When you go out on day trips - do you ALWAYS buy the stuff in the gift shop?

[TooMuchCaffeine]

I mean Science Museum, Space Centre, Warwick Castle, theatre trips, and various farms and zoos.

We frequently go on these trips and DS (5) loves the shop at the end. I don't really mind buying him stuff - just some of it is really really rubbish cheap overpriced tat - that will be broken by the end of the week and it just makes me really annoyed.

Example Warwick Castle yesterday £5.00 for a foam sword .

No, I try to rush the DC through the gift shop because as you say it is generally overpriced tat.
I usually promise them a MaccyD and that generally gets them through.

I usually let them each take about £5 out of their piggy banks (pocket money courtesy of MIL) to buy something in the gift shop. I don't buy them anything myself.

I LOVE the gift shop. Sometimes it's my favourite part of the outing. I would cheerfully buy a fortune of crap, but have conciously decided not to because I think it devalues the excitement of having a present if the children automatically get bought things every time we go out.

My parents dragged us to all 50 states in the USA, to a ridiculous number of historical sites, national parks, museums, etc, all with overpriced gift shops full of tat. Their solution was to have each kid start a badge collection. So we always got something, but it was cheap, small, and we soon learned to scour the shop for the badges rather than linger over the other stuff.

I've often said I'll be employing this sort of strategy with future DC!

yes, we do. but i've always loved gift shops! the best bit of the trip IMO.
i am awful for buying crappy souvenirs and other tat though so trying not to encourage the children and failing

nope, DS never gets anything out of a gift shop (we only buy one gift for all of us - a fridge magnet!). yep, I'm tight, but not starting something that may spiral out of control in the future

almost never. If ds1 wants something he can spend his own money - which is usually enough to stop him wanting it.

No - I say to ds (8) that if he wants something he can buy it with his pocket money. He usually decides to save it for something he really wants.

We always used to buy a pencil and a rubber. It was the highlight of the trip, to get another logo'ed pencil to add to DD's collection. Only a couple of quid spent too!

I give DS (3) some money in his purse at the beginning of the day out. He now seems to get that that is all his money for annoying ride things and gift shop tat

I often go to the gift shop with DS (5) but not always. If he asks to go to the shop while we are still going around whatever attraction we're at then I always refuse to go. I tend to buy an educational book of some sort and/or a cheapish toy snake/spider/fish. If I think it's overpriced or tat, or just don't see anything that I like then I don't buy anything.

I quite enjoy a browse in a gift shop. I had a happy 10 mins looking at the rock samples in the Natural History Museum while DS was eyeing up soft-toy dinosaurs.

Usually something small, a rubber or pen. Ds2 got a huge wind up rocket last time but that was because he'd banged his head in the glass lift and they gave it to us for free.

I love gift shops.

We try not to go in them now though as DS goes straight to the pick n mix or the over priced ice cream section.

Usually dd (3) gets a postcard and a badge.
We've got a scrapbook that she sticks the postcard in and wears the badge on her jacket

Well, this is interesting as I always feel I shouldn't let them have a toy every time. Not sure why that is tbh.

I always let them have a postcard each though, and something else on "special occasions" - although both DSs are now very good at giving me reasons why it is a "special occasion" - "Because in a week it won't be the school holidays", "Because in a week it will be the school holidays", "Because I hurt my knee", "Because it's so sunny". Etc.

I quite like the idea of starting a collection of something that he can get in all the gift shops - like pencils, or badges. Yesterday we bought him a plastic knights helmet and a book with activities in. DH bought an arrow shaped pen for £1 and it broke when he tried to open it

it was gift shops that led us to start giving dds spending money. I hate the clutter of rubbers, pencils, models etc that's all over their bedroom. and I hated the earnest discussions in the shop where I would try to persuade them it was all a load of tat. now I just tell them it's their money and they can spend it if they want. It's completely illogical that this makes a difference (because the money, obviously, still comes out of my pocket ultimately) but it's taken the stress out of shopping. and it makes them actually think about whether they want it, whether it's worth it, whether it will last etc.

We have a jolly good look around the gift shop and buy nothing. But we try on all the hats and put everything back in the wrong places. Very subversive the Jux family

Oh and we make quite a lot of noise.

LOL Jux

We go in and see if we can find a 'wobbling winterbeastie' (there's never one when you want one). I've never explained what this creature looks like but DD will look very diligently for it - sometimes we find something cheap interesting that I might choose to buy instead because we haven't found the winterbeastie but mostly we walk and saying 'oh well maybe in the next shop'.

never. ds now says by wrote (sp?) in a bored voice when i ask 'waht was the treat?' 'coming here'.

doing the day trip is the treat. there don't need to be presents on top of that.

When mine were little they used to become so upset when the day out ended that I used to question whether it was worth going in the first place.
I used to find that it made the leaving of the attraction less painful if they could enjoy choosing some tat in the gift shop.

Also, rather than having greater expectations as they got olderthey soon grew out of it. Now they take their own money and can choose whether to buy or not they usually don't bother.