Can you be 'too cheap' for kids bday party gifts?

[Kab3042]

Dd has had 4 party invites from class mates between now and April. 2 are also joint parties with younger pre school or reception age siblings (Dd is year 2 if relevant). So not sure whether I need to get the sibling something too?!

Even with the classmates alone, it's 4 gifts. Potentially 6 if you get the for the siblings. Can you look too cheap?

I'm thinking nice colouring books. Aldi had some nice large colouring books for £1.99 this morning and some pencils or felt tips perhaps? So £3-4 each? Too tight? Home bargains also had colouring books for 90p.

we are struggling financially and have my older sons birthday in a few weeks then Dd's soon amongst everything else we have to pay for too.

@DontLookBackInAnger1, if your aim with the party is for people to spend roughly the amount you have spend on that child, the id suggest you don’t have a party.

First of all, you have no idea of the financial personal circumstances of each family. Expecting a gift of a certain monetary value is crap.
Then what your child will get is a lot of tat, plastic tat that they will likely never play or use (even if the parents have spent £5 on it). Just make a better use of that money and buy them a present they actually want and use instead..

When mine were going to joint parties I bought the classmate a gift and the sibling got a card and some sweets

And what @Playplayaway said.

Don’t overthink it. Many parents will regift anyway. And imo a colouring book or a book plus a packet of sweet is perfect. Much better than a lot of the plastic tat my dcs often received.

Just buy for the child in the class and put a fiver in the card with a bag of sweets if you can do so. Most children/parents don’t know what gift has come from whom by the time the party is over. In fact, they’re just glad it’s over with and probably thinking “never again” rather than concentrating on who’s bought what.

I may be outing myself but this was years ago and might be useful for you.
I used to do a 'cress kit' of a packet of seeds (about a pound) a handful of cotton wool balls and a laminated photocopy sheet of simple instructions: put face on eggshell, put cotton wool in eggshell, dampen, sprinkle , wait, cut and eat etc with little drawings. It seemed home made and personal but wasn't hard and didn't take long or cost much.
We went through a year of giving these at parties and friends expressed disappointment if they didn't get one.
Maybe something like that would work for you?

Colouring books are fine but not very exciting. I would get stationary they might not have already like scented pens. Or something they might like scented lip balm and some sweets.
Also agree siblings presents aren't needed.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. We have a stock of stuff we pick up when on offer and mostly get things that are “worth” a bit more for £4-6 per item. I’d be surprised if anyone to spend more than £10 or so on a kids birthday gift and think around £5 is the norm

I would hate to think that anybody felt obliged to spend more than they could afford because their child had a party invite. I think a colouring book and pencils is a lovely gift and my children would have been happy with it too. Equally I remember ds being delighted to receive one of those sharing bars of chocolate and a packet of stickers.

Don’t buy for the siblings.

I try to spend £10 or under for present, card and wrapping paper. Card is usually 50p from Tesco or £1 max from card factory. Present is between £5 and £8.

I have 5 and 6 year olds. I would prefer a nice colourful notepad and fancy pen to something plastic that will go straight in recycling.

My favourite presents for 5/6 year old parties atm are:

Magical Maths game - £5 from Boots
Unicorn/mermaid activity pad - £5.99 from Smyths Toys

Craft materials are always a good idea, look in charity shops too for sealed gifts.

I just stick £5 in a card. Unless I know both children I only buy one gift. Best/Close friends get £10 if I can afford it

[quote mumof2exhausted]Personally my kids would hate colouring books, they’d probably end up in the recycling. Argos often do 2 for £15 toys. Or something like this if they are into Harry Potter www.argos.co.uk/product/7890330?clickSR=slp:term:harry%20potter%20card:2:149:1[/quote]
The problem with class parties is you don't know what the kids like. My kid would love a colouring book but has never read Harry Potter and doesn't like card games, so your gift suggestion would be useless.

You just have to go foe something cheap and cheerful which is likely to appeal to the majority of kids. Pens, stickers, books and craft stuff is usually a safe bet, but its never a guarantee.

Don’t buy for the siblings. Get your kids to make a card. I also bulk buy wrapping paper on eBay it’s much cheaper. A £4 gift is fine.

Things I've bought for 5th & 6 th birthdays

Dobble card game

Hex bug nano set ( flash orbit set is reduced at the moment )

Dino alive ( for a dinosaur party)

Superhero stories from the 5 minute stories range - avengers and the Dc

Schleich sets ( horse vet one or the little animals like hamsters) often some reduced in Symths toys

Super Mario top trumps board game ( but was £16, so I try to stay more £10-12)

Seen Lego dot sets quite cheaply, but looked fiddly. My DS struggles with Lego generally which is often the gift of choice for infant age.

I think £ a very few is fine. The one thing I would say is wrap it up as that is half the joy for young children. Apart from close friends I have not spent £15 £20 on a normal birthday party. & certainly no presents for siblings.

I think to say that you have spent a lot on your child's party & would not be impressed with a cheap present is just frankly not on. The party is for your child's enjoyment & their friends - not because you expect to get expensive presents back. DS had a friend whose parents were very very well off - I think the going home present cost more than he took. But it did not matter , everyone was happy. If anyone has the time and the inclination to look through their young child's presents & deliberately go out and buy "some Aldi tat" well good luck to them . I did not . & I am pretty sure the likes of Aldi & other places have some things which will amuse young children enough. The book bundles and splitting them up are a good idea. As are Maltesers - I think I read this some time ago - so still going..

Save your money for when your / other children want more expensive things

What I have done when DS was younger ( as others ) if there was a duplicate I have scooped it up and it does go to another party. I am unashamed about this - what is the point of having two things exactly the same .

As they get older and parties ( tend ) ( well in my experience ) to be smaller then there are fewer parties so there probably won't be legions in a short time.

I would not worry about a very inexpensive present at all , not one jot. But I would wrap it in whatever you have to hand

All best

Oh and just to add we never gave cash - don't know if she time on this is a thing

Amazon have a ton of kids books on a 2 for £7 offer, add a card and some kind of sweets to each and you have two gifts.

Flying Tiger do loads of puzzles, notebooks, pens, craft activities, and the like. My daughter was given a hairbrush from there years ago and it’s still her favourite.

Also don’t get why you would buy for siblings.

£3-4 pp is fine.

Anything is more than generous. We had so many colouring books I said in the end a pound or two for his piggy bank which he could then buy something.

Why not buy an easter egg? They are a decent present and cool to open.

Do not buy for siblings.

@Meadmaiden

The only thing I would say from this thread is don't get haribo!

Lots seem to be suggesting it, but it really won't suit a lot of people. It's not vegetarian, halal, or kosher. It's terrible for health and teeth. It's full of colourings. Many children don't like gummy sweets too.

Nothing wrong with cheap gifts, and lots of good suggestions above, but please stay away from Haribo.

You can get both Halal and vegetarian Haribo.

I don't think any are vegan, but the above two definitely exist. They're often brought into school for birthdays here.

I used to buy the 19 for £10 at the works and always seemed fine! Honestly the parents don't want lots of stuff anyway! Just a token gift is fine x

10 for £10 books**

Just to balance the £15-20 comment I live in an affluent area and while I might spend £15 for the DCs best friend when we were in peak 'all class invites' stage I absolutely bought those multibook sets that worked out as £1 per book and gave a set of 3 books. And multisets of birthday cards from the supermarket (we also had blank cards so the DC could design their own card, they still like doing that). And we always regift any duplicate presents.

Don't buy for the siblings anyway.

But no, I don't think you can go too cheap. I remember one party where one mum put a handful of sweets into an envelope for dd, with lots of apologies for it not being wrapped and all they had. I remember primarily because I wished I had known before that she was struggling and would have told her not to get anything and genuinely meant it.
Of course to dd this was the most wonderful present of all anyway!