Under $10 gift challenge: Part 1

My goal for kid's gifts is to aim for something under $10.  Five kids = A LOT of gifts over the year as they go to friend's parties etc.  I love giving gifts though - great fun.

So my challenge is to bring together a list of age appropriate presents for boys and girls, that cost less than $10 - preferably not related to a movie or brand (although there are exceptions to this on my list), items that will stand the test of time and items that don't require any effort on my part (ie. no sewing, cooking, packaging - homemade gifts are lovely and cheap but sometimes there are 4 or 5 parties on a weekend, so I'm being realistic).


To kick off this list, I want to share the present that I'm particularly excited about at the moment.  I think it will suit girls ages 5 to age 10 and boys until about age 8.  It costs less than $10 and will probably be the gift many of my 9 nieces/nephews will be receiving this Christmas (sorry to spoil the surprise folks).



It's called a 'Sticky Mosaic' - these particular ones come in single packs (although there are much bigger ones).   They can occupy a child for a couple of hours (always handy on Christmas Day afternoon when it is time for a snooze).

It's basically a colour-by-numbers but with stickers. They are light (hello interstate relatives and overseas friends) so are good to post.  And cost $8.95 each (I bought a bulk order online = free postage).

Anyway, there's more to come.  I'll give some ideas for age appropriate gifts and you can contribute your favourites - ones your kids have been given and ones that you give often.

Comments

Sarah said…
I'm with you 100%. We've used "Colour Explosion" quite a lot. It's a book with black pages and when you draw on it with a special texta the rainbow colours underneath come through. About $8.
Sandra said…
when the kids were smaller I'd haunt the sales for birthday presents and have a box of things on standby to chose from. The problem as they get older (ie teenage) is they get self conscious about what they give and it is so hard to keep them to a price limit. (they wouldn't give anything mum had bought either)- am amazed at some of the gifts the girls have got over the year. One of them did have a big party this year but ended up with over $500 in cash !!!!!!
Pip said…
My girls absolutely love those mosaic things so they will be happy come Christmas : )

We have been giving crafty things as presents - kmart has a big A4 size craft book for $6 which we combine with a pad of coloured paper $4-5 from Woolies. My 7yo's best present from her party was a box of craft goodies from the $2 shop.
Deb said…
I once read some very good advice that if you don't know what to give someone, make it something consumable. Then it gets used up rather than sitting there taking up space if they'd rather not have it. They were probably talking about adult presents but I've since eagerly applied it to kids' presents too. When a child of mine gets invited to a party of a child we really don't know (what do they like? what do they already own?) I try to stick with consumables. And of course that brings craft items to the top of the list. Even if they already have glitter pens, they will eventually need more. And who doesn't love a packet of random bits and pieces to glue together?
Sandra said…
Deb, I work on consumable for school projects if possible too - all those gingerbread house building events came in useful - you can make a lot of things out of gingerbread. Pyramids for Egypt projects work expecially well.

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