Are you unsure of what to bring to your kids’ friends’ birthday parties? Keep this list of kid birthday party gift ideas handy and you’ll never have to think about it again!
There was apparently something going on in January and February 2020. It seems like every kid in my son’s Kindergarten class has had a birthday party in the last two months. I mean, it’s been at least one each weekend and one weekend had three! I’m all for celebrating kids, but when you’re buying this volume of kid birthday party gifts it can get overwhelming. Especially if you as the parent don’t know the kid super well.
My solution: a list of go-to kid birthday party gift ideas that are crowd-pleasing, easy to get, and aren’t crazy expensive. I’ve compiled this list from gifts that I’ve gotten kids and that other people have gotten my kids over the years. I broke the list down by age with ideas for preschoolers, early elementary, and older elementary kids. Consider this your cheat sheet for making kid birthday party gifts easy!
Kid Birthday Party Gift Ideas
Preschool
My kids first started getting invited to non-family birthday parties in preschool, so that’s where I’m starting this list. These kid birthday party gift ideas are all great options for the 3-5 crowd.
Board games
My kids both got really into board games starting in preschool. Now, I’m not talking complicated games that require skill or strategy. No. I’m talking about low-stakes beginner board games that get them used to winning and losing. Look for simple, quick board games that rely mostly on luck if you’re choosing a board game for a kid birthday party gift for a preschooler. If you’re unsure which board games fit the bill, here are some board games that we’ve had success with in the preschool years.
Candy Land
The classic version of Candy Land is great. If you have a princess lover, you can’t go wrong with the Disney version that features Ariel, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.
Don’t Break the Ice
Don’t Break the Ice is the perfect game to give preschoolers because it gives them an outlet to hit stuff that won’t leave anyone in tears.
Hi Ho! Cherry-O
Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a deceptively simple game. It’s quick and painless, but it really reinforces math skills and turn taking. This one is a winner!
Stickers
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: everyone loves stickers! But preschoolers might like stickers the most. Indulge this seemingly innate desire to stick pieces of paper on other pieces of paper and choose a sticker-related kid birthday party gift.
Of course, you can just go to the store and get a bunch of stickers. If you’d rather make stickers feel a little more special if you’re giving them as a kid birthday party gift, there are some great sticker activities out there. My daughter has basically tried everything sticker-adjacent, so I have some strong recommendations in this category.
Seek & Find Sticker Pad
Melissa & Doug Seek & Find Sticker Pads have saved my life on many occasions. For a while, parking my daughter at the kitchen table with one was the only way I could get dinner on the table. These are good, really good.
Sticker Wow
Another great sticker activity from Melissa & Doug is the Sticker Wow. Seriously, whoever came up with this thing should get a medal. I’ve never seen kids occupied for so long!
Velcro Toss & Catch
Don’t discount things you had and loved when you were a kid when you need a kid birthday party gift. The Velcro toss & catch game has been around for a long time, but kids today have just as much fun with it as we did.
Puzzles
I’m a huge fan of puzzles. Doing a puzzle is a great analog hobby for all ages! Puzzles also make great kid birthday party gifts because they provide a fun activity that can be done over and over again. For preschoolers, I like 50-piece puzzles. They provide a challenge without being overly frustrating.
Early elementary
Early elementary seems to be prime time for full-class birthday parties. The kids are getting to know one another, the parents are getting to know one another, and the mindset is the more the merrier. When you have kids in the early elementary grades, you’re buying a lot of kid birthday party gifts. Here are easy, winning kid birthday party gift ideas for Kindergarteners through second graders
Games
Early elementary students are all really into games, in my experience. They’ve learned the concept of games by this point and are ready to start learning about strategy. Here are some of my favorite games for early elementary school kids that make great kid birthday party gift ideas.
Uno
I was super into Uno as an early elementary school student, and my son is following right in my path. It’s family fun at its finest!
Foosketball
My son has both received and given Foosketball as a birthday gift, to nearly unanimous success. It’s a mash-up of foosball and basketball, takes a bit of skill, and provides a weird amount of satisfaction when you make a basket. This is a great kid birthday party gift, especially for a sports-obsessed kid!
Battleship
Who doesn’t love the classic Battleship game? As a bonus, it’s a great game to teach logic and strategy in a fun, engaging way that hopefully doesn’t end in fits of frustration.
Craft kits
Once kids get to elementary school, crafts become more possible. It’s more about making the craft than an absolute mess. Craft kits also give the gift of occupied time. This mom loves to give other moms the gift of a break, so a craft kit is a favorite kid birthday party gift for me.
Quilt kit
I recently found this quilt making kit for kids, and I was immediately sold on it. Not only does the kid get the gift of the quilting activity, he or she gets a blanket out of it too!
Rock painting kit
A few summers ago, my nephew (and my mother) got really into painting rocks. These two humans are pretty different from one another, so their shared love of this activity lead me to believe that just about anyone can get behind rock painting. Grab an introductory kit as a kid birthday party gift to get them started.
Science kits
If you’re more of a science person than a craft person, similar kits exist that walk kids through basic science experiments. These kid birthday party gifts will give them something to do and blow their mind.
Crystal growing kit
I was obsessed with gems when I was a kid. This should have been our first clue that I would go on to get a degree in Chemistry. Much to my delight, my son recently developed a similar obsession. So, for Christmas, I got him a crystal growing kit. He loved the process of making the crystals and watching what grew. I bet most kids would love it too.
Volcano kit
If you think the kid would get more joy out of destroying things than growing things, a volcano kit is the science-based kid birthday party gift for you. This kit lets you make the volcano and then explode it!
Ice cream gift card
In my experience, early elementary school kids love ice cream. If they had their own way, they would eat ice cream every day. Unfortunately for most of them, their parents don’t allow them to eat ice cream all that often. That makes a gift card to a local ice cream shop (or even Dairy Queen) a super fun kid birthday party gift. This is especially true for Spring or Summer birthday parties.
Older elementary
I want to start off this section with a caveat. I don’t have as much experience with older elementary aged kids because my kids haven’t made it to this stage yet. I do have older elementary nephews, though, and I was once an older elementary school kid, so I’m not speaking completely out of school. If you’re more experienced with older elementary birthday parties, what kid birthday party gift ideas would you add to this list?
Board games
Can you tell I’m really into giving games as kid birthday party gifts? I love them for preschoolers, early elementary students, and yes, even older elementary students. The games I choose for older elementary students are more complex, require more skill, and usually take longer to play. Here are some of my favorites.
Monopoly
Older elementary is finally the time to introduce Monopoly! This is one of those classic games that every family needs in their game cabinet. Giving it as a kid birthday party gift is a great way to add it.
Scrabble
Older elementary school kids are really expanding their vocabularies. What better way to help them practice their word knowledge than Scrabble?
Yahtzee
If you’d rather give a kid birthday party gift that focuses on math, Yahtzee is the way to go. This was a favorite of mine as a kid!
Nerf
Books
Older elementary school kids are independent readers, so books make great kid birthday party gift ideas at this age. The Chronicles of Narnia books, The Wild Robot, and the Percy Jackson books are great choices.
Lego
I see my son and his friends getting into Lego now, in Kindergarten, but they’re mostly doing a lot of free building using their imaginations. Occasionally, they will sit down and build from a kit, but that requires adult assistance. In older elementary school, though, kids can independently follow the Lego kit instructions, and most of them love making things from nothing. Lego can get crazy expensive, though, so stick to simple kits when you need a kid birthday party gift.
Other posts
Are you looking for other tips for life with children? Hopefully some of these will help:
I hope you are now armed with a great list of kid birthday part gift ideas that you can turn to whenever you need a gift. What would you add to this list? Please share below or over on Instagram @sarainseason!