What is a Birthday Return Gift? A birthday return gift is a gift that is given to someone without the expectation of receiving a gift in return. In this instance, you are not expecting to receive something in return for your kind gesture. These are not required but they are greatly appreciated because they help the recipient to feel loved and appreciated.
Deciding on return gifts for birthday party can be a challenging job if you are not close to the kids. A child’s 1st birthday is a memorable milestone. In order to make your gift memorable as well, you will need to do some research as to what the best birthday return gift is out there. Of course, you always have the option to create your own memorable gift. When you are going about your research, it is always a good idea to find out what types of things the young child is interested in. Sometimes, you are able to figure this out on your own without asking mom and dad. Just check your birthday invitation for the birthday party, if you received one, these are usually a great way to, at least, tell what the party theme is.
Some ideas for a birthday return gift, includes:
- A great idea for a child of any age group, is a personalized lunch box. Now, you may think that a one year old will not get much use out of a personalized lunch box as a birthday gift. But any parent that received a personalized lunch box will be great full. These can be used if the child attends day care, playgroups, or even just on car trips. Bonus points if the lunch box is insulated. These can keep drinks an snack chilled for hours with a simple ice pack.
- A personalized return gift is a very popular idea right now. This is why crafting machines are such a large hit. Anything that you can personalize makes return gift ideas even easier. You can personalize: water bottles, chalkboards, jewelry, cups, doormats, clothing, towels, home decor and more. You may be paying a bit more for the supplies but in the end you will have a unique gift on your hands.
- A cool idea would be to pick up an insulated child’s water bottle, fill it with snacks that are child friendly and either wrap it in age appropriate wrapping paper or ties a few balloons to it. Every child loves balloons and they can enjoy the snacks at a later date.
- Ask the parents before creating this gift because some do not enjoy items such as these. Homemade, edible play dough is a big hit amongst the young children. This pleases the child’s sensory system while giving the some sort of activity to keep busy with. It is also a great idea because it is edible so it will not harm them if they eat it. Wether you know it or not, young children love to put everything in their mouths. That makes this a great gift to keep them busy.
- Parents are busy on a normal day, and even busier when they add the stress of planning and throwing a child’s birthday party. There are a lot of things that go into orchestrating the day and making sure that you have remembered every little detail. It never hurts to as the child’s parents if they would like you to pick up some more party supplies or party favor in order to help out. They will likely be great full for the gesture, and you can always still bring a gift for the child. The parents will always remember your willingness to help and this will make them feel loved during this memorable time.
It is important to be aware of the child’s gender when choosing a gift. Yes, there are plenty of gifts out there that are gender neutral, in fact, most for childrens toys are general neutral. But there are some gifts that are more directed towards one gender over the other even though anyone can enjoy them. Either gender of child can enjoy all of these gifts, they are just marketed separately.
Girls: Historically, from the girls side of things, they have been more viewed as the homemakers and stay at home moms. For this reason, toy makers have created baby dolls with pink furniture and accessories, pink tea sets, kitchen sets, make up kits, jewelry kits and more.
Boys: Historically, boys were more commonly known as the workers and bill payers. For this reason, there is more job specific toys directed towards them. The toys that are more male directed include profession toys. What I mean by that is, construction vehicles, building blocks, exploration toys, sports equipment and more.
Another form of return gifts, include the Over The Top category. In this grouping you will find the, expensive perfumes, jewelry, homes, vehicles and even large monetary gifts. These gifts tend to be most given when there is little to no budget for a gift. These are more rare than other gifts.
The last, but possible the most entertaining of the gift choices includes, joke gifts or gag gifts. This category is expansive in that, you can find a plethora of gag gifts online for reasonable prices or you can go back to the idea of personalization, in which you can create your own idea or copy another’s. Just a few ideas that fit into the gag gift category includes: emergency underpants, a toilet light, fish shoes or slippers, a tiny violin, a poster full of Shakespeare insults, a jacket for your beverage, a Fanny pack designed as a belly, dog fart candy, blankets designed as food and other various items, etc. If your gift recipient enjoys a good candle, there are various scents to choose from, beer, turkey, jolly rancher, bacon, whiskey, popcorn, rotten apple, farts and more.
Depending on your recipient, as previously mentioned, you can also personalize these gag gifts. You can make clothing, dish-ware, home decor; all with different sayings or designs with the appropriate level of vulgarity that is appreciated by your recipient.
Another great idea is to, put together gift baskets with specifically chosen items. These can be a hot chocolate kit, coffee kit, snack emergency kit, anxiety or chill pill kits full of candy, redneck beer can wreaths, beer can wind chimes, bottle cap back scratchers, homemade coal for the holidays, a battery in a bag without the gift included, over the hill gifts, a wine glass lanyard to wear around your neck, a calendar of pooping animals basically anything and everything that you would need for these kits including mugs when necessary. They can even be holiday directed. Some ideas include: snowman poop, elf poop, reindeer poop, Easter bunny poop, elf donuts, a toilet paper stacked snowman, water bottles marked as melted snowmer and more.
The list of potential gifts are endless for any age. Just use your imagination with some research and you are guaranteed to find the perfect return gift for any recipient as well as for every occasion and every holiday.