# What to buy for the kid who has nothing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139 "2001-12-06T00:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/1 "2001-12-06T00:56:50Z")
As part of a program at my school, I’m buying a present (or presents) for a poor kid that I haven’t been given much information about. All I know is that it’s a four-year-old boy and that he’s in a foster home somewhere in the Houston area because he was taken out of his parents’ custody. So, what do four-year-old children want these days in the $30 range? I want to get him something that he’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of that doesn’t need batteries. The people organizing the toy drive have asked us not to get anything violent (otherwise I wouldn’t need to ask) and my classmates seem to think Eminem CD’s would be inappropriate. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/2 "2001-12-06T01:14:56Z")
[Toys R Us](http://www.toysrus.com) allows you to search my age- that may be a help. Otherwise, I’m not really sure, since I’m rarely around kids these days. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/3 "2001-12-06T01:18:22Z")
Books. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/4 "2001-12-06T01:20:45Z")
Legos, or any other kind of building set, especially with the bigger pieces. THey have great sets for around 30 bucks and I’ve never seen a kid that didn’t play with them. (but I’m betting someone here does!) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/5 "2001-12-06T01:22:06Z")
Wooden blocks or legos. Virtually every 3 & 4 year old I know (about 30 of them) is crazy about building things. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/6 "2001-12-06T01:35:28Z")
What about a stuffed animal? Could be comforting for a little kid who doesn’t have a stable home. Plus, it is something he’ll be likely to be able to take with him if he moves out of the home. You can get a really killer-willer stuffed animal for 30 bucks! ---
**Author:** ![BarbieOrBritney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47774/32.png) [@BarbieOrBritney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarbieOrBritney)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/7 "2001-12-06T01:40:44Z")
Aw, I’m gonna second the stuffed animal idea. Nothin’ beats a comfort toy that someone can just squeeze with, kind of like a soft, imaginary best friend. Or maybe you could get him several small gifts that, total, add up to $30? ---
**Author:** ![Born2Read](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@Born2Read](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Born2Read)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/8 "2001-12-06T01:50:39Z")
I’m all for books, too. A nice box of 64 Crayola crayons and lots of drawing paper would be fun, too. Never met a little kid that didn’t like to draw/color. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/9 "2001-12-06T02:36:16Z")
Well, the 5-year-old boy whose Angel I got off the Angel Tree requested a football. The Lego sets sounds like a good idea. Or toy cars are fun. Or puzzles–I saw a store in the mall last weekend that had puzzles that you put together of roads or train tracks, and came with cars, a train or even a school bus that ran on the roads/tracks, but I don’t remember if they were wind-up or battery-operated. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/10 "2001-12-06T03:20:15Z")
Something. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/11 "2001-12-06T04:30:10Z")
You won’t believe this… water balloons. Trust me. Destruction without destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/12 "2001-12-06T10:07:39Z")
Thanks! I already got him some Hot Wheels and a cool-looking dinosaur, but I didn’t spend all my money yet, and I like the Legos idea and the stuffed animal idea. I’ll see what they’ve got over at Evil Mart. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/13 "2001-12-06T14:13:33Z")
What, nothing violent? What a bunch of party-poopers! (What’s the point of being a boy if you can’t play with war toys? 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2001, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/14 "2001-12-06T21:20:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neidhart \* > \*\*What, nothing violent? What a bunch of party-poopers! > > (What’s the point of being a boy if you can’t play with war toys? 🙂 ) \*\* Yeah, tell me about it! If **normal** people had organized the toy drive, it would have taken me about 30 seconds to pick out the coolest machine gun in the whole store and everyone would have been happy! By the way, does anyone know what kinds of books a four-year-old would like? Are there any he could enjoy (besides coloring books) if there weren’t any adults around to read to him? ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/15 "2001-12-07T01:41:21Z")
Instead of a stuffed animal, big fuzzy animal slippers (like a gorilla or bunnies) useful and fun. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/16 "2001-12-07T01:57:53Z")
I remember liking Dr. Seuss at that age. Also Sears catalogues. ---
**Author:** ![cgrayce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@cgrayce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgrayce)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/17 "2001-12-07T02:24:54Z")
Not all four-year-olds can read, and it might be even less likely in one who has been neglected. But if you want to give him something he has the best chance of being able to read, try: The Bob Books, published by Scholastic. These come in a little cardboard box, about 10 paperbacks each about 10 pages long, with line drawings. They are the easiest books to read ever, with nothing but three letter words, for example: ``A big cat at the zoo had a bad leg. The vet had to fix the cat.’’ These give the new reader confidence, because he is able to read the entire story, usually, himself. Harper McMillan publishes a number of small paperbacks with collor illustrations called ``An I Can Read Book.’’ There are funny and charming stories, and restrict themselves mostly to short sentences and words. More advanced than the Bob Books, uses the silent e, for exmaple. Another excellent set on this level are the ``Henry and Mudge’’ books by Cynthia Rylant and Sucie Stevenson. Adventures of a rather independent boy and his big drooling dog, easy to read, very charming. These were the number one favorite of my boy when he was four. Additionally, I would be cautious about LEGOs. Modern LEGOs have many very small parts, which can be hard to assemble and disassemble with small uncoordinated hands. Following the assembly instructions can also be challenging. They do have large-scale LEGOs (Duplo) which are designed for younger children. If he has been bounced around a lot, he may well have a strong need for what are called ``transitional objects.’’ You might be able to find a stuffed animal which has a small zippered pocket in it to store things. This might be a good present, as it gives him a little tiny corner of his own space. Someone who has bounced around a lot is lacking in continuity, and being able to identify a small space that goes with him everywhere might be nice. I’d be surprised if he really liked a toy gun. That’s something little boys get into during school age. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/18 "2001-12-07T04:39:54Z")
You might also consider a kid’s watch. I am sure he cannot tell time yet, but kids love “grown up” things and it is something he can wear and have wherever he goes. It might motivate him to learn to tell time, too! ---
**Author:** ![Ferggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Ferggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferggie)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/19 "2001-12-07T04:51:21Z")
I’ll echo stuffed animal and throw in a few cans of Play-Doh. (Legos are awesome but if we’re still sticking things in our mouths – which some 4-year-olds do – Play-Doh is digestable.) ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2001, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139/20 "2001-12-07T06:00:44Z")
I really like **cgrayce’s** idea about a stuffed animal with a storage pocket - Put the other toys inside as a second present! Those school bags that are esentially teddy bears are great - I have a Winnie-the-Pooh one which is just adorable 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-buy-for-the-kid-who-has-nothing/97139.md?page=2)