Birthday Gift for 3Yr Old

Dear S.,

I think $10-$15 is a good price range for a gift for a child's birthday. Your daughter will be invited to a ton of birthday parties and it can get very expensive. I have found that a lot of moms do not plan for parties far enough in advance and you may get invitations with sometimes a week or less notice. For a busy working mom that is often not enough time to shop for gifts. Therefore I would often buy gifts appropriate for the age of my child weeks and months in advance and put them back in anticipation of future parties. Sometimes I would get generic gifts - something that both boys and girls would like. By buying birthday gifts in advance you can take advantage of sale items too - especially after Christmas mark downs! Look at the regular retail price of the gift you are giving - not what you actually are paying for it. I found some after Christmas mark downs that I have put back that were 90% off! I will just save them until needed!

I too tend to spend between $10 and $15 for a gift..or at least I get one that is valued at that..if I find it on sale, yeah for me!! I do agree that each child should get their own gift, but that is just me. You could get them each one or two My Little Ponies for example, but they could all be different ones. Or, coloring/craft supplies are always a hit!! Stickers with a cute little sticker book might be fun. Play doh sets are great too. I would stay away from barbie type stuff at this age, they are still too young I think. Maybe you could do some dress up stuff like a package of shoes with some jewelry. You could separate a bigger package into smaller gift bags so that each child has something, like dress up shoes tend to come with several pairs in one package. Good luck, have fun, and dont stress it too much:) ~A.~

I did $10-$15 at this age per child. As for twins I'm just a believer that each child should have their own. I usually got the same type of item but maybe just a different flair on it so that they would each have their own. Another thing I try to do is find sales and have items on hand.

For friend parties, I usually go for $10-15 range. I try to shop sales on games that are either worth more than that but are on sale for that price, or something that is that price range that is priced cheaper. When I see those sales, I get 1-2 to save for when parties come up. I usually try to give a board game since that's pretty unisex, and I have yet to meet a kid who doesn't enjoy them. As for the twins, I'd think a board game would be perfect because it's clearly something they don't need two of and it's something they can easily enjoy together.

At 3? I didn't spend more than $5 on a gift. If both twins are in her class, I'd give a gift to both or one gift for both to share (i.e. one movie or board game such as Chutes and Ladders).

JMO
S.

I agree, $10-$15, maybe a little more if they are particularly close friends, which doesn't seem to be your case. I would do two gifts for the twins, and I would say it is fine to go slightly cheaper on those if need be. If you shop sales you can usually get something good in that price range. Art supplies are a good bet for girls that age or of course books are always good too.