Best Stores for Cheap Kid's Hanukkah and Christmas Gifts 2009

With Hanukkah and Christmas countdowns starting, you can never have too many small, inexpensive, stocking stuffer type gifts for the kids. I ventured out to find the best stores for kids' cheap presents and there are many from which to choose.

Five Below

Five Below stores can be found mainly in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The theme of the store is hip items for kids, teens and adults for $5 or less. Absolutely nothing in the store costs over $5!

I found a tall shelf of CD Rom games for kids for $5 each. The games titles included such popular characters and Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob Squarepants and Diego. On the same trip, I found knock-offs of popular games for only $4 each. The games included dominoes, a copy of the popular Jenga game, trivia games, Bunco and Bingo.

Another area of the store set up for girls had stationery supplies, inexpensive make-up and fun costume jewelry. Boys will love items from the sporting goods section or the joke and puzzle books.

Target

You can always count on Target for sticking with your budget. No matter what time of year, Target always has a display in the front of the store of bargain bins filled with cheap, fun items.

This is especially true during the holidays. I found many small kids gifts for under $4 at my local Target. If you are shopping for a girl, there is an abundance of Hello Kitty stocking stuffers, including a 2 pack of Hello Kitty pens for $1, a hairbrush and 2 barrettes for $3.99, and a pad and pencil for $3.50.

For boys, the Cars movie theme is popular. The Target bins were stocked with Cars pads and pens, die cast cars (single packs) and Cars Christmas tree ornaments filled with candy, all for under $3.99.

Lip balm sets, fun pads with kid's games and small candy items were available for less than $3.

Michael's Craft Stores

Michael's Craft Stores, located in 49 states and Canada, offers a wide selection of cheap Hanukkah and Christmas gifts for kids. In the front of each Michael's store and many times, in other aisles, there are bargain bins that include small knick-knack type items that are on sale. For $1 to $2, you can pick up Silly Putty, bracelet and necklace crafts for girls, and paint by numbers sheets with paint for boys and girls.

By venturing over to the scrapbook aisle, stickers can be found for $1 to $3, depending on the current sale. Kids love stickers and Michael's has one of the best selection of character stickers of any craft or big box store.

The toy aisle at Michael's carries cheap crayons, colored chalk (think sidewalk drawings) and coloring books. There are also small figurine type toys, such as barn animals and dinosaurs for less than $2 to $5.

So, wherever you are in the United States, you're never far from a source of cheap Hanukkah and Christmas gifts for kids. Happy Holidays!