Niece 4Th Birthday Present

Instead of a "thing" how about an experience? Take her to a children's museum or something along those lines. You could also pick up an inexpensive children's digital camera for her so she has a gift to unwrap.

What I used to love to do with my niece is give her a coupon book made by for a whole day with me. I would take her to get her nails done and toes, I then would take her for a special lunch. She absolutely loved it!!

Get an inexpensive trunk and fill it with dress-up clothes. Garage sales, second-hand shops, older kids' costumes, anything like this. You probably have some old purses, beads, scarves you wouldn't miss...don't forget a feather boa! Someone did this for my daughter and not only was it a huge entertainment item for years and years, but created the best photo opportunities you could imagine.

Have you thought about a magazine subscription?? If she's into American Girls, they have one, or even Highlights is a magazine for children. They have easy to read articles (Highlights makes a version for younger kids, but I don' recall the name offhand), games (like tic tac toe, or draw a line to connect the matching objects), and the like. It probably about the same amount you would normally spend on a gift, but it will keep on giving!! Also, many parents find their children have plenty of toys, so you can avoid that. And, everyone LOVES to get mail, so imagine her enjoying this gift throughout the year!! Buy a copy and wrap it for her first gift, then explain that the subscription will follow.

Build A Bear makes great gifts....there is an asortment of bears available along with outfits....they sell gift cards also and you can get the things on line if they are not in your area......Any 4 year old would love it....my daughter is 11 and still loves it

what daisey said
i took my girls for their 6 bday to a girls spa thing. they loved it. got them chocolate facial, mani/pedi and they got to make their own lip gloss. i debated between having a huge b-day thing or just us days. i also invited their best friend. they still say it was their best b-day ever.
it was pricey but so worth it.

If you live close by, I'd suggest giving her a gift card and telling her you'll take her to lunch and then out shopping to spend her card. I've also given kids her age disposable cameras and simple to load photo albums. They think they are so grown up with a camera of their own! It's interesting to see what subjects they choose to photograph.

Are you comfortable asking her parents what they're planning on getting and suggestions of things she may be interested in?

I'm a horrible gift giver, so I've started asking to make sure I do my best to give them something they'll love.

Our son is 4, and he received a ton of toys for his birthday. We are going to see my parents this weekend, and I suggested books to my Mom instead of toys. He loves to read, and we really want to start encouraging more.

One of our standard birthday present gifts to his friends (boys and girls) is a book called "Superhero ABC" - it is really clever and teaches all about phonics through making each letter into a superhero (male and female).

My two other suggestions are Build-A-Bear and a bead store to help her make her own, personal necklace, bracelet, etc. My husband did it for me for Mother's Day, and both kids wanted one for themselves (ages 2 and 4).

Good luck!

A big, empty cloth bin. Maybe with her name painted on the side. (in the old days, we called these things "toy boxes.")

I gave all my nieces and nephews personalized cloth bins one Christmas. The parents LOVED them. Surprisingly, the kids liked them too! The bins are still in use to this day. I've heard that they resolve a lot of fights because everyone knows whose toys belong to whom. Also, the kids can more easily help to clean up their own messes now.

I bought my bins at Michael's.

Have you asked her parents if they have started a college savings plan? My parents started one for each of the grandkids and put money in it for birthdays and Christmas then give them something small as a gift to open. I love for my kids to get books so maybe you could get her one book then a gift card to a book store.

If you are able, I would suggest doing an activity with her instead. When she's older, she won't remember who gave her the latest barbie or other toy, but she will remember and outing with her aunt. At 4 almost anything would be fun for her; take her out for ice cream and to the park, the Childrens Museum, the zoo, The MN School of cosmetology has a package for little girls to get their hair done and nails painted, or even just bring her to the toy store and let her pick something out. When I was little, my grandma took my sister and I each year on the bus (she didn't drive) to the stationary store where she used to work downtown St. Paul and gave me $5 to spend on anything. I have no recollection of anything that I ever bought there, but the memories of spending an afternoon with grandma are priceless.

My son is just about to turn 4, so I just recently made a list myself. Imagination is big at this age so I suggest the following: play food like fake cupcake decorating sets, legos, magformers (magnetic building sets - big hit with my family), a doll with clothes/accessories or a dog in a carrying bag.

Books are always a great gift. Check with a local librarian or at your local bookstore for suggestions. The website for the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Minneapolis has a lot of suggestions as well. I also like to give (and get for my kids) things that can be used up. Craft stores or big discount stores have cute craft kits for kids. Our daughter who is 3 loves to do things with foam stickers.

Just go with toys. Go to the store, look around and find a cool toy. Indoor toys are cool, but outdoor toys are usually even cooler in the eyes of a child. I have 2 daughters; and my brother, their uncle, who doesn't have kids, also seems to think that my girls "have everything" already. He obviously disapproves of this so he opened up savings accounts for them and puts $50 in for each birthday and Christmas gift. May seem like a great idea, but kids are kids...and kids have birthday parties for a reason - to get cool, fun toys. And if they're good kids who don't get tons of stuff in between birthdays and Christmas...then they deserve to open up their gifts and find lots of fun, cool toys!

Depending on the personality of your niece. She could love to go to claires or some type of store like that. My daughter loves, jewelry, makeup, purses and dress up and received a lot of that kind of stuff for her birthday.

She is turning five in September, so one of my SIL's is going to take her shoe shopping. (She loves clothes and shoes) Not only will she love this, but it will be practical because they are going to pick out a pair of school shoes and gym shoes.

I have a 2 and 4 year old daughter and I can see what you are thinking when you say she seems to have everything. It is true! My brother and his fiance always give the best gifts and probably spend the least! It is amazing how the little things get the best reaction from the kids! They have given stickers, tatoos, clearanced out outdoor plates for tea parties, art project supplies (the things that we tend to run out of like eyes,pom poms, puffy stickers, feathers, pipe cleaners, cookie cutters, etc), books, notebooks, etc. These are the last few types of gifts that they have given. They don't take up a lot of room and they get used with excitement for a while! Another suggestion is a wipe off board with letters, numbers, shapes, etc. I got one for my 4 year old last fall (when she turned 4) and it is still used weekly and I cannot believe how good she is at writing her letters now. They are in the back to school area or art supplies areas at target. I have a flip style book that has 4-5 pages and was around $10. Best investment and then I couldn't find them again until this back to school sale time. Just remember some of the best gifts are not the latest toy! Good luck!

I like the idea of the dress up clothes, my three year old daughter is just really getting into that, so I would imagine at four that would be right up her alley.

I also like the idea of paying for an activity like swimming lessons, gymnastics, dance, karate, or something like that. Some day your niece could know and remember that you are the one that taught her how to swim, or dance, or whatever. It would be more of a gift that kept on giving and that she would remember her whole life (that is if you kept up with it year after year). You could still buy a smaller token gift for her to open up, maybe like mentioned below...some nail polish that you could do finger/toenails together.

Good luck!

You can never go wrong with art supplies!

Do you see your neice often? If you live close maybe you can do something with her like a class or something. She is 4 and could be in dance and you could go with her. It does not have to be a toy but it could be an activity.

start giving savings bonds-for bdays an holidays-my ex inlaws did that for both my kids-by time they turned 19-20 yrs old-they had nice little nest eggs-but a word of caution-only put her name w/you as co-sighner-exhubbys name was put on bonds an he spent a whole lot of them-pretty sad...just take precaution

Is there a charcter she is into right now... my daugher just turned 4 and is huge into Tinker Bell.

Here is what she got:
-- cute clothes
-- Tinker Bell shoes
-- Tinker bell socks
-- kid scooter (for ages 3-5)
-- legos
-- coloring books
-- stickers
-- Tinker Bell book

You could also do something along the lines of a Build-A-Bear gift card, or a day out with you at a children's musume or zoo, if you do not want to go then a gift card to one of those places.