Buying gifts for Angel Tree donations ....update at bottom of original post

[Immadismom]

DH brought home an Angel Tree tag for a 9 yr old boy. We're headed out this weekend to purchase the gifts. The wish list only lists a 20 inch bike, a hover board, and a video game but does not list for what game system.

So, we're not sure what to get! DH has no way of transporting a bike to the donation drop off site. The hover board is out of our budget. And we don't know what system to get the game for.

What would you do? We're going to get an outfit based on his sizes listed. But I really want some fun stuff too. Our kids are much older than 9, so no clue what a 9 yr old would even play with.

Edit: DH went to Walmart with a coworker today & got the bike & helmet, so we're all good! I still wanted to add some clothes, but he has already turned everything in, and he spent a bit extra getting a nicer bike & helmet than the cheapest one, so I feel pretty good about it.

Happy Holidays!!

 

[Poohlove]

I got an 8 year old boy from the Salvation Army tree in our borough hall. He is asking for sweatpants, shoes and Legos. They are close in age so maybe your recipient would also like Legos. When DS was 8 he liked his cars, GI Joe's and Legos.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

DH brought home an Angel Tree tag for a 9 yr old boy. We're headed out this weekend to purchase the gifts. The wish list only lists a 20 inch bike, a hover board, and a video game but does not list for what game system.

So, we're not sure what to get! DH has no way of transporting a bike to the donation drop off site. The hover board is out of our budget. And we don't know what system to get the game for.

What would you do? We're going to get an outfit based on his sizes listed. But I really want some fun stuff too. Our kids are much older than 9, so no clue what a 9 yr old would even play with.

How about a gift card to a game store?

 

[Mizzoufan]

Legos
Star Wars stuff
A race track
A hat
gloves
books
sports stuff.

Thank you for helping this boy.

 

[Immadismom]

Thanks so much everyone! All are great ideas! We plan to spend about $100, so we should definitely be able to get some fun stuff, and a nice outfit too. Maybe even shoes. Yay!

 

[scrhsa]

Wow, our angel tree is way different. Ours only have clothing, jackets, blankets etc. And we are told to NOT add anything to it (because they don't want the other members of the family to feel bad if they didn't get extra ). Just get what is listed!!! And by listed I mean the one item on the list.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Do you want to get the Bike?
I am thinking that the organization would be happy to have someone pick it up?
(20" sounds small???)

I would also go with a gift certificate from a gaming store, if there is such a place in your area.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Does anybody here have a boy about 4 years old. We have a card for a 4 year old.
It lists trucks and tractors. (Just like DS at that age!)
I got two simple John Deer toys. About 6"-7". Not the expensive detailed fully hinged models (which DS loved). They are the tractor and a mule, with big oversized rubbery tires, and buttons on top to make engine and beeping sounds. Does that sound good for a 4 year old???
Also got a nice model (not cheap toy) Chevy/GMC souped up pick-up truck with wench/bumper, big roll bars in the truck bed behind the cab, with some gasoline cans and stuff in the truck bed. (not sure if they are easily removed or not?)

Does this sound okay for that age?

They are listing only a couple simple toy preferences, and the main items are the clothing and shoe sizes. I also bought a nice shirt with a cool full sized John Deere graphic on the front.

 

[stalker]

DH brought home an Angel Tree tag for a 9 yr old boy. We're headed out this weekend to purchase the gifts. The wish list only lists a 20 inch bike, a hover board, and a video game but does not list for what game system.

So, we're not sure what to get! DH has no way of transporting a bike to the donation drop off site. The hover board is out of our budget. And we don't know what system to get the game for.

What would you do? We're going to get an outfit based on his sizes listed. But I really want some fun stuff too. Our kids are much older than 9, so no clue what a 9 yr old would even play with.

If it were me, I would really try to figure out a way to get the bike. Walmart has some for $50. It should fit into the trunk of a car for your DH to transport. If he had wanted legos, he would have asked for them. Maybe that's rude of me to say, but if he wants a bike he probably wants to keep up with his friends outside, not sit inside and build legos.

 

[Immadismom]

I think we're going to go with a giftcard to the game store, a nice outfit, and one other toy item, unless we figure something out with the bike. 20 inch definitely won't fit in the trunk of our Civic.

 

[scrapquitler]

I think we're going to go with a giftcard to the game store, a nice outfit, and one other toy item, unless we figure something out with the bike. 20 inch definitely won't fit in the trunk of our Civic.

The backseat

 

[Southernmiss]

If it were me, I would really try to figure out a way to get the bike. Walmart has some for $50. It should fit into the trunk of a car for your DH to transport. If he had wanted legos, he would have asked for them. Maybe that's rude of me to say, but if he wants a bike he probably wants to keep up with his friends outside, not sit inside and build legos.

I agree with this completely. My kids were not big into legos. What's on the list is what he wants/needs.

Does the backseat of the car fold down to extend the trunk space? Some cars we have had did

Another thought...can you give $ to the organization so they could buy the bike for the boy? Sometimes organizations are able to go shopping to fill in wished for items that weren't fulfilled.

 

[Mizzoufan]

Does anybody here have a boy about 4 years old. We have a card for a 4 year old.
It lists trucks and tractors. (Just like DS at that age!)
I got two simple John Deer toys. About 6"-7". Not the expensive detailed fully hinged models (which DS loved). They are the tractor and a mule, with big oversized rubbery tires, and buttons on top to make engine and beeping sounds. Does that sound good for a 4 year old???
Also got a nice model (not cheap toy) Chevy/GMC souped up pick-up truck with wench/bumper, big roll bars in the truck bed behind the cab, with some gasoline cans and stuff in the truck bed. (not sure if they are easily removed or not?)

Does this sound okay for that age?

They are listing only a couple simple toy preferences, and the main items are the clothing and shoe sizes. I also bought a nice shirt with a cool full sized John Deere graphic on the front.

I think the model might be a little old for him. JMO

 

[elphaba91]

If it were me, I would really try to figure out a way to get the bike. Walmart has some for $50. It should fit into the trunk of a car for your DH to transport. If he had wanted legos, he would have asked for them. Maybe that's rude of me to say, but if he wants a bike he probably wants to keep up with his friends outside, not sit inside and build legos.

I just had a look and they've even got one for $38!

I think we're going to go with a giftcard to the game store, a nice outfit, and one other toy item, unless we figure something out with the bike. 20 inch definitely won't fit in the trunk of our Civic.

Does your Civic have the magic seats that lift up or fold down? I'm pretty sure we've fitted a bike in ours before. We have definitely fitted 3 full sized suitcases with 3 hand luggage suitcases in with 3 people. Alternatively could you perhaps wheel it to the centre? Or maybe ask if someone there has a bigger car and can pick it up?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

DH brought home an Angel Tree tag for a 9 yr old boy. We're headed out this weekend to purchase the gifts. The wish list only lists a 20 inch bike, a hover board, and a video game but does not list for what game system.

So, we're not sure what to get! DH has no way of transporting a bike to the donation drop off site. The hover board is out of our budget. And we don't know what system to get the game for.

What would you do? We're going to get an outfit based on his sizes listed. But I really want some fun stuff too. Our kids are much older than 9, so no clue what a 9 yr old would even play with.

Say what a hoverboard?? a video game?? man whenever we did Angel Tree/Adopt-a-Family in the past they set a $ limit and only essential things and basic toys were allowed to be asked for..you know like clothes, undergarments, coats, gloves, scarves, baby dolls/barbie dolls,etc lower end priced bike, small toys.

I know my last company it was $100 MAX per family and it was done as a team thing so it wasn't that each person was responsible for items totalling $100 it was usually 10-14 people and no gift cards were allowed (that was from Salvation Army directly in our case)..it was a way of controlling what the family got because you know there's no guarantee unfortunately that it would be used for the right reasons and they didn't want to say gift cards to this place ok but not this place that was just too complicated. I do believe grocery stores operate a tad different.

Here's the information from my local Salvation Army for Adopt-a-Family. Each area around the country will have different information/guidelines though:

Notice how ours says $30-$35 per child/senior NOT hundreds of dollars (which is what a hoverboard could cost and video games many times cost more than that $35-aside from special deals).

ETA: You might check out the guidelines for your local Angel Tree/Adopt-a-Family. I wouldn't feel pressured to spend a ton. You could probably find those fun stuff within a reasonable amount of $. Again check the guidelines before buying things that may not be in line with what your program is designed for.

 

[Hikergirl]

OP, you should check to make sure a gift card is okay to give. I know some o the organizations that do angel trees ask you to not give giftcards.

 

[Marchand63]

Did this with my DS 20 years ago. Now I do it with DGDs. I want them all to know how lucky they are.

 

[Immadismom]

I hadn't thought about gift cards not being accepted. The info on the back of the tag doesn't say anything about gift cards on the back, only gives instructions on how to label the gifts with the child's tag #, since al items are to be unwrapped.

I'll talk with DH about the bike further. We would definitely do it if we can figure the transport out. He said he didn't see the bike fitting in his car, but maybe we can make it work. We live too far away from his office to wheel it there, and no co-workers are close, but maybe he can just buy it at one of the stores at lunch & have someone pick it up with him. Still pondering...

 

[Southernmiss]

Say what a hoverboard?? a video game?? man whenever we did Angel Tree/Adopt-a-Family in the past they set a $ limit and only essential things and basic toys were allowed to be asked for..you know like clothes, undergarments, coats, gloves, scarves, baby dolls/barbie dolls,etc lower end priced bike, small toys.

I know my last company it was $100 MAX per family and it was done as a team thing so it wasn't that each person was responsible for items totalling $100 it was usually 10-14 people and no gift cards were allowed (that was from Salvation Army directly in our case)..it was a way of controlling what the family got because you know there's no guarantee unfortunately that it would be used for the right reasons and they didn't want to say gift cards to this place ok but not this place that was just too complicated. I do believe grocery stores operate a tad different.

Here's the information from my local Salvation Army for Adopt-a-Family. Each area around the country will have different information/guidelines though:
View attachment 208441
Notice how ours says $30-$35 per child/senior NOT hundreds of dollars (which is what a hoverboard could cost and video games many times cost more than that $35-aside from special deals).

ETA: You might check out the guidelines for your local Angel Tree/Adopt-a-Family. I wouldn't feel pressured to spend a ton. You could probably find those fun stuff within a reasonable amount of $. Again check the guidelines before buying things that may not be in line with what your program is designed for.

I agree that a hoverboard is a bit expensive. But I don't find the other requests excessive. Things today are expensive. Gifts for a family for $100? If your receiving only one or 2 gifts, a bike or video game are reasonable.

Back in the 1990s, I managed our department adopt a family. We spent more than $100 and got non extravagant gifts, clothes, shoes and a few groceries for the families we adopted from the battered women's shelter.

At 9 years old, I could see a child believing in Santa and not having a clue that things like a hoverboard were over the top.

If it pains you (general you) to pick an angel with a hoverboard as a gift, chose a different angel requesting socks and legos

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I agree that a hoverboard is a bit expensive. But I don't find the other requests excessive. Things today are expensive. Gifts for a family for $100?

Back in the 1990s, I managed our department adopt a family. We spent more than that and got non extravagant gifts, clothes, shoes and a few groceries for the families we adopted from the battered women's shelter.

At 9 years old, I could see a child believing in Santa and not having a clue that things like a hoverboard were over the top.

If it pains you (general you) to pick an angel with a hoverboard as a gift, chose a different angel requesting socks and legos

In all honesty the intent is to give to families in need;for my local salvation army they give to seniors and when I googled other salvation armies around the nation also give to prisoners;some also give $ for rent, battered shelters, etc. Every area for Salvation Army at least has different guidelines. That's why I said the OP should check with the place they got the Angel Tree.

I completely understand about the child not understanding the hoverboard..that's why it should have been removed prior to being put on the tree. The child put what they wanted and for most children though not all they aren't aware of the costs associated with things. I know for Christmas as a child I would have loved a Razor scooter over a coat any day.

As to the $100 part my company set that guideline. Think about it..if one team of 10-14 people did $200 to one family but another team did $50 how is that fair?? Most of the time they did in-house fundraising like bake sales, or raffles. The company already pushed March of Dimes (their biggest charity they gave to) and their own in-house charity fund for fellow employees. I myself donated through my paycheck each year $400 to March of Dimes. So yes $100 was a good max.

To your bolded part I didn't say it pains me at all (though yes I know you were speaking as a general comment) I was speaking in regards to the OP's list. I mean really the guideline in our area says $30-$35 per child/senior (ETA: PLUS a grocery certificate for a holiday meal)........they are not expecting nor encouraging people to go all out and go buy a bunch of stuff and going over budget perse. It's doubtful that any place would really advocate buying a several hundred dollar hoverboard when in reality what is more in line with programs like that are you know food, clothing, coats/gloves,etc, small toys. Video games can be expensive too and they require the receipient to have that specific gaming device. As for the bike I did mention a lower end bike. That to me is no problem and on this thread alone someone mentioned a bike for $50 and another person mentioned a bike for $38 (which would be pretty close to the $30-$35 range my area expects).