Creative Ideas for Presents on a Budget.
As much as our kids all love a party, it can be a bit overwhelming when your child comes home with the 23rd party invite of the year! But don’t fret, it doesn’t have to break the bank to buy birthday presents for the whole class, you can find some great presents on a budget. With a little advance planning, you can save a small fortune and also reduce the amount of time you spend hunting for gifts.
The Present Box
If you can find a little corner to stash away a box of gifts, then I would highly recommend buying gifts as and when you see a good deal; during the sales or in ad-hoc promotions. Not only will this save you money, it also avoids the last–minute panicked dash to the shops or purchase off amazon. Presents that I like to keep an eye out for are the mini Orchard Toys games, which are usually not gender specific, cater for a broad age range and retail around £5. I also watch out for craft or gardening kits, books and outdoor games, such as skipping ropes, hula hoops, goalie gloves or frisbees, which have lasting play value and are suitable for for a variety of ages.
Gift Bundles
Bulk buying or purchasing multi-packs, which can be divided up to create gift bundles, can be very cost effective. You can mix and match the items to suit the age and interests of the birthday child. For example, for younger kids; a pack of ten books (The Works usually sell ten books for £10), a party pack of bubbles or a bumper pack of assorted play dough can be split and the single parts combined to make a great gift bundle.
‘Go-To’ Gifts
I think having a few toys in mind, that are your regular ‘go-to’ presents for birthdays is a great idea. It saves you from worrying about what to get and rushing out and panic buying the first thing you find, which is often not a very economical choice. I love presents that get children outdoors or being creative, so my ‘go-to’ gifts are things like a magnifying glass and a bug identification book, or ‘scavenger hunt’ type cards, or a kite, or pavement chalks or a gardening kit.
Saavy Shopping
There are some great high street shops that sell very well priced toys, craft items and books. Poundland and The Works are great for crafty items and I love a good root around The Flying Tiger. There are also some good resources online such as Pound Toy and The Entertainer.
‘Non Toy’ Presents
I think sometimes it can be a little overwhelming for children on their birthdays, with the number of presents they receive. So, for a change a fun t-shirt, some funky socks or a crazy woolly hat can work well, especially if you can find something featuring their favourite superhero or TV character. These can be very reasonably in high street chains such as Primark or H&M and most large supermarkets, and parents will be pleased that there is one less toy to clutter up their living room!
Clubbing Together
I also love the idea of clubbing together with other parents in the class to buy one larger toy, voucher or experience. This way the birthday child will get a bigger and better present that they will more likely cherish and it will have cost each of the contributors a lot less.
Class Present Policy
I imagine most of the presents you need to buy are for children in your child’s class, therefore you could perhaps ask the other parents if they would be keen to make a class policy for gift giving? This would mean that all parents agree in advance that for class birthdays they will just pop a pound coin or a £5 note (or whatever the agreed denomination is) in a card, rather than give physical gifts. This way the birthday child gets to put all the money together to buy one big gift that they really want, so everyone’s a winner.
If you are also hoping to gift something that is kind to our planet, then there are some lovely money saving and planet friendly options too:
Handmade
With a little time and creativity, handmade presents are often a very cost effective option; hair scrunchies, superhero masks, embellished t-shirts, crocheted toys, personalised totes or hand knitted beanies. You can also source materials from your local scrap store, which are a great source of free and cheap craft materials, such as paper, fabric, elastic, ribbons, beads and sequins. Not only do these make crafting even cheaper, they also help the planet by using up materials that would otherwise have gone to landfill, so it’s win-win!
Pre-loved
I am sure there are many people still sat on the fence about the etiquette on gifting pre-loved, however, it is certainly being talked about more often and there is no doubt that it is a great way to stop so many toys going to waste or ending up in landfill. I am sure all of our kids have toys that are untouched and unloved and children really dont mind if they are given a toy that’s already had a previous owner. It’s also worth noting that many pre-loved marketplaces and charity shops also sell brand new toys that are looking for a new home; some real bargains can be found that anyone would be very happy to re-gift. Check out my blog on Gifting Pre-loved Toys
Creative gift-wrapping can also give a gift a real look of luxury and it doesn’t have to cost a thing. Use pages from an old magazine or street map, leftover wallpaper or personalise a brown paper bag with lots of colour. There are lots of present wrapping ideas in my blog Gift Wrapping Ideas for Children’s Presents.
You may also like to read my blog on Children’s Birthday Parties on a Budget.
