Frugal gift ideas for 4yo boy and question

[Bennifer]

Friends of ours were planning a party for their 4yo boy but cancelled it a few days prior b/c he came down with croup. My question is, should I still get him a gift. I guess I would like to, as these are close friends of ours and our boys play together, but when i asked his mom what he wanted, he said a big dump truck that will do everything! and I thought to myself, "I think I saw about 3 of those when we were at their house last!" We are on a tight budget and even if I had a ton of money, I just can't spend money on *another* truck when I know he has a zillion zillion toys to begin with. So my choice is to not get him a present, or make something, or come up with something inexpensive. I know he likes to help his mom bake (but has a ton of food allergies); he loves trucks, cars, going to the zoo...I read the thread for the girl ideas and you all had such awesome ideas, I thought I would see if anyone had advice for me!
thanks!

[rainyday]

We recently went to a birthday party where the kids all got treasure stones like these. Inside there were inexpensive pieces of "treasure" - like plastic coins and toy dinosaurs (the ones with the dinosaurs inside were called "dinosaur eggs"). The kids all loved them. They had a blast pounding them open and finding what was inside. So maybe you could get a couple of inexpensive things that he would like and bake them inside stones like that?

Or take a picture of a piece of construction equipment at work and make a "gift certificate" for a visit to a construction site or to an equipment rental place. I took my DS to one of those rental places that rents out excavators and so on, and he got to sit on a few of them and was in heaven. If you did that, you could take a picture of him sitting on an excavator or loader and then give him a copy of it when it's printed.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Well, you did ask what he "wanted" and most little boys are going to "want" a cool new dump truck, regardless of how many they already have. My ds is only 10 mos, but I'm quite sure he would love a new dump truck!

Anywho, I think the treasure is a great idea. Maybe you could include a little trowel & magnifying glass, and call it his detective kit. Or, maybe a book or dvd about dump trucks. My friend has one of these, and it is all about trucks & cranes and the such, blowing things up and knocking things down. I must admit, even as a full grown woman, I found it quite amusing! But then again, I've always been a bit of a tom boy!

Here's I Dig Dirt

and

Real Trucks

and

20 Trucks

hth!

[elizabeth rose]

I love the treasure stone idea, that is very cool. since you asked though, I would go for the dump truck. This is why I usually do not ask, lol!

Ideas that have worked for me in the past:
Homemade playdough in lots of cool colors, with some dollar store rollers and cookie cutters

sticker box (cheap plastic pencil case ) with lots of cool stickers in it

homemade bean bags in a matching cloth drawstring bag

homemade melt and pour soap with a toy embedded

homemade bubble solution with a cool wand or two

[Isaac'sMa]

What about an arts and crafts box? You could cover a shoe box with some fun paper and fill the inside with pencils, tape, watercolors and brushes, origami paper, etc basically whatever you can find for not too much $. I'll bet a four year old would love it! (and you wouldn't have to spend a fortune)

[Bennifer]

thanks everyone. I love the treasure stone idea; what a different gift that a boy would love. maybe i could get a little digger and then include some stones with it for it to pick up?

thanks for the other ideas as well. i'm sure i'll end up using them in the future!

[lmonter]

Helium filled balloons. Seriously.
They were the amazing toys of the week for both our kiddos for our 4yo's birthday. Not only were they "decoration" but they were the entertainment. I spent $9 (we got one fancy mylar one) for a week's worth of entertainment for the kids. Which just happened to be the only expense for my 4yo's party besides his toys (which grandma bought!) and the cream cheese for the frosting on the carrot cake.