19
votes
Need gift ideas for a seven year old girl
My son got invited to a birthday party, which will be at a candy shop. I don’t know the girl other than she’s 7 and likes dogs and crafts. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Budget would be under $20 or so.
Edit: thanks so much for all the suggestions!
I like giving gifts which are crafty and then get used up (ie no need for the parents to find somewhere to keep things) eg bath bomb making kit. My kid is this age and it always goes down well with kids and parents alike!
I'll second this. My kids in this age range love crafting. Both soap and candle kits were also a big win.
In my family, we do something similar when hosting -- if we give out any goody bags, they'll have consumables like candy, chips, a bottle of bubble solution, etc.
If you can ask the parents ahead of time that would be ideal, especially to avoid getting something she already has or something the parents won't appreciate. Having said that, my daughter is in the same age range and loves crafts. Here are some gifts she's enjoyed in the past:
And that's what I can think of off the top of my head. If you're really unsure I find board games are also a good option.
Just to guide the board game idea, one she may not have already is battle sheep but it's very fun for that age range and has enough thinking that adults can enjoy it too.
I know some people think cash-like gifts are a cop-out but my go to in this kind of situation is a book token. My kid loves book tokens because not only do they get a new book (or more if they're lucky) they get to go to the book shop and browse around and actually choose something for themselves. Which is fairly rare. Kid gets lots of presents from various sources but it's less common they get to exercise their own agency.
As a parent I love them getting book tokens because it's one less thing to carry home and get lost in the massive pile of plasticky crap that hosting a birthday party always brings, and it's something I get go and do with the kid. Not just the trip to the shop, but the reading of that book afterwards.
We have four fifth birthday parties coming up before christmas, for three of which I've never met the kids in question and know nothingabout them... I am going to end up with hearing damage from that much time spent in soft play.
I absolutely loved getting giftcards to the bookstore as a kid, but I was also a Bookworm Kid -- I think this depends a ton on the particular kid's interests.
Granted my uncle who always got us those gift cards barely knew our interests anyway... but that just worked in my favor in that case lol.
If she's into art, maybe some art pens?
Narrowing down the type of crafts if possible would help. Can you contact her parents? Otherwise, high quality paper and art pens or pencils.
A week ago I gifted a pair of walkie talkies with great succes. She likes using them with her sister at home, but the family also started using them for practical reasons, when camping or running errands.
I bought good walkie-talkies for this reason. They're way better than cellphones for many use cases.
Remeber Nextel? I really wish they gained more traction. PTT + radio mode were some killer features. I didn't realize quite how useful they were till I became a parent a decade+ after they went defunct.
Lots of good suggestions in the thread. My 8-year-old has been into: rubber band looms and perler beads. For books: Nate the Great, Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Geronimo Stilton, Amelia Bedelia (the new ones).
My #1 recommendation if you don't know the kid is to get a gift receipt and include it in an envelope taped to the package. That way you give a tangible gift but also give them options if it's not something they like or they already have it.
I'll toss out "Princess in Black" for you. Great early chapter books.
We had those on audiobook when she was younger. They are great!
A decorate-your-own water bottle. Something like this, My kid has to bring one to school every day, and loved being able to design their own.
If you can find a less-gendered version all the better, that was just the first correct search result. Great generic gift for all of the 5-10 crowd.
This sewable circuits kit is a great crafting gift, though unfortunately no longer under your budget limit.
Something like this, maybe?
You can get a digital camera for twenty bucks if she hasn’t hit cell phone times yet. Might have a lot of pop foe the dollars.
My preference is to always ask the parents, regardless of a child's age. Sometimes they have a clear idea of what the child wants or needs, sometimes they are open to pooling people's money and get a joint present that they know their child wants/needs...
And sometimes the kids want really odd things that most others won't get them out of a sense of wanting to do better. Like when I was told a young boy wanted toothpaste and socks. I got that, and apparently that was the bomb. Only person that actually got them that.
Set. IMO appropriate for nearly any kid who's around that age.
My nieces (10 and 7) love Squishmallows.
I got a Yoto Mini for myself...even though it's for kids.
Edit: Ah, I misread. This is more than $20.
Those sort of things are cool but, even ignoring budget for a moment, I'd never give one as a gift unless I knew the kid + family very well. Because unless you buy the whole library along with the player, the parents are then to some degree on the hook to spend money on buying more media and not everyone is in a position to do that.
They are excellent things though. I wonder if my kid wants one for Christmas..
Dogs and crafts? Klutz Pom-pom Puppies craft kit.