Simple Birthdays for Simple Families

My four year old has a birthday coming up in November.  With money being tight these days, I am planning ahead for all his gifts.  We usually each get him something for a total of three gifts.  Of course, if the gifts are tiny, I will get an extra.  But... that really is about it.

I have some ideas I would like to share:

• homemade bean bags: for playing games... should stir up alot of imagination
• felted gnomes: imagination and creativity (can be bought or made... think it is almost same price either way you choose to go)
• cosmic spinning tops or wooden tops: for hours of giggly fun
• flip tops: spin and flip over and keep on spinning
• tangle free parachute: for outdoor play and use of the imagination (can't decide if I should save this as a stocking stuffer)
• bubble wands: for imaginative play out of doors
• blank book sets: for writing, drawing, and keeping memories
• modeling beeswax: creative downtime
• cotton play cloths: for building houses and forts galore

I am leaning toward the homemade bean bags, felted gnomes, modeling beeswax, and play cloths. 

What do you think about these ideas? 

How do you decide on what to get your children as gifts? 

How do you keep from getting an overload of junk on birthdays and other holidays without offending the gift giver?

These questions really are important to consider when you want to keep life simple, creative, and fun.  Now, on to some crafting.