Holiday shopping for a DSS/DCF child

Hey all!  I am holiday shopping for a 5yr-old boy with the Dept. of Social Services who may not receive any other holiday gifts.

He is clothing size 5 and wants blocks, legos, art supplies and age appropriate/educational toys.

I've never shopped for a kid, and its been a while since I've been one, so I was hoping you folks would have some suggestions.

I want to make I get him age appropriate things, and I want him to be able to open a bunch of different things.  I think I will also be getting him a hat and mittens for the winter

My budget is about $75

Any suggestions?

We did something like this when I was in high school. Each class would "adopt a family" and buy the kids and parents clothes and toys for christmas. Maybe you can convince your friends to donate some money or gifts as well to really give this child a great christmas. As for some ideas- you could get him some plastic sports equipment-like a wiffle ball and a bat, or miniature bowling set, legos are always fun but make sure they're the larger ones- the miniature ones are easy to choke on. Maybe a couple paint with water books. That way the art doesn't get too messy. And get him a couple of the "learn to read" books. My brother loved those when he was that age. Hope those ideas helped.

Aww he's going to have a great holiday! :)

No kids here, either, but I do have a few suggestions from buying for my cousins over the years.

In terms of clothing, I have no idea what's cool among the five-year-old set, (*grin*) but I would say stick with "plain" stuff and don't get him anything with cartoon characters or logos or whatever on it.  If he doesn't like that particular cartoon or if he goes to a school that won't allow him to wear clothing with logos on it, then they won't do him much good.  Maybe get him some sweats, a hoodie, some t-shirts (both long-sleeve and short-sleeve) in different colors.  Maybe a pair of pajamas.  Just stuff that'll last and that he can wear to play in or sleep in (or both.)

As for toys, blocks and Legos aren't too expensive, especially if you don't buy name brands.  I've never met a boy who didn't love to play with Matchbox cars.  Those aren't expensive, either, you can usually get a multi-pack for under ten dollars.  I'm also thinking something sports-related, maybe a Nerf football or Nerf basketball set or something like that.  Crayons and a drawing tablet.  Maybe a set of watercolors or fingerpaints as well.  Play-Doh.  As for educational toys, I'd say just go to that section of the store and see what they recommend for his age group.

Have fun with it!

As someone who works for a CAS here in Canada (DCF), anything you get the little guy will be held in high regard, especially if he's been moved around a lot, or has only a few of his own prized posessions.  PJs would probably be a great idea... basically anything to call his own :)

Go to the toy store on a Saturday afternoon.  Hang out for about 10 seconds and by that time you will hear a 5-year-old screaming "Mommy I want ..." That's probably what's hot.  If in doubt, ask the mom.

I've got 4 boys. Get him clothes with batman, spiderman, the increadible hulk etc on it. You can go with cars and trucks too, but believe me he will go insane for the super heros. As far as art supplies get markers that smell and a big bunch of colored paper. It sounds like this kid likes to draw and will most likely use a lot of paper. The scented markers are great. You can get them at AC Moore, Michaels etc. Kids love to cut things, an age appropriate pair of scissors, a few glue sticks, some washable finger paints, and play dough. You should be able to get a good many art supplies as they are pretty inexpensive. I would go with leap frog for the age appropriate educational toys. They have hand held games that teach kids while entertaining them. It will have an age range on the box. Shop sales and search online for coupons. 75.00 is a nice amount but you will be shocked at how much it costs to dress a child.

here's my opinion, DSS isn't going to let the little guy walk around naked, but they might let him go without many fun toys. get him FUN stuff! a 5 year old boy is gonna be bummed if he opens a present on christmas and it's clothes IMO, i'd keep it to mostly toys and fun things. the hat and mittens are a great idea though.

i used to work in a toy store, and people would come in with the same question for me "i need to buy a gift for {insert gender and age}". 5-year-old boys are usually the easiest because unless it's pink or in the girls section, they will probably like it!

get him some cool lego sets. 5 is definitely old enough for the smaller legos. just go to the toy store and browse around. you will have so many options for fun block sets etc.

and a craft store for art supplies is a great idea!

Get him a huge play bag and suticase to hold all his new stuff..

wow this is awsome....

okay Old navy has great kids clothes for cheap.... i buy my son's pants there all the time.... you can scan the clearance section and possibly find jeans for as cheap as $8 bucks. Otherwise Walmart is my second pick, they have decent stuff and even when not clearanced you can find some jeans for as low as $12.

Walmart is good place to look for the hat and gloves set.... lego's too, art supplies would be cheapest at a crafts store i believe. And age appropriate educational toys that i love to get my son are the books that sing. Or in the past i got him board games. Any board game is educational, they all invole counting and some sort of strategy!

GOOD LUCK!!! AND HOW AWSOME ARE YOU!?!? SO AWSOME!!!

listen, the kid's life, at least for the next few years--is going to be full of generic, bottom-of-the-barrel stuff.  hats and mitts are great, but let him have one dead-cool thing.  just this once, let him be the kid with the cool toy, y'know?

I've got a six year old boy...and we are definitely on a budget....so I advise checking discount store for art supplies and such.  Who cares if the pad of drawing paper and marker came from Dollar General?  At his age, he won't notice.  Hit up places like Gabriels and Big Lots and Ollies if you have in your area.  They are a treasure trove of discount toys!

I second the above poster...anything superhero is an enormous hit.  My kid also is a Transformers nut, so throw that one in the mix as well.  Kung fu panda and Wall-e are just out now and there is tons of that merchandise around.  They definitely love what popular.

As a final thought...buy him dinosaurs!  Wal-mart sells great plastic dinos of all shapes and sizes in the toy dept for $0.88.  He could have a whole herd of dinos for under ten dollars.  The dinos are heavy duty...and every little boy loves dinosaurs.

My only advice is to make sure it's something he can take with him.

My parents foster children and they have toys that belong to the family (aka has to stay for the next children) and toys that belong to the kid.  Make sure to get him something that he can take with him.

If you look  on Amazon or Toys r Us, you can look at toys by gender and age range.  Good luck!  Also, it's very nice that you are doing this.  With such tight economic times these kinds of charities are really suffering.

i don't really have any suggestions, but how did you get to do this? i really want to do it! if there is a website or a phone number or something could you send it to me via private message? thanks a lot!

Thank you for your help everyone!  I can't wait to get shopping, and I'll definately be speaking with some Moms our shopping with their kids this weekend.

I'm pretty sure I'll be taking advice from each and every one of you, everyone was so creative thinking about this, I'm glad I asked :)

Just wanted to echo everyone else who said that it's sooo cool that you do this.  Good for you!

Original Post by hayleabrianne:

i don't really have any suggestions, but how did you get to do this? i really want to do it! if there is a website or a phone number or something could you send it to me via private message? thanks a lot!

hayle, I figure this is a local charity, but the good thing is that all local DHHR offices do something for the less fortunate. Ours is called Angel Tree. Contact your local Department of Health and Human Resources, they will get you in touch with the right people. I would imagine the Salvation Army does something too. There is also Toys for Tots organized by the Salvation Army.

haylea,

I'm doing this through my Dad's company, who set it up with a local branch of the Department of CHild and Family Services.  Ask around at work/school to see if your organization is involved in something similar if you.  You could also check out local libraries/colleges/YMCAs/churches for giving tree programs that help the less fortunate.  We had a giving tree at my college that we organized with the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.

Thanks you guys. I actually used to receive gifts from Angel Tree (my mom is in prison) so I did have some connections with them before, but it's been a few years. I will definitely have to get in touch with someone around here. Hopefully it's not too late for this Christmas but if so I could always do it next year!

Did they give you a size to shop for? If not then most 5 years old are around a 5t-6t. I'd buy the clothes just a tad bit bigger so that he can wear them for a long time. I wouldn't get shoes, though. A five year old can outgrow them in about 4 months! Thermal shirts are great because they are versitile.

If you look at Kmart they have some really fun, inexpensive educational toys. Like a battery run "laptop" that has letters, numbers, and shapes on them. Crayola has some art things that won't break the bank either, like $10 a pop. Little kids care about having lots of presents addressed to them and opening them, so little things like the socks and gloves should be individually wrapped.

You are doing a great thing for this little boy. He'll remember it for years to come