Secret Santa gifts for kids you know nothing about

[EE-BO]

At the company where I am currently doing project work, they do a Secret Santa program where employees buy gifts for underprivileged children.

I drew a 2nd grader and a 4th grader, both boys, and when I went to get them stuff this morning I found it was a lot harder than I thought- and I really want to be sure I get them stuff they might want.

Trouble is- I just have a name and what grade they are in. No clue what they might actually want.

For the 2nd grader I got a small lego set, a dinosaur card game and some Hotwheels cars.

For the 4th grader I got a bit more complex lego set, a gyroscope, a whiffle ball and a science kit where you can make a clock using a potato or piece of fruit.

We have a strict budget limit so that the gifts are fairly even among the kids, but going on that and so little info, did I do okay?

I know some of you have kids, and any thoughts are appreciated. These were not terribly expensive items, so if anyone has better suggestions I could do that and then just use these for something else. Dollar limit is $30 per kid.

Picking stuff was harder than I thought!

[Texas Beta]

Sneak em a Wii I'm going to try and get one tomorrow, this PS3 looks like a PS1 without a high def TV.

When I was a little kid, Lego's were my favorite. Also those K'nex things. I think you can find a pretty complex K'nex set for around $30. I need to go home sometime and round up all my old toys for Orange Santa.

[cutie_cat_4ever]

You could never go wrong with a lego set

Though to be more pratical, you could get them a cool stationary set or a new backpack since they might not have the luxury of buying nice things for school

[epchick]

And its better to get them something without batteries.

Back home, my church does this with an orphanage in mexico. People pick names, and the only requirement for toys is that it cannot be something that needs batteries..makes sense too!

[Texas Beta]

I think you did fine. I remember as a kid playing with Lego’s, hot wheels, and I had a chem set.

The bag pack idea was a really good suggestion though, but there’s no way to know what one to get (I always see little children with "cartoon" bags).

[winnieb]

My boys are 8 and 5-- they would be happy with the things you purchased.