My love language is gifts. I love choosing and giving just the right gift! And while I try to choose every gift very carefully, some birthdays warrant a little extra effort…and a little extra budget. I still have the birthstone ring my parents gave me for my 16th birthday, and it’s special to me. My husband give me a ring the Mother’s Day after I found out I was pregnant with our first child. So, when our children celebrate milestone birthdays, I want to give them something special. That way, they can share the keepsake with their own children one day. I’m giving you some of my ideas for keepsake gifts for kids’ milestone birthdays today, but please share yours too!
My daughter will soon turn ten! Double-digits is a big deal and is considered a milestone birthday in our house. Sure, we celebrated their first birthdays in special ways. But kids don’t appreciate a keepsake gift at a year old (even though we definitely saved special things for them!)
The Best Keepsake Gifts for Kids’ Milestone Birthdays
- American Girl Doll or Cabbage Patch Doll/ Lego Set
This is a grandparent thing for us, but I know others for whom this has been a milestone birthday gift. When our daughters turn eight, they visit the American Girl Doll store and choose a doll and a matching outfit.
I’m not sure I would have done this, as it’s, in my opinion, SO OVERPRICED, but I also remember wishing I had an AG doll when I was younger! And my oldest daughter made some of the sweetest memories on her trip with just Grandpa and Grandma. She also loves when all the cousins get together to play with their dolls. They do last well too! My sister-in-law has two from when she was little and her daughters play with them now.
A more budget-friendly version of this milestone gift would be a Cabbage Patch doll. Yes, it’s old-school, but they come and go in popularity just like AG dolls. You can choose a Cabbage Patch doll that resembles your child, and have the adoption papers personalized with her name and birthday for a great personalized keepsake gift costing a WHOLE LOT LESS than an American Girl doll!
The grandsons visited the Lego store to choose a big Lego set they normally wouldn’t “just get.” My oldest son went on this trip first, as he’s the oldest grandson. He made special memories and has a super cool “Lone Ranger” Lego set to keep! Our second son had a bit of an advantage, as he knew the price range ahead of time, so he worked at saving some money and selling other toys to make up the difference in order to get the Lego Deathstar! Yeah. He was the envy of kids and adults alike!
- Jewelry—
There are many different things to choose from with jewelry. I think ten is a good age to buy my daughter a nicer piece of jewelry with her birthstone, or a pearl, or even a personalized bracelet with a message for her. Of course, keeping in mind that she is only ten, I don’t plan to spend an arm and a leg! Kids easily lose jewelry. I don’t want the big memory to be how frustrated I became when she lost a $500 gift! (No. That is NOT what I spend on my children’s birthday gifts—not even CLOSE!)
My parents give each of their granddaughters a birthstone ring when they turn 13, and their grandsons a pocket watch. So for that reason, I’ll avoid those specific pieces of jewelry, but they’re great options if you don’t have that!
I also have bought each of my nieces a purity ring for their 16th birthdays and plan to do this with each of our children as well. A couple of them didn’t really understand it, so it might be important to explain in a little more detail in a letter or card, but I love the reminder having that ring on your left hand serves! And a great gift for a milestone birthday!
- Musical Instrument—
If your son or daughter is becoming more interested in music, now might be the time to buy a guitar, or a drum set, or a violin. This is something your child can keep for when his or her own child is learning to play too! My children and I have all learned a few chords on my mom’s guitar from when she was a kid. We all enjoyed hearing the stories of how she played every song in the key of G because she only knew those chords.
She tells stories of how she and her cousins used to go around singing at different area churches and how many memories they made through that experience. Pretty cool for my kids to be learning on Grandma’s guitar! A musical instrument is one of the best keepsake gifts for kids’ milestone birthdays because it’s great at any age!
- Gun or Bow—
I realize that not every kid grows up where hunting is a big deal, and that’s fine. And obviously, this may not fit your personal beliefs, and that’s fine too. But for us, hunting starts at an early age and our kids have loved participating. You can choose the age that most appropriately fits your child’s level of responsibility, but for our kids, we have started with a BB gun at the age of five. We expect them to take great care with their BB guns and handle them as they would with a regular hunting rifle.
When they show us that responsibility, and they are at least ten years old, they are legally able to hunt with a parent. A gun is a great gift for a milestone birthday because it shows your growing and maturing child that you feel they are trustworthy with something very dangerous! Boys, especially, live for that!
Not into hunting? That’s okay! Your child might like to shoot archery and will need a good bow for that. WARNING: This can be expensive! Bows range in prices, but just let me warn you that it may stretch your budget. I recommend making sure your child really wants to do it before making that investment.
- An Engraved Pocket Knife or Multi-tool—
Our boys each got to choose their first pocketknife when they went to a Father/Son camp with my husband and then I engraved the blade with their names. They weren’t anything fancy, but they meant the world to our sons because again, we trusted them with something dangerous!
A few years ago, my son and my husband went out to run errands together. My son begged him to stop at a local hardware store because he, “heard the store sold pocketknives for $1.” My husband wondered why on Earth he would want to buy a cheap, junky knife, but obliged anyway. My son proceeded to scrape together enough of his pocket change and whatever coins were in the car to buy a small pocketknife.
Finally, my husband asked, “Why do you think you need that? You’ve got far nicer ones at home.” My son replied, “Because [his younger sister] is turning six and she didn’t get to go to a camp with you and pick one out!”
Awww! So, if you think that keepsake gifts are stupid, that’s fine…but your kids might not! Keepsake gifts might mean the world to them!
The beauty of parenting is that you can do things how you want to. You can choose the milestone birthdays to reserve for something more “special” and you can base your choices on your child’s interests. The most important part of giving your child a keepsake gift really has nothing to do with the gift itself, but with how special your child feels when you trust him or her with something “important!” That’s the action that builds confidence, and aids in healthy brain development!
RElated: The Importance of Celebration
