Birthday Gift Ideas: Unusual but Enjoyable Gifts for Younger Children

If you are anything like I, finding birthday gifts are not my strong suit. Since I have a young daughter, we end up with several party invitations, and I am always at a loss for gift ideas. Sometimes you luck out, and the birthday boy or girl is registered at your local Toys 'R Us, but most of the time you are on your own. Here are some ideas for unusual but enjoyable gifts for children.

Gifts Priced Under $20

Live Butterfly Garden- $15.90 on Amazon.com

This is a great way to get "hands on" experience with nature. Most boys will love watching the caterpillars and even girls will get in on the action because the bugs turn to butterflies. The only catch to this garden is that you do need to mail in the card with $3.00 for the caterpillars. Enclosing the money with the birthday card is a nice way to let the gift still be a gift without strings. If you wish to expand the gift you could always wrap up the garden with a book about butterflies and/or a stuffed butterfly. Amazon.com offers a couple of great options with Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder or From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman. Amazon seller, AllPlush offers adorable plush butterflies for only $3.50. AllPlush is a great seller who sends orders immediately and priority mail. However, you will pay $6+ in shipping costs but it is worth it if you are in a hurry or want exceptional customer service.

Audubon Birds by Wild Republic- vary in price from $4-$15

Bird lover or not, any child with a curiosity for nature will enjoy these adorable plush birds. Wild Republic, in association with the Audubon Society and Cornell Labs, developed these toys to be close replicas complete with the actual bird call. Thanks to these toys, my daughter can identify dozens of species of birds and several based solely on their call. You can purchased these easily online through boutiques and Amazon.com sellers (for example, click here to see a cardinal). You can also find a great number of these birds at ShiptheWeb.com. I found several different types of birds at ShiptheWeb including, the largest Audubon plush birds (11 and 12"), special edition releases in the 5 and 6" sizes, and a wide selection of 3" clip birds.

Tinker Toys by Hasbro- $9.99 (for the mini-set)

Dust off these classic toys for our childhood lives on! The toys are still being manufactured and to my great surprise, my daughter actually loves these. She has not used Legos in a long time, preferring instead the more intricate and more interesting shapes of the Tinker Toys. You can find Tinker Toys in most KB Toy stores or toy boutiques.

Gifts Priced $20 and higher

Adopt-An-Animal- $20+

It is always nice to make a donation to a charity in the birthday boy or girl's name. However, a young child will not appreciate the gesture even if Mom and Dad like the idea. A great way to combine the donation and still get a gift for the child is to Adopt-an-Animal. Many local zoos offer this program in which the gift recipient gets a certificate of adoption, a plush toy of the animal and a picture and fact sheet about the animal. If your local zoo does not offer the program, you can find great alternatives online with World Wildlife Federation or Defenders of Wildlife.

U.S. Savings Bond- various denominations

This was suggested by a friend of my mother's after a discussion about how many gifts children receive at parties. My daughter happens to be the only child, only grandchild, niece, etc. on both sides of the family. This makes for large volumes of gifts at her birthday and Christmas. We were quickly running out of room to store all the toys and as she only plays with a select few, savings bonds make for a great long-term gift. For more information see Savingbonds.gov

Snowbaby Collections- prices vary

Depending on what the child enjoys (and perhaps figurines are not necessarily the best gift for little boys), a collection of figurines, such as Snowbabies may be a great gift. My mother-in-law started a collection for my daughter when she was born. With each birthday and Christmas celebration, my mother-in-law sends her a new Snowbaby that is representative of something my daughter did or liked. For example, my daughter loves to play dress up and her grandma found an adorable dress up Snowbaby figurine. This is a great way to not only build a collection for the child but also a tangible collection of memories. My daughter loves looking at her collection now but later I know she will love that her grandmother thought to give her these gifts. You can find these gifts at CollectiblesToday.com

Zoo, Theme Park, or Museum Memberships- prices will vary

Last year for our daughter's birthday we purchased a family membership to our local zoo. We got more use out of that than anything else! Young children love to go see the animals and parents too will enjoy seeing the sights through their youngsters' eyes. Many zoos offer special incentives to join including giving out stuffed animals.

Another idea, particularly if you do not have a zoo, is to get a membership to a local museum or science center. In the Birmingham, Alabama area, we have the McWane Science Center which is a wonderful museum of hands on science experiments, water tables, IMAX movies, and even a dinosaur dig. There is even an area set aside for children not yet in kindergarten.

If you are fortunate enough to live near a theme park, tickets for a one-day pass (or more) would be a wonderful gift. Moms and Dads would be grateful to have an outlet for their child without having to pay for it.

Gift Costing only Your Time

One of the best gifts you can give is that of your time. It is a great present not just for the child but for the parents as well. If it is appropriate (and possible) take the birthday boy or girl out for ice cream or a day at the park or fishing. Time is a precious commodity and children, of all of people, need and will appreciate that time!