Ideas for non thing things for age 6, 4 and 1

[ridingsixwhitehorses]

iLs have asked for ideas for kids bdays and xmas (3 kids all have bdays within six week of xmas).

We have loads of stuff and little
room and I already have all my ideas to my own parents eg new duvet covers, a cool jacket for 4yo ds, dressing up outfit for 6yo dd, colouring and painting set for dd.

They all like to get things. They would no way go for vouchers or tickets for things.

Help....

Adopt an animal in you childrens names? Day trip to local zoo so ils can go too?

kids magazine subscription (then you bin the magazines once they have done the puzzles etc)

What about outdoor toys? Don't know about budget but trampoline/trampette, water/sand tray, slide, climbing frame, ride on toys etc

Something for the garden? We have birthdays before and after Christmas so they are getting a seesaw from the grandparents

-exciting stationery with real stamps? (can be posted back out to grandparents etc)
-childrens recipe book and ingredients/exciting things to put on top of buns/cookie cutters shaped like dinosaurs etc
-story CDs (can all be decanted into a flip pocket book or transferred onto the computer)
-character pajamas/slippers/dressing gown?

Toucan box? So they could have the first box as a present, with the others to come.

would they like to cook? Could you get them a hamper of things you could use to make and then eat festive food with them (I am thinking stuff with chocolate and marshmallows etc. here)

Card making kit? then you could use the cards

I was also going to say trip to the zoo! The DC's loved it when they were 4 and 1.

I'm not sure if it would work with 3 children, but my 2 want "a night and breakfast in a Premier Inn".

mine like premier inns also. And Travel Lodges. We might be visiting granny so might get to stop over. Last time we managed to stay in a YHA hostel in a castle. We got the oubliette.

Nice books? The Pop Up Pull Out Space Book, the new illustrated Harry Potter books, any pop up by Matthew Reinhart or Robert Sabuda all spring to mind.

Things that look impressive but pack away very small like Inflatable armchairs, pop up tents and den building kits

Add-ons to existing toys; additional packs of Lego, extra Brio track, etc. Things that will fit inside existing boxes basically!

Giant bubbles (think they might be called dragon bubbles?) we have these and they are fantastic.

Bedroom stuff; a super-soft fleece blanket, hot water bottle, framed picture/poster, rug (one of those roadway or playscene type ones maybe), etc.

I think these are perhaps more thing-like than you're after, sorry!

Apron, cake sprinkles & cup cake cases or a boxed mix. Mine still remember it, and still use the aprons.

I used to do homemade playdough with glitter in their stockings when they were younger.

Fun storage? something like the lego storage boxes.

Swimming bags and towels? (possibly personalised)
Parachute for parachute games (folds up small)
Pictures to go on their bedroom walls

Eco kids magazine for the 4 year old and whizz pop bang for the 6 year old.
Or a cardboard play house/castle, kids spend ages and ages colouring it but when not in use it folds behind the sofa. They are great, robust and last ages until too battered.
Something for their bedroom walls? Really nice canvass of some sort, you can get lovely animal or dinosaur world map designs on not on the high street. Or get prints of illustrations from books, things that they won't grow out of for years and years.
Or as someone else said get into things like Lego that can be added to. Duplo for the smallest one but the others are big enough for proper Lego.

Dvds/ games console games etc. All small and don't take up much room.

Personally would go for books, especially for the 6 year old, you can never have too many.

Clothes, coats, hat/scarf/gloves, pjs, slippers, dressing gowns
Something useful like a torch?
Craft stuff- you have to store it initially but it gets used up!

I don't rate the lego storage boxes- the heads are great but the large blocks are much smaller than they look as they are raised underneath for stacking, the indents on the inside are impossible to get the tiny pieces out of, and very difficult to get the lids off.

I love the big Lego storage boxes but filled the indents with clear mastic!

vouchers for each of them for different things i.e. cinema, restaurant, bowling so you can have a family fun day out