Posting this in the Simple Living community a well, but thought I might a different perspective and additional input here.
Christmas is coming and I have a two year old and a five year old. My wife and I are pretty stumped about what to get our kids for Christmas. The two year old is easy; he doesn't care, will be thrilled with a ball, and just happy to be included.
The five year old is very down to earth and grateful for anything, but he already has everything he needs because up to now we've tried to be smart about buying him things that will last and give him good enjoyment mileage. He has plenty of Legos, an assortment of figurines (farm animals, fantasy creatures, little play houses, action figures, cars.), plenty of outside balls and whatnot. He also doesn't need consumable stuff (has plenty of candy from Halloween, crayons, coloring books, crafty supplies)
He doesn't need more stuff, but we still want Christmas morning to feel special and exciting and we want him to have a good "Santa came!!!" experience. I like the idea of giving experiences like tickets to Disney on Ice or a voucher to an ice cream shop, but that just doesn't have the same effect for a five year old, cause he can't hold it and it's really just a promise for the future.
Any advice or suggestions would be really appreciated!
Maybe you can get him something physical that is also experience-based. Like one of those cool kits where you get a box of sand you can dig out and find fake fossils/treasure. If you want to take it up a notch, you can buy lab-grown rubies, emeralds, and/or sapphires for less than $20 online and bury those as a true "treasure" keepsake. Or something like a kid-oriented metal detector, or some other outdoorsy toy that can offer both experience and something fun to open on Xmas morning