We love going to birthday parties. However, my post-Christmas budget does not always enjoy the cost of birthday presents. We need to bring one, of course, and it needs to have some sort of four-year-old wow factor. But what to bring, and how can we be frugal about it?
I have been creating a few birthday gifts for preschoolers lately. My favorite preschooler birthday gift is the play silk. These are easy to get from Dharma Trading or other online retailers, and you can often find blank white silks in art stores too. Dye them with some Koolaid powder and vinegar, and you can create fancy rainbow-hued silks for a few dollars. They can be used as play forts, capes, baby slings, and all kinds of toys.
My latest coup was creating a princess hat and a cape out of fabric scraps. I am no master with the sewing machine. In fact, I just received a sewing machine for Christmas. However, for two upcoming birthdays I sewed a patchwork of satin and quilting fabric together to make a fancy hat. I also created a cape for my daughter and a skirt out of a play silk.
Other frugal gift ideas for preschoolers? Well, we go to the local craft store relatively often, and creating a mixed bag of craft supplies is fun and not too expensive. A block of clay is also relatively cheap.
Dressups are also a hit. Head over to a thrift store and find a few wacky shirts, ties, and hats that could be used as costumes, then dress them up in a bag marked dress up clothes.
You can also create a nature explorer kit – a hat, a magnifying glass, a small field guide to local animals or animal tracks. I find that packaging things up in kits makes them more exciting and acts as a sales pitch, too!
It can be difficult to be fun, frugal, and socially acceptable all at the same time. Please share your ideas for preschooler birthday gifts – I would love to learn from you too!