Amigo invisible for kids: €5 and €10 Secret Santa ideas that work
With a €5 limit, the safe choices are things that get used up or collected, such as drawing materials, cards or modelling clay. With a €10 limit there is room for a card game or a book. At school, go for something anyone in the class would like.
Amigo invisible (Secret Santa) for children has a difficulty the adult version does not: the child compares their present with the one next to them at the very moment they open it. That is why sticking to the limit matters more than showing off.
Ideas by spending limit
| Limit | What fits | What does not fit |
|---|---|---|
| €5 | Felt-tip pens or crayons, modelling clay, stickers, collectable cards, a nice notebook, a pocket game | Board games, hardback books, almost any building set |
| €10 | Card games, paperbacks and early readers, small craft kits, tiny building sets, logic puzzles | Big-box board games, full science kits |
With a €5 limit, do not look for a toy: what there is at that price tends to be flimsy. Something that gets used up, such as good drawing materials, goes down better than a bad toy.
By age
Ages 3 to 5. Modelling clay, reusable stickers, chunky crayons, a paperback storybook. Avoid small parts, because in an infantil (pre-school) classroom there are children who still put things in their mouths.
Ages 6 to 8. Card games, packets of collectable stickers (cromos) if the class is doing the collection, beads and bracelets, early-reader books.
Ages 9 to 12. Logic puzzles, comics, card games with a bit of strategy, stationery they will use in class. At this age, babyish goes down worse than small.
At school
Here you are buying for a child your own may barely know.
- Avoid characters, football teams and anything that depends on a particular taste.
- Choose something that can be opened and used in class without causing chaos: no noise, no loose glitter, no batteries.
- No sweets if the school does not allow them or if there are allergies in the class. Ask the class teacher (tutor).
- Wrap it well and write the name clearly. For a 5-year-old, the parcel is half the present.
If the teacher has not set a limit, suggest one in the parents’ group. Without a limit there is always a €3 present next to a €20 one, and it is the child who suffers, not the parents.
In the family
Among cousins, amigo invisible is a good replacement for everyone buying for everyone, which is expensive and ends in piles of small things.
- Draw names in good time and have each child write down two or three ideas within the limit. With very different ages, guessing is hard.
- Little ones can take part by choosing the present with an adult. Choosing for someone else is part of the game too.
- If there is a big age gap, a €10 limit gives more room than a €5 one for the older children.
What goes wrong
- Going over the limit. It looks generous and shows everyone else up.
- The joke present. It works among adults. A 7-year-old who gets a joke while the others open real presents does not understand it.
- Buying on the last day. Small, cheap things are exactly what takes longest to arrive or is not worth ordering on its own. Check the delivery date on the product page before you pay.
Where to look
In gifts for amigo invisible you will find the ones that fit these limits. If you are searching by price, there is under €10, and to please almost any child in the class, card-based board games are the safest bet. For school birthdays, which raise a similar problem, see how much to spend on a classmate’s present.
