To Bring or Not to Bring a Gift?

The econonmy isn't bad enough as to where people can't afford a simple birthday gift.

I have heard of parents not wanting their children overwhelmed with gifts or spoiled so they have said the following:

No gifts please

If bringing a gift please something small

In regards to a gift please bring _ that can be donated to our local shelter...

The last party my daughter went to the mom said please something small like a littlest pet shop they're $4.99 at Target we don't want to overwhelm our daughter. I was like ok cool who can't afford that?

I would let people bring a gift. What is a party without presents. If you are feeling overwhelmed with toys you can have them bring a gift that you can donate to a favorite charity. I have a friend who has a Xmas baby and that is what she has him do every year. they always give everything to Toys for Tots. He does that and then gets a bigger party.
As far as the day, Im sure parents would enjoy a Sat to themselves for a few hours, if you are saying it is ok to drop off. At that age, most parents want to stick around.
Have Fun!

We have written the following on the invitation in the past:

"In lieu of gifts, please bring one item to donate to the local foodshelf".

After the party, we go to the foodshelf with our child to deliver the goods, take a picture, and send the photo with a Thank You to the guests. It's a win for everyone.

N.

I usually include something like, "We want your presence, not your presents.", because I like to think I'm clever lol. A lot of my daughter's friends will include something like "If you wish to give a gift, please bring a donation to x charity" or "a new, unwrapped toy to give to Toys for Tots" or something like that.

Regardless, some people may bring presents. Be ready to accept them graciously. Prepare for this in advance by subtly removing and setting aside a few toys your boy doesn't really play with... they can be returned if no one really brings anything lol.

Saturday afternoons are AWESOME for dropoff parties, but the general advice is to keep it small--most people say one child guest for each year of the child's life (though I disregard this when it comes to siblings). Also, keep it short--i usually plan 1/2 hour per year, and activities should be 1/4 hour per year max.

Make sure you plan to have them entertained every second--have things like coloring for transition times between other activities. Up to about the age of five, have a helper with you during the party to redirect children who become upset or stray, change any diapers, etc.

PLAN FOR A FAMILY NAP AFTERWARDS, even if the kid took a nap before it.

Good luck and I hope the party is even more fun than you hope!

Hi Rose -

For my oldest son's birthday - I wanted it to be low key and no gifts. So on the day of his birthday, I just asked his friends to come over and play and I would be serving cupcakes for his birthday and indicated "no gifts please". No one brought presents and the kids had a great time just playing. For my second son's birthday (he knew about parties and birthdays from his brother - so he was expecting presents). I sent out invitations for a "birthday play date" - and did not indicate anything about presents. He did get presents from everyone, but there was a wide range (from homemade to very expesive). I think most people will expect to bring a present if they are invited, and they will bring whatever they feel they can afford. We have been invited to a couple that say 'no gifts', and I typically will bring something small - like a small book. We have also been to parties where all gifts were donated to a charity - and I'm on the fence about that. We always donate to charities a few times a year, but I let my kids pick out 1 thing to donate and it's not tied to their birthday party or presents, because sometimes it's difficult to understand why they would have to give away their birthday presents, when a lot of their friends don't. Good luck and have a great, fun, party!

From recent experience, you can tell people not to bring anything, and some still will. For those who wanted to bring, I told them to give a $5 Target Card (the age he is), so that he could go to the store himself and buy the $30 toy he wanted. Most people listened to that, but still some people brought gifts, but it was definitely not as out of control as it could have been.

We have also done a charity birthday. (For my 6 year old.) Everything that was brought to the party was a donation for Crisis Nursery. I let my son decide who he wanted to donate to--kids or animals--and he chose kids. For those who brought money, we went shopping and bought things for the center. It was really good, and he did not miss the gifts.