Present-a-month idea for DD

[Kombuchainmykoffee]

Dd 8 loves getting post, parcels etc and having something to open every month.
Unfortunately where we live there are quite limited subscription options for kids, and what is available is very expensive.

Have thought up the (hopefully) brilliant idea of gifting her a 'present-a-month box' for Christmas so am thinking if I start planning now I'll have lots of time to make it fun and filled with things she'll love.

I'd like to have a bit of a theme for each month/make it seasonal e.g. I'm thinking for the October present I'll get a halloween costume or cool decoration, so will look for that this week now that everything is on sale.

Dd loves reading, lego, harry potter, imagination and adventure games. Ideally budget would be £100 max but I'm very happy to buy on vinted/charity shops etc.

All ideas appreciated! Thanks 😊

this is a wonderful idea I love this x

You say she likes reading, try https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=Noel%20streatfield&cty=uk&ds=30&dym=on&rgn=er&rollup=on&sortby=2. I’ve used Noel Streatfield just as a pricing example. Abebooks knows I’m in Australia so prices are in A$. Its cheaper in £.

Charity shops for cheap books

Fluffy socks
Gloves
Hand warmers
Cheap crafting bits from home bargains, I’ve bought my DDs the little glass art sets, and colour your own elf’s, squishies etc.. which they will get throughout December from the Elf’s that visit us.
Personalised decorations
Elf on the shelf outfit ( if you do it)
if she likes trending snacks and sweets a different one each month, like takkis, sweets from other countries
Christmas themed accessories, earrings, scrunchies, headbands
Fun notebooks with fun pens
DIY Hot chocolate kit - couple of hot chocolate sachets, mini flakes to crumble, Christmas themed marshmallows and mini candy canes

Childrens magazines and books. My dc loved them.

Is this instead of Christmas or as well, and do you intend to do this for one year or forever?

I understand your DD likes gifts, everyone does, but I think encouraging her to need regular gifts isn't a good idea - people who are less bothered about buying things tend to be happier and have more money!

A magazine subscription is a nice gift though.

Get her a Week Junior subscription. My DD loved that for many years.

Is it?

Surely most people like getting presents but the point of them is that they are something special and out of the ordinary. Not once a month ‘filled with everything she loves’. It’s akin to saying ‘my dd really doesn’t like being pushed face first into a muddy puddle’.

Having said that, mine used to get the Beano every Saturday at that age and she loved that and there was plenty of being pushed into muddy puddles in that.

I think it would be better to find a pen pal or ask people to send post cards when they go away. Send ones to herself when she visits somewhere too, that kind of thing.

Why make things hard for yourself. My kid likes money doesn’t mean she’s getting it every month. She’ll be bored of presents by the next Christmas.

Sorry, I think it’s a bad idea. It will take away the excitement of Christmas Day.

She's had a Nat Geo kids subscription for the past 2 years and while she loved it for the first year/15 months it has gotten a bit samey and she reads the whole thing in about an hour so doesn't really feel worth it anymore. It costs about €70 a year and buying Beano weekly would cost twice that? Not sure why one is a waste and the other is better?

I do appreciate what people are saying about it ruining the idea of presents, not being special etc but DD is not spoiled, we're not a materialistic family - she just loves surprises and post etc. What I'm hoping to do is tie it in with some things I may have bought her anyway e.g. stationary in September for back to school, halloween costume in October, books (that we buy all the time from the charity shop!).

We do a fairly low-key Christmas in comparison to so many posts I see here, never spend more than €150 on her gifts, stick with a lot of 'useful' things, prioritise family games, books etc.

Anyway, thank you to everyone for the ideas!

I love this idea!

You can theme it to the season and events too!

Gift card to watch a film. The card could be attached to a bag of popcorn?

Pantomime tickets?

Clues to an Easter Trail?

Mum and Daughter 'Pamper Night In' box?

You could just package them up as 'parcels' that have 'arrived' while she is at school?

Sort of similar - I have a pen pal for my son, and we send letters, stickers, posters, colouring pages etc - anything really that we can get easily in an envelope! He loves receiving them and also putting them together; sometimes he keeps tickets to send, postcards or he cuts things out and makes pictures. The kids are 4/5 yo Xo

Penpal

rspb kids membership

magazine subscription

I came across this a few months ago and thought it looked great, I would have loved it.

lettersafar.com/

So just post her a tiny surprise - a badge, a card, a photo you took.

You say you're not materialistic but what you're proposing IS materialistic by it's very nature.

Do Christmas as Christmas, post her tiny surprises as surprises.

Are you saying your locality would make it impossible to set up a monthly book subscription, @Kombuchainmykoffee?

Your specific idea seems a little strange to me. Most children surely need some little thing that has to be provided each month - and if it’s random things it somehow doesn’t give the idea of ‘Christmas’.

But each to their own!

I absolutely love this idea, but not sure about giving it her as a Christmas gift as such? Wouldn't it be better as something that you can do throughout the year anyway without announcing it?

In the time of instant gratification I think it would be nice for our DD to have to wait for something and look forward to receiving it, and doing it every month. Whether that be a monthly craft box (you can pick up little craft kits dirt cheap) and they can be seasonal.. or in our case Lego, I've been picking up bagged kits from charity shops, or when they are cheap on offer (just picked some up from Sainsburys that were 33% off. I pay normally between £3-£6 for them, I was going to give them for Christmas but I may save them and do this as an idea instead to spread it out more.

Or swap it out with things like a family game/jigsaw etc, normally if I pick something up from a charity shop I give it her straight away but this sounds like a much better idea, a bit like a little Christmas eve box once a month instead!

How about a subscription to a weekly magazine? The Pheonix Comic and The Week Junior are both good. It means she knows she'll get post every week.

Penpals are a good idea too. It costs 18 Euros to get the names and addresses of four people here: studentsoftheworld.info/

I do see what you are saying, and it is a very cute idea, so I don't want to rain on it, but have you seen this. I think this could be really lovely for a child who likes post:

Paddington's Postcards for Children - UNICEF UK

I think it is a very cute idea - for me, I would get a pack of 12 envelops - probably the nice A4 ones. And then that is my size restriction.

I don't think you need to plan ahead, because you are going to be doing it each month, and things can change over a year. E.g. who knows what type of Halloween things she will want a year out.

Giving the first one on Christmas, with a note explaining that it is a subscription to "Cute name" and a new one will come through the letter box on the first day of each month...

Then just fill the envelope during the month before, the size will keep you to cute small/flatter things, and then post it through yourself the night before the 1st.

I don't think this would cause a child to be materialistic or spoiled - an envelope of stickers, pens, a small treat, etc. once a month isn't going to do that.

My local bookshop does a book subscription. You fill in a form about what you like, what books you like etc and they send you a book a month. Read book subscription.

You could make it an adventure by post, with each envelope containing a clue and a small challenge. A Lego building mission, a code to crack or a map for a walk could use things you already have. It keeps the surprise without needing twelve new toys.

Love this!!!

January - beginners crochet or knitting set to make her own scarf?

Feb - craft box ready for the cold wet half term!

March - some summer PJs

april - craft stuff for Easter

may - beach towel

june - water bottle

july - books for summer hols

aug - stationary ready for new school year

sept - craft stuff

oct - halloween costume

nov - gloves and hat

dec - Xmas decorations and panto ticket

You see, to me the things in your list, @@itsgettingweird would be just everyday items that a parent would naturally provide for their child during the year. It seems quite mean to dress them up as year long Christmas gifts.

(Although I haven’t quite worked out a counter argument to any claim that a year’s book subscription would be exactly the same. But it wouldn’t be.)