Souvenir money for 9 and 5 year olds

[kiramay]

We do a set amount for the whole trip. When they were 7 and 2 it was $25. When they were 9 and 4 it was $50. At 10 and 5 it'll probably still be $50.

 

[sweetlike]

We have very little ones (4.5,3,1 years old at the time of our trip) any thoughts on what would be a good souvenir to steer them towards? We aren't stuffed animal people and I fear the toys will be too old for the little ones (maybe not the 4.5 year old)

 

[maramarrie]

My kids are 6 and 4, and we don't really set a budget for souvenirs yet as much as we just steer them away from things we definitely won't buy. We let them LOOK as much as they want all week long, but they can't buy anything until the end of the trip. We just continually say, "That looks good too. Maybe you can get that at the end of the week. Keep thinking about it and once we've seen the other things for sale you'll be able to make a decision." On our last trip the budget was about $20-25 for each. We have been to WDW several times, so we don't need to come home with everything we love on every trip. FWIW, our last trip was the first time we really stuck to the "look and make a decision later" thing and the kids still play with what they bought multiple times a week, almost a year later. They both made a perfect choice for personal taste/style of play.

 

[nat8199]

My plan is to give my kids a wallet with $20 in it the first day, and then give then $10 each morning after that. I want them to have the experience of holding and counting the money, seeing it grow if they don't spend it, etc. The wallets will stay in my camera bag unless they are actively making a purchase. They will be 4.5, 4.5, and just turned 6 on our trip.

 

[Wdw1015]

I like this wallet idea!

 

[Dizlvr]

When my kids were little we just let them pick something in each park. They were told it couldn't cost more than X amount. I was lucky in the sense that they always seemed to like the little not too expensive things.
As they got older, we let them manage their own money (in the form of GCs), they could spend it all in one park or a little here and there. For my boys, it was usually all spent at LEGO in DTD, my dd still likes to get a little bit from everywhere.

 

[TAngel84]

When I took each of mine for bdays this year I gave each a certain amount of money to spend. Now the oldest (just turned 9) had her money on a gift card. She was very careful about deciding what to spend her money on. The younger 2 turning 5 and 7 I held on to their money. I encouraged them to wait a couple days and look around a bit before deciding what to buy and when they picked something out I explained how much it was and how much it would leave them. It seemed to work out well. I plan to take a similar route next year when we travel to Disney. But since they know about the trip I'm thinking they will get gift cards as part of their Christmas gifts and also for bdays.

 

[Deranged Hermit]

My family would give the kids gift cards for Christmas or Birthdays when they know we have a vacation planned. Usually they'll have about 100 buck apiece to spend and that's more than enough.

 

[powellrj]

We have done the money way, a set amount to spend for each child and we have also done the object method. You can pick out a small or large stuffed animal or shirt or whatever it was they are interested in and let them shop for that. The object method works best with younger kids.

 

[dprincessmom]

I used to just buy my daughter whatever she wanted, within reason, but since we go twice a year I was forever lugging home a ton of things that were played with a few times then discarded. My daughter's now 6 and for this trip she'll have her own spending money and once it's gone, it's gone. She's been putting loose change in a jar since November and I cashed it out yesterday for $137. I'll give her the $3 to make it an even $140 and purchase a Disney gift card in that amount.

Just my thoughts on this - but maybe don't put all of it on the gift card at the beginning. After the newness of the shopping wears off she might not spend all of it.

My DD will have a gift card with some money on it and cash. She usually will spend about $50.00 this way, if she has her money left over and we bring it home with us she can use at the book store or movies or whatever.

 

[Harters2WDW]

My kids are 9 and 5. We tell them they can pick one large gift and one small gift and that is not necessarily size but more based on price. They also get one pin for their collection. Seems to work well. We talk about the price more with my oldest.

 

[RosasFamily]

We have always done the "here's $50 on a gift card - buy what you want" route. Our son is a lot more careful with his money when it's "his" money and not our money. We will still buy him the occasional thing (treat, little toy, etc.), but otherwise he uses his money. It's always lasted him until the end of the trip because he wants to see everything in every park before he decides what he wants. It also helps teach him about money and budgeting.

This is a great idea!