Budget-Friendly Gift Ideas for Your Child

Birthdays and holidays can get expensive, especially if you have more than one child. Not only do expensive gifts break the budget, but they also send the message that you need money to show your love for someone. Next time the occasion arises, dig deep for creativity, instead of money, and come up with some budget-friendly gift ideas for your child.

Experience

Rather than giving your child a material gift, consider presenting him with an "experience day." Use your computer to design and print out a coupon (and maybe an itinerary or map to go along with it) detailing what the gift entails. Because there's no material present involved, it's important that the paper offered makes the upcoming day sound exciting. How much you spend on a gift like this depends entirely on the choices you make. For example, choosing a picnic at the park followed by an hour of rowing on the lake will cost only the amount of the rental and snacks. Other ideas for an experience day include a trip to the children's theater, a road trip, a camping weekend or a day of flea market shopping, in which you give your child an amount to spend on whatever he likes. Always combine a paid expense with lots of cheap or free ones, such as a picnic, a bike ride, an hour of Frisbee playing or a trip to a local museum on its free day.

Gift Basket

While gift baskets are usually thought of as grown-up presents, the truth is that kids can have a great time with them, as long as you plan the theme well. Since this is your child, you should know him well enough to understand his passions, hobbies and even collectible passions. Gift baskets can be inexpensive to put together and still impressive. Young kids can have fun with a craft basket or learning basket, where you include a mix of handmade items (such as flash cards or connect-the-dot illustrations printed directly from the Internet) with items bought at a dollar store (like crayons, construction paper and sticker albums). Movie baskets are great for older kids. You can search for used DVDs at library or garage sales, or check a thrift shop. Add popcorn, hot chocolate envelopes and a few matching themed toys or décor items (usually easy to find at flea markets or yard sales) to complete the look. Other great ideas for baskets include reading time, bath time or bed time or even a dress-up basket. If you can't find budget baskets, consider using a shoe box covered with colorful paper or fabric.

Personalized Present

Custom storybooks, audio books and coloring books can be bought at many shopping malls or ordered online from a multitude of companies. Most of these items sell for under $20 and make great gifts all by themselves. You can also be creative and create a personalized present on your own. Alphabet letters in the form of bookends, magnets or wall decoration can be used to create a child's name or initials. Older kids may appreciate a personalized sport bag or stationery set. Even cheaper alternatives can be made at home by printing out large letters that spell out the kid's name and then framing them.