To be totally stumped as to what to get ds (4) for his birthday and to consider only getting a couple of things

[lecce]

Sorry for the wordy and dull title.

We seem to have got toys all wrong. Although both sets of our parents make it clear we have a ridiculous amount, compared to friends we seem to have sod all and our two boys rarely seem to play with any of it anyway.

Ds2 will be 4 in July so I am starting to think about it but, tbh, I am sick of spending a fair old bit of money just for it to never be played with. What he really loves is a CD of 'Suessical the Musical' which he would have on non-stop if we let him. He wears a witch's hat to be Cat in the Hat and dances around singing along. He sometimes plays with his soft toys; he enjoys crafts but not with any input from us so need to be simple, and other than that he just likes pottering around making dens or baking and going out.

I am totally stumped and very disinclined to spend much more than £20ish if it is not going to be played with. He has asked for Peppa Pig toys but has tonnes of small-world type stuff and I'm sure he won't play with it.

But I then think that maybe if we spent more money on toys and had as many as our friends all have, the dc would play with them more. Oh, I don't know.

WIBU to just get some paints and glitter, maybe a Cat in the Hat costume and then ...seems mean, doesn't it?

My four year olds love paper planes. We got a brilliant book this one from the Book People and they love it.

I never spend much on my boys, they love Hotwheels and the like, why bother spending £££?

Castle with knights

we have DT sons turning 4 next month
have bought some outside toys and a few other things but not loads.
gp have got scooters, trampoline etc for them

have requested build a bear vouchers from people so we can do it as a family activity but I completely agree they don't need lots of stuff

Space hopper!!

Well if he like peppa pig could you take him to peppa pig world for the day? Or day out somewhere else? I can not bring myself to add to our toy mountains so we are taking DS to legoland for his 4th birthday (only because we have been to pp world a thousand times ).

Agree that BaB doesnt have to be stupidly expensive.

Was in toysrus today. Branded cuddly toys were 20-30 quid!! BaB would be 12 at the most for a bear, then spiderman outfit is, I think, 12 or 13. And the point is, they ask for outfits from then on, they'll never ask for another bear, just outfits

Are you near an ikea, i got ds1 a pop up tent for £17 that looks like a circus tent. He loves it, spends hours playing different games in it.

Thank you all for the ideas- and the reassurance.

I do think we are going to go for Build a Bear as it seems to be his type of thing. I showed the website to DS1 (6) and asked him if he thought his brother would like it and he agreed. He has no interest in it himself but said he would like to go along and 'help' ds2. So, would I look like a totally cruel mother if we took ds1 along and didn't get him a bear? If they both get one it won't be much of a birthday present for ds2. Another dilemma...

HE'S 4 YEAR'S OLD. At that age, he'll be delighted with the "Seusical The Musical" cd you said he'd like. Couple that with maybe a dress up Cat in the hat costume, he'll be over the moon!
Who cares what every one else is doing? It's not a competition. You'll only end up defeated and broke if tbat's your otlook.
Concentrate on what YOUR child would love and you can't go far wrong!

Nah, get ds2 a voucher for BaB then ds1 will realise it's ds2 spending his voucher. If you just say "hey we're going to BaB then it'd be harder to get away with not buying ds1 anything. Fwiw you can buy wee bears for approx 5-8 quid plus little outfits for a fiver if that makes you feel better. But personally id make it clear that it's ds2's bday treat, and ds1 is just helping

How about a day trip to PP world and he can get something from the gift shop.

Hi again lecce - have been browsing my 'recommendations' on amazon - this Dr Seuss card game looks like it might be good!

My ds is coming up to 4 and also has a lot of toys he ignores. He does play with his castle, vet set and a set of rainbow my little ponies.
He is making his birthday list (which changes every day) but has consistently asked for a robo fish and some club penguin stuff like his friend next door has. Will get him those and some books.
He has had his room redecorated as well so that was really his birthday present as he chose what he would like.