I love to celebrate birthdays. It doesn’t matter whose birthday, but the most fun to celebrate are the ones for kids. We were hitting the kids birthday party circuit pretty hard last Spring, and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on everything that we experienced.
Kids birthday parties are exhausting. Whether you are hosting the party or just a parent in attendance, it’s overwhelming. There is noise – so much noise – and action. At some parties, kids were literally bouncing off the walls {of a bounce house, but still…}. You worry about choosing the right gift, only to find out that said gift won’t be opened at the party.
Reflecting on my childhood, I cannot recall attending single party that was at a “facility”. My friends and I all celebrated our birthdays with a party in our home and eating a homemade cake. There were no goody bags, everyone took home a balloon (to help mom with the clean up!) and a big smile.
A lot can be said for the simpler times.
This year, I’m committing to keeping the entire birthday party experience simple. One way I am going to do that is by streamlining the gifts that we give. I’m no longer going to coordinate the gift with the party invitation. Or worry about what kind of bag or wrapping paper I use. My goal is to keep it simple.
Keeping Birthday Gifts for Kids Simple
It’s my preference to give younger children a gift that will help them learn something. One of my favorite gifts to put together is something for a child in Kindergarten to help them master their writing skills. Alphabet and Numbers Pads are perfect for that.
I pair them with a pencil box, two sharpened pencils with extra erasers, a pencil sharpener and a package of colored pencils. Using the sheets from this pad, the child can work on their letters and numbers and using the colored pencils, can practice fine motor skills by coloring the items associated with the letter or number.
While shopping at my neighborhood Walmart, The Boy and I also found these fantastic cards for kids from Hallmark.
There were several popular characters to choose from. We saw Spiderman, Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon, and Batman. Batman won. It looks like a regular card, doesn’t it?
But when you open it, the card explodes into a huge poster!
Nothing says awesome to a kid like a jumbo Batman hanging on the wall!
The gift is simple, but the card is a blast! Pairing a simple gift with a fun card is a great way to add a surprise to the gift.
If you join the Hallmark Cards Rewards program, you’ll receive a reward for every five cards you purchase. You can learn more about Connections from Hallmark, including how to sign up for Hallmark Rewards and to see more great content from other bloggers. Join in the #kidscards conversation on Twitter!
What is your favorite type of gift to give young children?
My kids have always been huge fans of anything crafty and creative. I love that the card turns into a poster!
It really depends on the age of the child. For the older kids, we like to give gift cards.
With older children, I like to give gift cards, too!
Love the cards. Every holiday, birthday and event we always turn to Hallmark. my kids have tons of those books to help them write with my daughter learning to write her name.
Love this. We do birthday cards every year, my kids are so used to them. This would be a special way for the to save theirs and not just throw it in a drawer.
This is such a GREAT idea!! I’m a huge fan of giving simple gifts that encourage learning as well. My go-to is a coloring book and crayons but I will add this to my list of great gift ideas! #client
I think your kids come to expect what you give them, so we mix it up with crafty and fun things etc..