Over the years, I have learned the art of giving gifts to my kids. I used to primarily focus on quantity and fun but now, I have come to the realization that sometimes most of the gifts I have given them only give them a "high" for a few minutes (usually when opening the gifts and playing with the gifts for a while). After that "high", it will end up piled in a corner with other stuff, forgotten, and will make its way to the donation pile. Aside from setting a budget, I now ask myself these 3 questions before buying them presents: Is it fun and useful? Will she only play with it for a day or a season? Is the price worth the quality?
Is it fun and useful?
Can gifts be fun and useful at the same time? Of course! As an example, think of a thinking putty or a slime kit. A thinking putty (especially the good smelling ones) is good for fine motor skills and sensory play. My eleven-year-old daughter kneads on her putty while she reads, she told me that she can concentrate better when she plays with a thinking putty. How about a Rubik's cube? It improves memory and concentration plus it teaches perseverance.
Will she only play with it for a day or a season?
Now when I say for a day, I mean my child just played with it for maybe a few minutes to an hour then had her fill with the toy and will never play with it anymore. Sometimes there are toy gifts that we have given our children and they play with them for a season (think about for a whole Winter season and even longer). I take cues from how enthusiastic they talk about a gift they want and how often they talk about it. There are times that they will mention an item that they would like to get on their birthday only because they have seen it other friends had it, only to forget about it a few days later.
Is the price worth the quality?
When my girls were little, I enjoyed watching them tearing several wrapped gifts. In reality, only a few of those gifts will get played with. I love the Dollar Tree store but buying several gifts from there for quantity sake, may not be the best idea. I would now rather buy a couple gifts that have good quality.
Also read: Clutter-Free Easter Basket Ideas
I mentioned my 11-year-old girl that is now in the tween stage. Though she doesn't quite fit the teen stage yet but no longer a younger kid, finding gifts for this tween stage should not be hard. Since Easter Is just around the corner, I am sharing 25 Easter Basket gift ideas for our tween girls. I have provided links from Amazon but the majority of these items can be purchase from Walmart, Target, and Five and Below.
3. Beach Bags
4. Swimsuits
5. Goggles
7.Devotional for Preteen/Tweens
9. Books that discuss feelings and emotions
10. Book series that they love. This is what my 11-year-old girl loves: Wings of Fire and Nancy Drew
11. Journal
12. Cute pens and highlighters
13. Lip balms and Lip-glosses
14. Hand Sanitizers from Bath and Body Works OR Hand sanitizer holders
15. Nail Polish
17. Desk organizers
18. Hair Accessories
19. Favorite treats - cheaper if you buy at the store
20. Fun Erasers - The .99 cents store and Five and Below also has some cute and fun erasers.
22. Hygiene stuff
23. Cute pieces of jewelry or jewelry making kit
24. Slime Kit
25. Gift card
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