Need Advice on Christmas Gifts for Nieces and Nephews

My husband's aunt does this for all the grown neices and nephews -

Each year she makes a goodie bag of sorts. One year, it was a movie goodie bag with a bucket for popcorn, some boxed candy (like you see at the movies), and a gift certificate to the movie theater.

One year she did brain teaser puzzles (like the metal loops that you can separate somehow), a bit of candy, and a sudoku or other type of puzzle book.

Really, I think she hits the dollar store or the dollar aisle at Target and puts together what I would normally call stocking stuffers. But they always have a theme. And it's always fun. A few small things are sometimes better than one large thing.

My aunt used to give all the girl grandchildren (my brother was the only boy out of 9 grandchildren) a disney VHS tape - whatever was out that year. I still have a large collection because of her (probably need to get those copied to DVDs).

Black Friday DVDs at Walmart! They are easy to mail too, and if it doesn't seem like enough to you, stop at the dollar tree, get some baskets, shred, shrink wrap, buy popcorn when it's bogo at the grocery, and make movie night gift baskets! Or what about making them personalized stockings, and then putting an ornament in it, or small gift card to Walmart, Target or Claires (for girls). Have fun!

A universal gift for all ages that shoudln't be too expensive is a water bottle. My daughter LOVES water bottles, she likes to fill them with different things to drink. They make cute ones for little kids with pop up straws and they make really nice adult ones for the 13-year old. I think everyone could use a water bottle for something, especially if the kid is in sports. At the very least they are good to have around.

$10-15 gift card to Walmart?

Gift cards
Magazine subscriptions (Highlights, High 5, Children's Nat. Geo.)
Books
Personalized bath towels/back packs/pencils
PJs
Baked goods
Charitable donation
Cash

Good luck!!

My kids get scholastic book orders at school. There is an online ordering option and there are so many books for all ages. Best part: books start at $1!!!There are even chapter books for older kids. I usually order $1 books to give as favors at my kid's birthday parties. And they are usually GOOD books with GOOD characters too!

Books are something that you can find for relatively cheap, and you can get them for every age. I love giving books as gifts, especially if you know the recipients interests. Also, pajamas are a great Christmas gift, but that can get pricey if you are not careful to shop sales. Good luck!

Have you thought about coin collecting? You could start small and add a year at a time - or choose special coins from the mints (ours or Canada's for example)...

We have the same dilemma - lots of kids in our families. This year I'm going to do Cold Stone Creamery gift cards for the younger ones, and Starbucks gift cards for the older ones. Same amount across the board, and affordable.

I also love the idea of giving books. I had a great aunt and uncle who gave books to the kids every year - I still have some of them and have passed them on to my daughter.

You could buy gifts on Amazon and have them shipped directly to them -spend more than $25, and shipping is free. If there are multiple kids per household, this may be an economical way to go.

I have a 5-year-old daughter who receives gifts from a lot of relatives. Items we have received that we enjoy are books, puzzles, DVDs, and gift cards. Some of the things I *don't* particularly appreciate are stuffed animals (we have far too many and they collect dust), most makeup and bath stuff (full of unhealthy and dangerous chemicals), age-inapprpriate toys (frustrating), and cheap toys that break easily (because I have to deal with the fall-out).

Books! They are inexpensive, educational, and cheaper to ship. Tell your postal carrier you would like book rates or cheapest way.

How about movie tickets? Of course, there's always gift cards, but what 3 year old wants a gift card? Books or games.

Hi.. This is just one suggestion because I saw these yesterday and they are still on my mind. At WalMart (and Target, I believe) you can purchase story books that you record your voice reading the story. I thought this was a wonderful idea for younger children who don't live near you. They weren't very expensive, so it would be cost effective for sending them cross country.... Just a thought. Best of luck and happy holidays!

How about making them all No-Sew Fleece Scarves? You can choose patterns and colors to fit their likes and preferences, and all you basically need is to cut your fabric and loop the fringe. The tutorial below used fleece 7" wide, but I use 9" wide for adults and 5" for little ones (the 3 year old.) Hint, if you go with 9" you can ask for "1/4 yard" of each fleece and your cutting is done except for the strips you will cut for your fringe.

Joann's has fleece on sale for $4.99 - $6.49 right now, so you could make 13 of these for anywhere from a little over $16+tax to $22+tax, they're not heavy so will cost little to ship, and you can whip them out in a couple of hours.

http://www.allsamsidea.com/2009/11/easy-no-sew-fleece-sca...

Marshall's has a great discounted toy selection.
Also, for younger ones, I love Shrinky Dinks, and Silly Putty.

iTunes gift cards for the older kids.

For the girls, it's very easy. Go to a store like Justice and buy accessories or a tshirt. Easy to ship. Great sales at Justice.

Little ones - a stuffed animal or barbie is not expensive and easy to send.

Magazine subscriptions! For the little ones, my kids love "Wild Animal Baby" from the National Wildlife Federation, who also has "Your Big Backyard" and "Ranger Rick" for older ones. They love getting a magazine every month in the mail! For the oldest ones, I'm sure there are some fun teenage appropriate titles out there, I'm just more familiar with the little kid ones. You could always ask for suggestions on this site!

Also, you can google to find the best prices and, also, you don't have to pay to ship a gift anywhere! Relatively cheap, educational, fun, practical, and extends the fun all year.

if i cant afford much but want to get somebody something cool and not super cheesy i go to the dollar store and put together a little kit, like a spa kit or a baby kit, or a toy kit, i take a couple of cute things i find that go together and put it in a basket. it only cost about 5 bucks per person to do that! if that is still too much money, then you can get one toy each, depending on the dollar store they do have some pretty cool stuff.

Hi Mama22, bake cookies and send them cookies. When we lived overseas in Japan my mom sent our kids little Christmas tubs, with cookies and some Christmas candy, and they looked forward to that every year we were there. J.

Check out www.trendytagz.com
They have great gifts for all ages and perfect Christmas gifts!
There also on etsy : trendytagz.etsy.com

Great, affordable, and adorable product! I have a couple and love them :)

This is why I shop at Kohls! T-shirts for the boys and jewelry for the girls. Or a special xmas ornament for each child!

All of my nieces & nephews love getting popcorn tins. They are adults now and still HAVE to get a popcorn tin. They even call me before X-mas every year to make sure they are getting one.

Lillian Vernon cagtalog has some great, inexpensive gifts for kids. They also have a lot of personalized items like bath towels. You can send the gifts directly to them so you won't have to pay postage twice.

If you live close to any of them, you could give them a coupon for a "Day with Auntie" --spend some time baking cookies, going to a park, and have a picnic :) Kids LOVE to spend time with their Aunties.

ITunes cards?
McD's gift cards?
Target Gift cards
Barnes & Noble gift cards?

I like to give book store gift certificates since books are my favorite presents but I do not know what everyone wants or already has. you do need to research and make sure they have the bookstore close to them. If no book store close, choose another store such as Target.