Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with gift and child

Charitable giving for a 4-year-old?a

um_maverick — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:49:32 -0800

Help me present my 4-year-old niece with a way to donate to charity, as part of her Christmas present. For Christmas this year, I have a small gift for my niece who already has more toys than she'll ever need, but wanted to add a charitable side to it as well. I was thinking of giving her a relatively small sum of money (maybe 20-25 bucks) and telling her that she can use it to help someone else. My problem is how to frame this. Originally, I was thinking of asking her "do you want to help sick people, hungry people, kids, or animals?" and then donating in her name to American Cancer Society, a local food bank, a local children's home, or the ASPCA (or something along those lines). Is there a better way to do something like this on a level that a 4-year-old would understand? I'd like to make this a recurring theme for her birthday and other holidays where I would normally buy her gifts.

I came across this in the search, but it didn't seem to have the same focus as what I'm looking for.

Thanks!

Come away, O Human Child...

shiu mai baby — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:52:55 -0800

I need a snippet of a poem or quote from a children's book about wishes. I'm giving this totally cute pewter bubble wand as one of several gifts for my goddaughter's christening in a few weeks. I figure it's a slightly more whimsical take on the pewter/silver gifts that are typically given at a christening.

Since she's too young to appreciate it just yet, my current plan is to put it in a shadow box, the back of which I was thinking of lining with some cool handmade paper, and scribbling a quote from a children's poem or book (alternately, I might write the quote around the edges of the glass) on the paper. I've been searching, but I've yet to happen upon something lovely and inspiring. I'd like to stick to the dreams and/or wishes motif, but I'm open to suggestion.

The quote needs to be fairly short, as I don't have a whole lot of room to write. I'm trying to avoid the more obvious stuff -- e.g. preferably no Disney, no Pooh, etc. I've always loved Yeats's "The Stolen Child," but the bit about the world being full of weeping seems a little bleak for a baby gift.

Any particularly appropriate quotes leap to mind?

"I need more pieces, please!"

Soliloquy — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:13:56 -0800

Is there any way I can get my hands on some cool Scalino marble run pieces before Christmas? For Christmas last year I bought my darling little cousin a Scalino marble run complete with "ski jump" piece. He adores it, and I'd like to add another accessory or two this year. The site I bought it from now only lists three Scalino items without pictures (extra marbles, and what I think is a basic set, and probably a waterfall type piece) and my email to their customer service address asking about availability and clarification on what the "Modelkasten Kaskade" piece did received no reply. I checked out Scalino's web site but my Deutsch ist nicht so gut. Ebay came up blank too.

The little guy would probably prefer a y-shaped switch I remember seeing last year, or the xylophone piece shown in the picture, to a waterfall. Heck, I was looking forward to seeing what he would build with all the cool pieces I added on over the years. So if anyone knows of other sources or can assist me in contacting the company, I'd appreciate it. I'm in New York City if there's anything local.

My little cousin will spend many happy hours sending marbles whizzing around the track in your honor.

Like threadless but for toddlers

dersins — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:09:12 -0800

What are some good web sites to buy cute, "hip" (whatever that means) t-shirts and other clothing for babies and toddlers? Bonus points if it's non-gendered. I'm looking to buy Christmas presents for my 1-year-old nephew. Overpriced hipster baby / toddler clothing seems like the perfect gift, because it's arguably useful, something his parents would like, and something they would be unlikely to buy for him themselves. I would prefer the choices be as gender-neutral as possible, as would his parents. Examples of the sort of thing I'm talking about can be found here.

Any suggestions will be received with much gratitude

Help me choose a gift for my 1 year old nephew.

handee — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 04:45:50 -0800

I'd like to get something extravagant as a gift for my (to be) 1 year old nephew. It's to be an xmas/birthday gift. This is serious forward planning on my part, but if I get it now I'll have more cash to spend on it (I'm a little disorganised like that). He was born 2 days before xmas last year so ideally there will be at least two great gift suggestions in the thread to follow! He is of course gorgeous and hugely intelligent, if that helps any.

Birthday Gift Ideas for 9 Year Old Gifted (Boy) Child?

dgeiser13 — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 09:29:59 -0800

Birthday Gift Ideas for 9 Year Old Gifted (Boy) Child? My nephew is currently 8 (going to be 9) in 1 week. Curently he excels in Math, Reading and Writing, i.e. a couple of years ahead of his age. In the past I've gotten him Juvenile Science Fiction books, math-related books (The Number Devil) and Nintendo Gamecube Games. I could do something along those lines again but I thought maybe I could get him something a little different. I've been looking at construction type toys and also more practical things like a Telescope or Microscope. I'd live to keep it relatively cheap, i.e. less than $50. Any ideas?