My budget is $50-ish each... What are some good Christmas gifts for kids 18 and under in foster care?

Question

Last year, my office worked with a foster care program in our community. We bought gifts for the kids and the families.

The family gifts included:
* a gift certificate to Wal-Mart
* a gift certificate to Blockbuster
* A box of popcorn
* Small boxes of candy
* McDonalds gift certificates
* A board game
* A disposable camera

For the kids, we bought different gifts based on ages:
* Portable CD Player
* Barbies
* Stuffed animals
* Disney toys
* Art supplies

Well, it's that time of year again, and I need some suggestions. We spend approximately $50 per kid/family, and there will be some attendees from last year. Santa doesn't want to bring the same gifts again, so he's trying to come up with some new ideas.

I'd love to hear of good suggestions for these kids... this is largely what they get for Christmas. They are in attendance for the event, but Santa does hand out the presents.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas!!!

Tangible gifts for the kids... the gift certificates are for the family's to buy clothes or other necessities.

We aren't giving a kid a gift certificate.

No clothes... too hard to shop for all the sizes.

I hope everyone will mark this as an interesting question. I have already received emails about it! :)

Answer 1

18 and under? That is a large catagory, but the $50 budget helps with that. Teens 13-18 years of age might like something more having to do so with electronics than the rest.

The only thing I can think of that is about that price range that I wanted that age period was an MP3, Nintendo 64 (old gaming system, but lots of fun), Atari, and Money. If the kids have a computer, then maybe a nice MP3 would work! :) There are tons of MP3s at walmart that are in the $25-$40 range and work about just as nice as an iPod. Nintendo 64s are always fun no matter how old they may be (you can use this for children too) The normal systems are anywhere from $20-$40 on ebay and in wonderful condition, and the games are available at almost any pawn shop, and some video stores rent/sell them. Ataris are hard to find now so some may be overpriced, but you could find a good Atari Flashback for about $25-$40 on ebay, the Flashbacks are better because they have all the games already built in. If all else fails, there are always cheap electronics like digital cameras, cds, and tvs at Wal-Mart, and gift cards! :)

Younger kids 9-12 might like a variaty of things like maybe some of them want to be grown up already and have an MP3 of their own? That's where the $25-$30 MP3s at walmart come in handy. You can also buy them game systems that are under your $50 budget. A few kids here might want a DS, but who can aford that on a tight budget!? Insteed older versions of gameboys that are priced down now might be just the thing they would like. Legos are always wonderful to have, the smaller ones that is. They're fun to play with and lots of kids love them. The art supplies is always a good idea, kids like to be creative, so why not let them be for a small price. :)

Now, the younger ones 5-8 will need something that intrest them and can't hurt them, because some at this age still don't understand 'don't put that in your mouth'. Also, at this age they want to act all grown up so cuter cheaper version of digital camera would work. Those fake laptops that are for educational or other kinds of gaming are very nice for kids this age. Barbies and Littlest Pet Shops are great ideas for girls. Boys might rather have the MatchBox toys and Action figures. You can always get them play food and a toy cash register and/or cart too!

Ages 2-4 might rather have coloring books, crayons and fisher price toys. Nothing really hard to think about there, and they'll always love stuffed animals! You can get the even littler ones stuffed animals or toys that make noise.

For families Wal-mart gift cards and digital cameras would be nice. I hope these give you some good ideas for presents, and Merry Christmas to you too! ^-^

Answer 2

What about sporting equipment? Basketballs, soccer balls, footballs, baseballs/softballs, gloves, frisbees, raquetball sets, etc. Something to get the kids and parents playing together and being active outside of the house.

I think board games are a great idea too.

We did something similar at work last year, too but we had a list with ages and what the kids wanted (or needed, with clothing sizes). One thing we bought for several kids was a handheld game called 20 questions - its about $10 and is so much fun! I have one at home and have only stumped it once or twice. You can find it at Target, Walmart, etc.

Answer 3

I think what you have bought in the past sounds terrific. If you don't want to buy gift cards, then find out what size clothing they wear and go from there. All kids should have enough warm clothing to include socks, slippers, and shoes.

What about some pampering products like perfume, jewelry, cologne, bath products, hair products, comb and brush sets, DVD's, CD's, etc. For the families, how about gift cards for gasoline? With gas being so expensive, I think this will be a great gift!

Answer 4

Wal mart is a great place for low prices. For girls ages 5-11 get bratz stuff, 12-18 movies are and cd's. For boys ages 5-11 anything that has to do with spiderman and transformers, 12-18 again movies and cd's are good.
For the family gift you could probably get them a gift certificate to their nearest grocery store because food is expensive.

You can always order online at www.walmart.com and they have sections to show you what is hot with the kids by thier age.

I think that your company is doing a really great thing!

Answer 5

we do the same thing in my office, but the county gives us a "wish list" for individual kids, so we know clothes sizes and music preferences. Some of the more general items recommended were: scented soaps and body lotions and sprays and other grooming products, hair accessories and makeup kits/bags, nail polish/manicure sets. Our county recommends more "basic" clothing items and no toys because of jealousy issues and kids having placement changes, but obviously every area is different.

Answer 6

Rudolph Build a Bears.
Cabbage Patch kids.
Toys R Us is having their Digital Pixtar on sale for $10 this Friday. I can't believe that price. Those things are awesome and used to be $50.
Playdoh sets (Spongebob ones/ Spiderman / Dora etc)

Answer 7

f the kids are shuffled around a lot, they need tote bags to carry their few belongings. What about a tote filled with personal items such as a journal? I tend to focus on the older teenagers since they usually are the ones left out.

Answer 8

i think that maybe you should find out what they NEED and want. Most of the time, they are just happy to get whatever because their lives are harder. Anything that comes from your heart (under $50 that is!) will do just fine.

and p.s. kudos to you for your gifts

Answer 9

a board game, portable CD Player

Answer 10

Get the older kids best buy gift certificates and the younger ones legos or something...