Kids birthday party gifts

[isitthehormones]

I can’t find anywhere appropriate so am going with AIBU as I need some help!

DC is 4, lots of friends are turning 5 and already in the last few weeks there have been two birthday parties and there are a few more before Christmas.

What gifts do you all buy? I don’t really want to be spending too much but any ideas I have seem to be £10+. I’ve tried Google and some of the gifts for parties were £60+ 😱 We have a twin party coming up so two presents are needed.

Any suggestions are very welcome.

Books, small games or craft sets from the works. Doesn't help too much now but un the January sales i normally buy a few things from early learning centre to put away in cupboard for parties through the year. Tk max is good for things around the £10 mark too.

Toysforapound

Always books or crafts. Now actually is quite a good time to buy stuff as there's loads of buy 2 get one free offers on. The Entertainer is always good for cheap presents and crafty things.

We went to the Entertainer this weekend. Got two great presents for £6 each. They really looked they cost about £15 each and I think my DD's friend will enjoy them a lot.

Orchard games
Craft sets
Stationary
Play doh
Books

Thats what we gift

I used to give books, beanie boos for a fiver.
As they got older 10+ used to give gift card.

For both the parties DD has been invited to recently (two girls turning 4 and 5) I’ve bought those ‘Sticker Dolly Dressing’ sticker books. They seem to go down well and are great value for money - you get hundreds of reusable stickers.

Books - you can get 10 for £10 sometimes in the works.
Argos 2 for £15
ASDA 2 for £20
I usually do a book and a jigsaw or colouring in with crayons.

I started a thread about this a while ago because we are a bit short of money atm.

I've bought a little unisex stash of party presents that I can chuck together. Multipack of books from The Book People which I split and add to some crafty bits (lots of cheap sets from Hobbycraft) and some bubbles or felt tips or something.

My daughter always used to get a lot of t-shirts, and jumpers. From memory, most were from Next and I think cost around the £7 mark.
I would buy a book, possibly with a box of Malteasers or similar.

Thank you all so much. I will stock up in the post Christmas sales from places like The Works and The Book People.

I just realised as we have 5 to buy for before Christmas I may as well buy one of the collection sets from The Book People now. Would a book look ok with one of these? I’ve found it on sale!

My daughter is that age. We usually go for books, small my little ponies, t shirts or craft sets.

Small playmobil sets that are about £4-7, sticker books, board games (own brand are less than £10), orchard games and puzzles, B&M do loads of 2 for £20 type toys, Argos 3 for 2 or 2 for £15. Nice bath stuff (like a Disney bubble bath with a magic flannel), a nice t-shirt maybe.

my son is coming up to five and for the last two parties i bought one boy a little lego set and another a pack of transformers. i normally ask the mums for suggestions or go off of what my son is into. the entertainer is normally good for reasonably priced toys - there’s always lots of dinosaurs and cars on offer.

Check out aldi and lidl this week lots of branded toys discounted

I often buy those Galt craft sets for that age, they are usually around £6 on Amazon, and they have a good range for boys and girls. I would just give that on its own, no need for a book with it! When they are having 20 or 30 kids to a party, they really don't need several things from each guest!

You can get Orchard Toys games/jigsaws on Amazon for around £6. Craft sets from The Works, sticker books or colouring books, Chad Valley toys from Argos are also very reasonably priced.

Home bargains are good too. Small lego sets for just under £10. Look out for things on sale and stock up!

2 for £10 at the Works I order online and click and collect to get more choice

Paint your own cup/plate around £4

Sticker book and chocolate about £4

A football (really cheap in Sports Direct) about £4

Glittery hoop (to do hoopla around waist) about £4

I usually pick up things through the year if I see anything reduced. I buy wrapping paper and birthday cards from the market they cost 4 for £1 and I have seen similar in supermarkets for £2 each.

£5 in a card is my standard go to nowadays.

Fed up buying stuff just for the sake of it so they can choose or save for something they like. Less money for me to spend, less waste for their parents to deal with. Win-win!

DD is the same age and we have 7 parties in the next 3 weeks 😩. 2 are joint parties so 9 presents.
I’ve stocked up on craft sets, unicorn themed gifts (seem to be particularly popular at her school!), Orchard games and things like scented gel pens and sparkly notepads.

Personally, I avoided giving story books at that age because some parents see it as a judgement on their child's ability if they think the book is too easy or too difficult for their child. Sticker books, etc. seem to go down better.

I remember those days well! I used to stock up on sale stuff & cheap things when I saw them- colouring books, stationery, books, craft sets, etc. Never spent over a tenner unless they were really close friends - usually between 5&10 quid. Once gave one of my son's friends (age 6 I think) a cheap, plain white t.shirt from Matalan with a pack of fabric pens to make her own design - she was beyond thrilled!!

A rummage around the toy shelves in TK Max often gets me something good for around £7.