etc.
My son will be 5 next week and we're in a similar boat. He's the first grandchild and the "crown prince" of our family. My father has three daughters and eight sisters... FINALLY his boy. Needless to say, we have too much in the toy department.
For the last several years, my parents and sisters have bought him "adventures". For Christmas my youngest sister took him on a real pirate adventure. For his birthday, she's taking him to lunch and to see Scooby Do Live! My parents are taking him on a day trip.
Depending on where folks live, that's a great option!
Other ideas:
- Books
- Movies
- Movie Tickets
- Cooking set (my son got one for Christmas)
- Nail polish sets
- Colored/flavored chapstick
- "Princess Makeover" (think Snippits)
Books. There are tons of book series she can enjoy. Magic Treehouse, A-Z Mysteries, Arthur, Stink, Junie B Jones, Boxcar Children, Magic Schoolbus, Harry Potter and so many more.
My 7 yr old read most of the Diary of a Wimpy kid the summer he was 6.
A pet fish?
A guppy, is easy.
One relative could buy the bowl, the other the fish, the other the other components for the fish bowl, and the food etc.
Or just whatever the relatives buy, make SURE they get a gift receipt, for it.
Experiences - if the family lives locally, they can take her for an experience. Or the local/long distance family can give gift certificates :)
Just in case you don't already have it bc I've been surprised how many people don't with kids ages 5-9, a potholder making kit. My kids spent SO much time with theirs over the past couple of years. And shockingly as my girls are 7 and 8.5, a friend gave them each a big set of bubbles - different wands and all. I couldn't believe how much they played with it!! Diaries have also always been a big hit. Another one of the best/favorite presents ever was a super fleecy, soft, pretty blanket. I had to get a similar one for my older daughter. They both love snuggling with them.
Books. You can't have too many books. (Don't double-check that with my husband, please.)
Art supplies. Not kits! Just paper, watercolors, clay, drawing pencils, pastels, tempera paints, etc., in a nice basket, for her to make discoveries with.
A trip to the nature museum, art museum, history museum, zoo, whatever is near you that your daughter would like. Include a special lunch.
A day with the grandparents all by herself.
If you have such a thing where you live, an afternoon visit to a very fancy tea shop for high tea.
On the other hand, does she love horses? Is there a stable where she can do some riding?
I'm about to talk about a toy now, but bear with me. One of our granddaughters once asked for a "good" dollhouse. By that she meant NOT a plastic thing that would fall apart in a week. A lot of us relatives got together and gave her a very, very nice (also costly) one, complete with dollhouse family, and continued to give her rooms of furniture on subsequent birthdays and Christmases. She still loves it and, she says, wants to keep it forever. Maybe she'll be able to pass it on to her daughters one day.
Membership for the museum, YMCA or zoo. Gift certificates for movies, bowling, mini-golf, go-carting, waterpark, amusement park, spa day mani and pedi etc. Theatre, symphony or ballet tickets. Summer day camp or sleep away camp paid registration. Camping equipment such as sleeping bag, flashlight or lantern. Beach towel and sun glasses. Gardening tools.
You can never go wrong with books.
My son is turning 6 this week and I asked a couple of people to give him pool toys, since we don't have many of those.
Board games are always great.
Otherwise, go for experiences - tickets to a play, a museum, a theme park, a month of dance classes or piano lessons, etc.
Clothes if she needs them.
My son, now 10, really likes getting gift cards.
And you know what? Even kids that have a lot (like mine) get the biggest luck out of the smallest stuff.
Does she have a Rainbow Loom kit?
Something for her room? A "paint a nameplate" kit? A rainbow machine? Glow in the dark stars for the ceiling? All inexpensive, all fun.
Books and bookstore gift cards are great!
Books or magazines. My six year girls have everything too and we asked for books this year. Now that they're almost reading I figure we will never have too many books.
Spend time with her. Just a gift of a small date is great. I've done this with a few kids: one, I took to the fabric store and we bought two pieces of fleece and did a knotted blanket together. Another, I took to a bead store and she picked out some pretty beads to make a necklace with-- we went to the park, had a picnic snack and did them together. Take her to make a piece of pottery truly *hers*; take her to a fun place for the afternoon like a children's museum or local arcade... time together is the best! Even an afternoon making cupcakes is perfect.:)
They could chip in for a big thing like a trampoline,
i love the college fund or museum memberships
I just bought both my girls ages 5 and (almost) 3 each a beach towel. We went to Walmart and they both picked out fabric/materiel with Ariel on it. I bought 1/4 yard (big enough for both towels) and took it to an embroidery place. They are embroidering their names on the fabric and then stitching the fabric to the towel. It's going to be super cute! Kids love stuff with their names on it :)
And DVD's...they always get scratched so its nice to have replacements!
Gifts cards to McDonalds. That way, you all can eat there as a family.
Love:
She's six. Why not ask her?
Personally? If my child had "everything" I would most likely show them charitable giving and donate the presents she is given to a charity like toys for tots or some other organization that helps children less fortunate.
If you don't want to go that route? What are her hobbies? Does she have an XBOX or Wii? maybe gift certificates to a store that carries the electronic gadget she has....
Or maybe the gift of time...time to play with her - if she's still into tea parties, maybe she could have a tea party with the family member...memories might mean more than a gift!
Good luck! Happy birthday to your daughter!
Money for college
Money for a pass to the zoo, or a museum?
Baseball game (White sox of course) :).
Gift cert to XXX store?
Llike somone else said ask..Maybe there is a toy, and she will donate a few toys before getting some new ones at the party.
I would say experiences. There is a new trampoline place by Gurnee IL-we did something similar in FL and my kids loved it. The zoo, the aquarium. I like the adopt an animal idea down below.
A lot of people are suggesting passes or memberships to museums and zoos, and I share that opinion, but I'm going to take it one more and also suggest checking out the zoo's "Adopt an Animal" program. This is usually a fundraiser to help supply whatever that animal needs, and the "Adopter" gets a certificate and picture of that animal, with its name and stats. Does your daughter have a favorite zoo animal? My aunt once "gave" me an orangutan for a year, and I remember how awesome it was to go to the zoo and visit "my" animal!
Otherwise, fun consumables. She is learning to write, I would guess, so maybe a journal and a pack of pretty pens or colored pencils. Or maybe a box of notecards, or a pack of pretty or fun postcards and a book of stamps. Kids love getting things in the mail, so maybe it could be part of a relative beginning a pen-pal (crayon pal?) correspondence?
Or a "treasure box." Any box, really, but one with a key (get a copy for yourself - in case she loses it!). Even one of those little cardboard or wooden boxes from a craft store, and a cheap little master lock, would do the trick. As long as it's pretty and has a key. Remember how thrilling it was as a kid, to have a "private" place for your "treasures?"
My daughter "has everything" as well, and to make matters worse, her birthday is less than a month after Christmas! So this year I asked her how she would feel about donating some money from her gifts to a charity of her choice. I was proud of the fact that she readily agreed. On the invitation I said something like "Since she already has more toys than she has time to play with, we're asking you to write a check to your favorite charity, or Loretta's favorite charity, _____________ instead of giving a material item." Believe me, she will still get gobs of gifts, from people who are uncomfortable with that suggestion, from people who give to the charity AND to her, and from family members. And the gift of moral integrity is priceless.
