The Kids’ Birthday Present Idea I Recommend to Everyone

Have you ever had that moment, the night before a birthday party you forgot about, when you realize that you probably need to put the kids to bed and hop in the car to head to Target because you don’t have a birthday present? Me either. Never had this experience before. 

I kid. Obviously I’ve had that experience multiple times — until I started this ingenious kids’ birthday party gift practice.

At the beginning of every year I come up with one or two unisex kids’ gift ideas and then buy multiples of that gift. That way, we always have a gift on hand when birthday parties come up throughout the year. This year we went with a few simple, fun three-in-one LEGO sets and a couple of small superhero sets. 

Why do I do this? So it reduces my stress! My daughter is 4, so she is not buying birthday presents for her friends. That leaves the gift buying up to me! Buying multiples of a good, go-to birthday gift saves me stress and agony later on.

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

• Movie theater gift cards for middle-schoolers
• Pretend capes
• Upgraded art supplies, like nice pastels with an accompanying notepad
• Sidewalk chalk
• Kids’ stationary sets
• Temporary tattoos
• Board games, like Hues and Clues, Telestrations, Dragonwood, or Outfoxed
• Floor scooters
• Geodes

This hack works really well for hostess and baby gifts, too. For baby gifts, choose something you loved as a new parent and give that every time. Throw in some diapers if you must, because those will never go to waste!