Birthday Party Presents for Classmates

[MsPontipine]

DS has recently started Reception Year at school. I would appreciate advice on this subject ie cost of etc etc.What gifts go down well?? Which don't?? Any you've received that you wish you hadn't??
I know that it's the thought that counts and all that but I would like to get this right as would rather not commit social suicide on his behalf!!
I am doing my best to help him fit in with his new pals.

I spend a max of £5 for DS friends. I would never give a toy gun/sword etc - have received these and have gone straight in bin I'm afraid!

DS is in YR2, but stuff like lego, magnetix seems to go down well.

I have a £5 limit as well and aslo go for books unless I know the child particularly well and I know that they want soemthing specific.

I get books from the Book People when I see them and save them for presents - they are extremely good value!

I spend up to £5 for most classmates, particularly if they are having a large "invite-the-whole-class" type party. I might go up to £10 for her two or three really close friends, where I am friends with the parents as well. But only if I see something I know they will actually love.

Make sure you have a small stock of general-purpose presents in a box at home, so that you don't have to rush out and buy something for the birthday party that comes up at a few days' notice. Stock up during sales.

Girls do get innundated with craft kits, but they have the distinct advantage that they get used up and only occupy shelf space for a short period of time. The only unwelcome gifts DD1 has received have been from her grandparents, not school friends. I don't know what conclusions you draw from that

£5-7 limit here.
lego, magnetix, k'nex, hama bead sets.
Look for things in the sales and keep afew in the cupboard.

same here, up to £7 is normal, maybe up to £10 for closer buddies. We get either a lego city box which builds into things like one helicopter or a police car, up to seven pounds ~(but no more- some are blooming expensive and you know half the bits will get hoovered up or wedged in a siblings ear as a gromit - or maybe thats just in our house!! ) also lego do a small black box with what looks like a car tyre for a lid, sorry cant remember name, but they cost £2.99 each from lorimers/toys r us/gamleys and have gone down well. Have sometimes bought two of these black boxes, they each build one racing car, or one of these boxes and something else small. would steer clear of power rangers as although my son loves them I have over heard other mums moaning when their ds received them!! My dd is nearly four and her buddies all want anything playmobil hospital or babies from the sylvanian family range (about a fiver from gamleys etc) but guess that might be too 'young' for your dcs friends.

Go to Woolies and stock up on the BOGOFs! I used to get all the smellies in the sales for DD's friends too.

£5 to £10 depending on how well we know the child. And if I can get a bargian in a sale then even better.

Last year I bulk bought some princess books from Book People, whichworked out at less than £1 each in their sale. I just adeded a nice hair bobble set, pretend jewellry or similar to that and gave those out.

I always ask DD a bit about the child so I know what would be suitable and what would be totally out of sync.

the black box lego ones are Lego Racers - ds got a couple of these from a friend for his 5th (she had asked what he wanted). They also do bigger racers that tesco sell for £6.99 (Toys'r'us are £7.99 for the same).

ooh I hadnt seen the bigger ones Chasing squirrels, they sound brilliant. how much do tesco sell the smaller ones for, I fear I have been paying too much!

no, small racers are £2.99 everywhere I have seen them - although our tesco (and none of the other 3 nearby that I went to at around the same time) had them half price a few months ago - but only had 1. They also had the lego fire truck half price - so I brought 2 for the toy cupboard.
The bigger racers are on sale on lego website atm - but you pay postage so it isn't worth it. They also join with one of the even bigger racers (you have to get the right ones) so make a "meld" as my ds says.

oh, and there are new small ones out - that will please ds as they are at pocket money prices (well easily savable for) and he has the 4 older ones already.

Hairee Magnoz very popular at our school at the mo - £5.99 for a tin!

thanks for the info. so the new smaller ones out are even smaller than the £2.99 ones? now thats something my ds will love. lego are definitely onto a winner with this whole range I think. Have you tried those bioincle ones or whatever they are called? so far Ive distracetd my ds from those as they look like something mummy wont be able to assemble! But he is persistent about wanting one.think I am hijacking the thread, sorry, we are a bit bitten by the lego bug at the mo'.

no, the new smaller ones are also £2.99 (ds gets £1 a week so would have to save for 3 weeks), they are at the bottom of that link.
He has some bionicles, but he got them off e-bay locally for less than £2. There was a dinosaur one that is good and two of the wierd men - tbh he doesn't play with them and you can't really use the bits. Yet he still want some more bionicles.

We spend about £5 where the whole class is invited and we don't know the child - books or trains - but a bit more where Ds1 knows the child and sees him or her on playdates. I do ask DS1 what he thinks his friend will like but tend to get suggestions for things DS1 would like instead...

My current fave present is a random collection of arts and crafts stuff and stickers from ELC - not a kit, just bits and pieces - which always seems to go down well.

at that age I'd buy an Orchard Toy game

I find the whole birthday present issue quite interesting. Reading this post has made me feel quite normal, because I never know if I spend enough/too much.

I have boy/girl twins who are in reception, but were at the school nursery last year. Because they mix with different children, they get invited to endless parties. I usually spend £5 on a gift, but try and stock up on reduced items that are really worth a tenner. However, like many of you have said, for close friends I ask the parents if the child specifically wants anything and spend a bit more.

Presents that I find go down well are character pyjamas, hair stuff (for girls), lego and magnetix (boys) or arts and craft stuff. I think that anything that is easy to store and doesn't matter if duplicated are great.

One thing I would add, is don't go too over the top. Last year, somebody (not a close friend) bought my daughter a dancing barbie, which cost £20. She even gave me the receipt incase my dd had one already. Although daughter loved it, I felt a bit pressured when it came to buy the child in question a gift back.

I spend £3-5 on each child. I comprised a set of colouring stuff for the last 3 kids and the pack cost me £3 75 in Wilkinsons - it had 1 colouring book (£1), 1 dot-to-dot book (£1), one pad of coloured paper (£1) and some felt pens (75p). I hope they went down well!

I avoid any themed presents - I have had to take away all DS's spiderman/transformers/scooby doo stuff he got because the images scare him; he isn't a wuss but I have not let him see them because I think they are vile and unnecessary at his age. I don't know what other parents think of such things so tend to stay away from them.

I generally don't spend more than £10 but would stretch to more for a special friend. That said, I do stock up on bargains when I see them and keep a cupboard of emergency presents.

everyone always says £5 and I agree but in fact it's hard to find much for that. So I guess we are actually talking £6-7.

Good gifts for girls we have had have been anything to do with writing (notebooks, gel pens, stationery) for DD, also reading books, colouring books etc. also Polly Pocket but it's worth checking in advance what child is into (may be Bratz for example). Anything High School Musical (bag, notebook, puzzle book) is good atm.

Top Trumps good for both sexes. Also construction like small sets of Knex or Lego. Also games esp by Orchard toys if you have the ££.

For boys, action figures (spiderman etc) are popular and anything to do with football (for DS2 esp) - eg football annuals, football colouring, football puzzle book - you get the way I'm working!

I often buy sets from the Book People and split them up so people get maybe a couple of Usborne crafty books/Horrid Henry puzzles etc.

yes Hula I do that too! I mean add a fancy hairband or sparkly pen to the £1 actually, £5 list price Book People bargain!

Well I went to the pound shop and bought 10 presents for £10 and a pack of 10 perfectly good cards for £1. Each of the pressies would have cost about a fiver in for eg Woolies, there are things like make your own papier mache pig, drawing/sticker sets, winnie the pooh pencil tin with bits (eg rubber, pencils, sharpener, stickers) etc etc.

Has saved me a fortune!

(for her special friends she chooses her on her own though, up to a tenner)

DS only started reception in September so only had one party invite to date. We just popped Tots R Us and DS choose a pressie.

If we start getting a lot of invites I may stock up on some pressies but its a small school so I cant imagine getting that many.