Nephew is 7!!

[Spencer0220]

Posting here for traffic. I originally posted in toys and games and got nowhere.

Nephew is 7 beginning of March and I'm stuck. DSis literally no help as she doesn't agree with my £25 budget. Thinks all I will buy is something crap! £25 is literally all we can afford.

This was Christmas and he loved it: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092VWCQF8?ref=cmmswrrcsowaaapindppXE6HGCY9PPJMJTRB9BJM&cafHiResImg=1&language=en-GB

He loves anything craft/paint based. No modelling clay please.

Has a few paint by numbers. Not sure if he wants more. Loves marvel, Roblox and football.

Thank you so much x

Give him the cash - he'll be thrilled with having spending money

Will he though? I can barely remember the 'main' presents I got at 7, 8, 9 or 10 - much less the token gifts from aunties and uncles.

What modest gift did your aunty buy you for your 8th birthday?

I get so miffed when people are so focused on the cost of something. The thought is much more important.

Imagine if you go him something he wasn’t interested in, but spent £120 on it. Would she prefer that? Very odd of her, and very cheeky to think she can dictate your budget.

These sets look amazing! Definitely investing for future birthdays/Christmas, thanks for sharing.

Dsis is a cow and £25 is very generous. This birthday for DN (based off DSis comment) is a perfect time to reflect the breadth of what £25 can bring to her life:

Painting sets
Slime
Mosaic sets
Lego
Marbles
Baking sets
PYO pottery
Stickers, lots and lots of them!

I love all that stuff above BTW but sense DSis won't, I'd go with that! 😆

The works always has loads of nice craft stuff that's reasonable, check out charity shops as well for unused, unwanted art sets

😥
Imagine if all adults had that attitude, the children who got no presents ever most definitely would remember. It doesn’t have to be expensive, materialistic, plastic or spoiling the child, but no gifts ever? really?

OP lots of great suggestions here and his mum is so ungrateful- £25 is generous of you.
The best gift we received at that age was this butterfly kit: https://amzn.eu/d/hqQVSre

Always has been. And will buy gifts before paying bills.

A couple Christmases ago I discovered she was using 3 food banks the same week she was buying frivolous stuff and refusing money from her husband 🤬

I don't think he'll be like her at all.

He's one of the sweetest, happiest kids we know. As long as we have paper and a pen, he's happy.

The only birthday presents I really remember from that sort of age (too many decades ago) are 2 goldfish in a bowl (first ever pets, and I used birthday money to buy them a bigger, much nicer home) and a Famous Five book - Five Go To Smugglers’ Top. 🙂

I think you’re deliberately misunderstanding. I hope you feel clever with your sarcastic question. Of course I don’t remember what my aunt got me at 8.

What I meant is, at 7 the nephew will be well aware of who got what, whereas a 1yr old would not.

I'm storing these up for Christmas and also another nephew would love a lot of these suggestions

Nice idea, but he'd rather a gift. I asked. I think mummy might be taking some of the the money for things.

When my nephew was seven, he loved building cardboard forts and planes and things. So I got him a box of duct tape, paper fasteners, glue, scissors, string, and other ‘building’ materials. He was very happy indeed!

Prang Watercolor Palette is surprisingly good for a cheaper paint option. That plus a mixed media pad would be a lovely gift.

Do you ever take him out? Only asking because our local Hobbycraft do some fab artsy/crafty sessions for kids in school holidays that are really reasonable - might be an idea for him to try something new, away from home so Mum doesn't get the mess, and give you some time to enjoy with him?

My DS loves a painting session at Games Workshop (Warhammer geek) and a bubble tea or Starbucks on the way home. Really chills him out and I really enjoy some lovely, calm time spent with him. He's got a lovely little collection of figures now.

That's such a lovely idea. Fab aunting! 👏

If she doesn't like your budget, buy him a small Schleich set and be sure to include a catalogue..... you'll cost her a fortune🤣

Hama beads and diamond dotz are popular here but the smaller sets like keychains are best

VBNZBK 6 Sets of DIY Diamond Painting Keychain,DIY Full Diamond Diamond Dinosaur Painting Keychain Pendant,Christmas Art Decoration,Female Wallet Backpack Handbag Decoration https://amzn.eu/d/4Q8kqdA

Your sister is ridiculous! How much does she expect you to spend? I generally spend around £25-£30 on my nephew and my husband and I have a decent income. My sister in law doesn’t have much money so I don’t expect her to spend that on my kids. If she buys them something small but thoughtful that’s lovely! I would be inclined to do the same if I were you. But something g your nephew will like but don’t spend as much as £25 as your sister won’t appreciate it and your nephew couldn’t care less how much you spent. My daughter loves slime, any craft packs with different coloured paper, pens, stickers etc, build a scene out of foam type stuff, baking things, make your own jewellery set… Smiggle often do great sales on stationary things like glitter pens or nice note books so you can get quite a bit for your money on something that’s normally expensive.

That's roughly our budget for nephews and nieces (and reciprocal)

Over the years, it's got board games, craft materials, beautiful books, jigsaws, magnet sets, STEM kits, video games (joint for siblings to double the budget, or gift cards towards them!), all really well received by the kids (and their adults!)

£25 is definitely more than enough.

Sadly I'm not local enough. But my mum is and they'd probably love going together, so I could still look into that.

You can get loads for £25, it’s a generous budget. Your sister must be as ignorant as she is rude if she doesn’t realise that.

Classes are like £5-8 so he could probably pick up a few supplies extra. Shopping in hobbycraft is like heaven for artsy folk so a gift card would be a treat for him either way.

I also signed DS up to an online lego build course once, it was really cheap and he just sat on camera for an hour with some basic bricks and the person gave them ideas for quick builds. The kids were from all over the world, it was so cute watching how eager they were to show each other their little builds and chat about lego. He also did a Godzilla one where they all just geeked out about their favourite Godzilla movies and toys. So funny to watch them.

I agree that Dsis is being ridiculous re budget. £25 is in no way a throw away amount, especially for a 7 year old. You're putting a lot of thought into things he'd like and that's what counts more than anything with kids.

That sound ungrateful and unkind .£25.00 is perfectly enough for a present .He will love it.The thought that counts and all that!

Go to Hobbycraft and pick up an interesting craft kit. Loads in your budget there. Just ignore his mum, she's incorrect!