Unique Children's Gifts

Selecting the perfect gift for a family who has just had a new baby or for a child's birthday or holiday gift can become quite a chore.  It seems as if children these days have so many toys and even worse, there are tons more out there for your personal toy-store-shopping confusion.  So how do you know what to pick when you want to give something that the child will love and Mom and Dad will not immediately banish to the garage or the re-gift bin?  I personally know that I love a good useful gift and as innocent as they are, it's often easy to pull the wool over your child's eyes and make him see that gift as something fun at the same time.  So, here are a few suggestions I have, things we have been given or have given to others.  This isn't to say that we don't love toys or other gifts when we recieve them; these are just some unique ideas that I have seen go over well throughout my years of giving and receiving gifts.  Leave a comment if you have any other ideas.  I love hearing new ideas!

A series of name books.  I just can't say enough about this idea.  It was actually one that was given to us by a librarian friend when both of our sons were born.  Select a series of children's books with the child's name either in the title or as the main character of the book.  This is a fun idea because you can certainly select books (style and quantity) based on your budget.  Also, as a baby gift, you can give some books that can be used sooner and some books that may be used later on, when the child is a preschooler.  I know I love having books on hand already as my child matures and is ready for different types of books.  For an older child to have the most fun with this, the books should probably be ones he/she can read now or can easily understand when someone reads them aloud.  You can get ideas by searching online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble for books containing a certain name.  As an example, here are what we received for our sons:

Benjamin:  The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter; Benjamin Bigfoot by Mary Serfozo; What's the Time? Benjamin Bear Learns to Tell Time by Anne LeBlanc; and Benjamin Bear Says Please by Claire Freedman.

Nathaniel (Nate): Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat; But Not Nate!: A Book About Opposites by Andrew Gutelle; and Nathaniel Willy, Scared Silly by Judith Mathews.

Goodnight gift set.  This is another fun idea we have received and I have the generous and the more generous variations on this theme.  Basically, what this goodnight set will include is a children's book with a coordinating pair of pajamas in the child's size.  So, combine a fun book in a theme the child loves with a pair of pajamas in a coordinating fun print and you go from the dull gift of clothing to an exciting gift that is also practical.  You could find Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow and combine it with a pair of cute pajamas with monkeys on it.  Go crazy and see if you can find a coordinating pair of slippers or a blanket to give a more elaborate gift.  I'm telling you, if someone gave my son Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel with a pair of pajamas with steam shovels on them, he'd be one happy camper!  And along those lines, I don't see why you couldn't substitute a movie for a book instead.  Just don't tell our librarian friend that I suggested this. :)

Now what I have described is the generous version of this theme.  If you opt to be even more generous (and you want to save some time) visit Books to Bed , where you can find pre-packaged book and pajama combinations with actual characters from the books on the jammies.  These are super cute.  I think I'd have so much fun wearing Corduroy the bear pajamas to bed!  Do these come in adult sizes?? :)

Sheets, blankets, or towels.  No, this is not a typo.  Maybe this is just my children, but I can't even describe how excited they get when they see their fun bed sheets, comforters and throw blankets.  My one son has sheets with trucks on them (our construction worker) and the other son has sheets with sports balls on them (our jock).  They were uber excited to first get their fun printed sheets and immediately starting ripping them out of the packaging to put on their beds!  The same level of excitement is there for comforters with large trucks on them, throw blankets in a Thomas the Tank Engine theme, and bath towels with large monkeys all over them.  Call them strange, but these items have invoked more excitement than many of the toys they have received and nothing could be more useful.

Personalized books.  I See Me! is a really fun web site that specializes in personalized children's books.  You provide the child's full name and birth date and they make you any one of many personalized books.  We have received one for each of our children - Benjamin has My Very Own Name, which spells his name out with animals beginning with the same letters; Nate has My Very Own ABCs, which is a board book that creates an ABC book written just for him; and Abigail has My Very Own Fairy Tale, which makes our princess the star of her own fairy tale.  My kids love to read these books that are personalized just for them.

Baby gift-wrapping.  One unique way of selecting and packaging new baby gifts is to select several outfits and individually wrap them up in tissue paper and then place them all in a large box together.  Label them, "Something old; something new; something borrowed; something blue" and include sentimental, heirloom and newly purchased items.  Another labeling could be "Something for now; something for later," and you could include a newborn outfit in the first package and a 12 or 18 month outfit in the other one.

A lunchbox or backpack.  Especially if your child is in daycare or school, this could be something incredibly useful that they will also be excited about.  Select one that is very pretty for girls, is rugged and tough for boys and has fun motifs on it in themes such as princesses, trucks or sports.  Make a big deal about your child's new backpack or lunchbox when you take it out to pack it up for school or daycare the next day.  I guarantee she'll be showing her friends her new cool accessories!