Our family likes to give something yearly to our local kids’ toy drive. This year, we wanted to focus on gifts for older boys, who are often forgotten in toy drives.

I applied for money from the Rockstar Finance Community Fund to buy even more presents this year, but I didn’t get selected.  They’re doing a great project to spread the word about good things people can do with small amounts of money. Even though we didn’t get selected for the money from the community fund, we wanted to join in on the fun. I used money from my “other giving” category and my daughter gave from her giving jar. We had $130 in total to spend.

Remember the “Big Boys” in Toy Drives

This year, we decided to focus on gifts for older (ages 10+) boys, since they are often forgotten in toy drives. Everyone buys the cute little kid gifts and pretty things for the girls, but the older boys get forgotten. Their gifts might not be as cute but they want some Christmas fun too!

My daughter considers herself an expert on what 10-year-old boys want… should I be worried about this? She said we should stick with Legos, sports equipment, and electronics. I think she knows what she is talking about!

To save some time and money, we ordered the gifts from Amazon with our Prime membership. The stores get a little scary in December!

Our Gifts for the Older Boys

Here’s what we got:

• Lego Minecraft Mushroom Island
• Two footballs
• Lego Creator Dinosaurs
• Two basketballs
• Lego Star Wars Imperial Troopers

My daughter was also adamant that we needed to get high-quality earbuds. The kids at school often have low-quality ones that fall apart. She knew that the boys would appreciate good ones. We settled on 4 of these headphones in two colors. Be very careful when selecting electronic items on Amazon, because there are a large number of fake reviews on off-brand electronic products. I like to use the site FakeSpot to make sure the reviews are legitimate.

In all, we got 11 great gifts for $130. I think our smart shopping helped us out!

The gifts we bought for the toy drive.

Tips for Giving to Toy Drives

If you’re going to give to a toy drive, remember these tips:

• Check out the toy drive’s “most wanted” items list. (Hint: It’s probably the stuff for the older boys!)
• Be sure to deliver your gifts before the deadline. Thankfully, ours collects until 12/24 so we still had time.
• Don’t wrap the gifts. Most toy drives don’t want the gifts to be wrapped so that they can see what it is.
• Give new toys. Some drives accept gently used toys too but make sure they’re in very nice condition. 
• Give cash if you don’t want to shop. Toy drives always appreciate cash gifts.
• Gift cards are also always appreciated.

Gifts for Older Boys

If you want to focus your toy drive gifts on older boys too, here are some ideas:

• Video games
• Handheld electronic games
• iTunes or Google Play gift cards
• Headphones or earbuds
• Advanced Lego sets (look for the ones that have higher age ranges)
• Sports equipment of all kinds – basketballs, soccer balls, footballs, baseball balls & gloves, etc
• Movie passes or gift cards
• Board games and card games
• Backpacks
• Hats, scarves, gloves
• Art supplies

Spreading Christmas Cheer

My daughter and I had fun spreading some Christmas cheer. Doing good doesn’t have to be too expensive. Even just one of these gifts for around $10 would really brighten the holiday of a child in need. How have you spread joy this holiday season? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

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Cindy Scott

Cindy is a number-loving, money-saving expert. She pulled her own family out of debt. Now, she cuts through the nonsense and crunches numbers to find you the greatest value. When you join the Smart Family Money community, you'll get the tools you need to take control of your money. You will gain confidence in your financial future and freedom to spend your time on the things that matter most to you today.

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