Seeking Ideas for a Recurring Gift

My husband always gave his nieces and nephews money into a mutual fund he set up for them. They didn't get the money directly, he had it automatically deposited into the account. Later on, they'll apprieciate the amount of money in there rather than toys over the years that they won't have anymore when they're 18. Example, over the last 8 yrs. one of the kids has $7000 already in there. It continues to grow and the parents have the option of contributing more if they'd like. Any questions e-mail me ____@____.com

You could do a rock and mineral collection or a coin collection. Both can be really fun, but my little boy (now 5) loves rocks and there are such a range of values. This is also something he can add to himself as he gets older.

What if you got him started on a set of die cast "model" trains that he can put on a shelf, or airplanes. There are probably some smaller sets. That would also look cool in an older kid's room displayed nicely. Something that is not so much a toy but a collectible. Another idea is to get him a neat bank and get him a collectible coin to put in it each year. The US Silver Eagle coin is worth about $20-$24 dollars right now (silver value) and you could give him a new coin minted each year of his life, the value would grow over time as the price of silver increases. He might enjoy seeing his savings grow as the market fluctuates when he gets a little older.

Baseball/football cards are really popular with my 6 yo, I hope they are not getting phased out. What about coins? Each year you can get a collectors set of that year's penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, etc. Very nice to hold onto!

I know this seems a little silly but friends of my brother & sister-in-law started a small "Ugly Doll" collection for my neice. Also, what about die cast cars or airplanes? I just bought baseball cards for Christmas for a relative. I had not heard of them being phased out. I hope not. Good Luck!

What about the HESS Cars? Every year they are different(from the gas stations).

Possibly those little collector cars. My 3 yr old grandson loves litttle cars.

Since I have 2 kids in college, I would say open a college savings plan and donate $ every year for both of the kids and save the charms & cards/toys for a xmas gift!

How about coin(s) collection?

Hi there
My father in law gives our son collector coins. He isn't loving then now because he is just 5. But he also sends a toy. Usually an educational toy. I think he will appreciate the coins more as he gets older, and he will have a cool collection.

Good luck

I love the coin idea. Also, my mother in law always gives all the grandkids a Savings Bond for each birthday and then something little as a present. Once they were old enough to realize what was happening I had to explain what a Savings Bond was. They weren't real happy until I explained that their older cousin had just cashed his in for a new computer. The 529 plan is also good- money for school. It's hard to say cars or airplanes to collect- that may not be your nephew's cup of tea. My son LOVED cars when he was little but at about 5 he went to army men, then knights. Now, even at 18, I still buy him a collectible toy knight or Medieval person and he has them lined up in his room. My son also got a set of rookie baseball cards when he was born and we added to them some. He was never into baseball so that wasn't the biggest hit although he still has the cards and realizes that they are collectibles. In fact, maybe it is best if they aren't too into the cards- then they'll collect them and they might end up being worth something instead of bent and scattered. But I think the coin collecting is the best. Wish I had done that- or had someone do that for my son.
And the charm bracelet is great for your niece. My girls don't wear their bracelets much but they do love having them. When I was a baby, a friend of my moms gave me an Add-A-Pearl necklace- not sure if they still make those. I got a pearl each year for Christmas and by the time I was 18 I had a very nice pearl necklace. (I wore it on my wedding day.)
Now all my nieces and nephews are having babies- and with 11 nieces and nephews that is a lot of babies- so I have started at Christmas giving ornaments to each of the babies. I make sure the year is on them and I have been trying to find the kind that I can put their photos in. They get plenty of toys from all their friends and immediate relatives- this is just something that will be fun for them as they get older. (And once they are out on their own they will have a collection of ornaments for their first tree.) I also have an icycle tree at Christmas here and I give nothing but icycle and snowflakes ornaments (crystal or glass nice ones) to the nieces and nephews for Christmas. It is hard to come up with ornaments for a Christmas tree when you are just starting out- gets expensive- so they have all been appreciative.
Good luck. Great post.

My husband and his dad are still real big into baseball cards and are selling them on ebay all the time we have so many boxes of them so I think it's a good idea they might be worth some money someday!

Kids are very hard to do a recurring gift for. My boys were interested in trains until 5, then cars from 6-9, then baseball, then music.....if they were still getting trains at age 10, they would probably not appreciate the gift.

I had a niece that LOVED snow globes when she was 7. For years, I searched high and low for a snow globe for her birthday. When she was 12, I sent her one. My sister included a little note with some pictures a few months later. "Katie" outgrew her love of snow globes 2 years ago---but thanks.

Ouch! Just my opinion, since I have been burned by the recurring gift for kids. But my husband loves coins, my mother loves angels and my father loves ball caps! SO for adults, we do recurring gifts.

I get each of my grandchildren a special christmas ornament - I guess you could do some sort of birthday ornament, so that when they are older they will have a complete set to start their own tree.

How about coins? My BIL always got collectible coins for Christmas.There are always new ones out every year and there is value in them.