Why some Birthday Gifts for Kids are a Hit and Some are a Flop

Finding birthday gifts for kids or coming up with kids birthday gift ideas can be difficult. This is one of the best tips we know; DO NOT buy clothes! A typical mistake people make is buying a child clothes. If you want to see disappointment on a kids face, clothes will do it. If you do want to buy them clothes; take them shopping and let them pick out what they want. Style and fashion is very important in their peer group.

Kids want toys and games. With electronic games being so popular with kids, it is easy to make the wrong gift choice unless they tell you a specific game to buy. Why? Because a boring game will never be used; and they probably have the games they really want already. So what do you do? A great tip here is to see what they do when not playing electronic games. Do they enjoy Legos? Do they like to take things apart or tinker with their bikes? Do they enjoy puzzles or like to watch you cook? Do they ask you for the time or love to pretend play? Do they like crafts or decorating with glitter? When you see what they enjoy buying a birthday gift becomes an easy task. Here are a few of the birthday giftt ideas for kids we feel they will love.

We all know this kid, Tim, the timekeeper. “What time is it?”, “Is it lunch time yet?”, and “tell me when it is 3 o’clock”. The perfect birthday gift for any kid who likes to keep track of time is a watch. A watch that is also a toy is two gifts in one; so, our Lego watches are great birthday gift ideas. Kids love Lego toys; and a Lego watch with action mini figure has to be the best idea to come along in a decade. We carry Buzz Lightyear and Woody Lego watches from Toy Story. We also have Storm Trooper, Darth Maul, R2D2, and Yoda from the Star Wars animated series The Clone Wars. These are not ordinary kids watches. They are build your own watches with additional colored links to customize the watch band in any style you like. The watch face is an illustrated image of a Lego mini figure. The two links around the face feature standard Lego studs for attaching the additional Lego elements that are included. Add the studded bezel and attach additional Lego pieces for your own unique look. As an added plus these are water resistant watches to 150 feet. What could make a better birthday gift for a kid?

Perhaps you know this child, take apart Mark! Mark wonders how things work and how things are put together. Perhaps, one of the most important gifts you could ever give Mark is an Erector set. Opening a child’s mind to structural engineering, architectural design, or mechanics could become their life calling. Now with modern designs, colors and plastics, Erector sets are fast becoming great gift ideas for kids again. We feature Erector sets from the Space Chaos collection, Silver Force and Dark Pirates.

Thomas the Train toys have been a love of children since the TV series Thomas and Friends began in 1984. Now your child can make Thomas whistle while he works with the Thomas Train Whistle. Thomas the Tank Engine toys are always great birthday gift ideas for kids; and this whistle is no exception. Kids love to play with flashlights; and Thomas will make his or her flashlight special. You will be a hit giving a Thomas and Friends tin flashlight as a birthday gift or just to say I love you. Not just a toy, but a handy item to have around when needed!

We carry wooden toys, games and puzzles from Melissa and Doug. The Stacking Train, Take-Along Tool Kit, and Shape Sorting Clock make great learning toys and are classics. The Decorate Your Own Piggy Bank or Decorate Your Own Princess Mirror is perfect for kids who love crafts or love to decorate. Kids have fun while learning with the Farm Animals Sound Puzzle. Place the puzzle pieces in the correct spots; and hear farm animals sound off. For pretend play we have the Bake and Decorate Cupcake set. Your little bakers will have lots of fun decorating and serving the cupcakes. With more kids birthday gift ideas like the Turbospoke Bike Toy, Rattlesnake Egg Singing Magnets, or The Hyper Dash Race Game, we are sure your gift will be a hit. Visit our Birthday Gifts for Kids page or you can find all of our kids gifts under our Toys and Games category page. If you are looking for more gift ideas and information, visit Great Gift Ideas.

Hubcaps and Gravy has birthday gifts for boys, birthday gifts for girls, birthday gifts for kids from toddlers, preschoolers to preteens. We have baby gift ideas and gift ideas for kids of just about any age! Do you have trouble finding just the right gift; or need help with gift ideas? Browse gift ideas for kids to get great gift ideas; or email us to tell us a little bit about the gift recipient. We will be happy to make some suggestions for affordable gifts.

We hope our Birthday gifts for kids and great kids Birthday gift ideas page will help you find a great birthday gift for that special boy or girl in your life.

1962 World Series Game Six (Part 2)



Whitey Ford





Juan Marichal

 As you can imagine Giants fans were wound up going into game six with the Yankee’s ahead three games to two. Our star pitcher Juan Marichal lost a fingernail trying to bunt in game four putting him out of contention for game six or seven.

The big day was here at last. There was a light rain falling; and I was sick with a cold. Not a bad cold; but bad enough to stay home from school. About 8 or 9AM there was a knock at the door. It was Mr. Tenant looking for me. I jumped out of bed; and got ready to go to game six of the World Series. We were going to go to his office where he had a meeting to attend before leaving for the game. Just before we left my house he was talking to my mom and was praising me for the wonderful letter I had written to him. My mom asked him “what letter”? I went numb realizing there was some kind of mistake. Mr. Tenant had mistaken me, for someone else. I heard someone say “you remember that letter I wrote” realizing the words came out of my mouth! An awkward pause, then I remember my mom uttering something like “oh yes”. I had lied; and I think Mr. Tenant knew something was wrong. I felt sick to my stomach as we walked to the car knowing I not only lied but; was also cheating another kid out of going to the World Series. To this day that lie troubles me; and I am sorry that I had not told the truth.



Mickey Mantel





Willie Mays

 Mr. Tenant’s office was very large with a great view atop a building in downtown Oakland. It seemed like he was in the meeting for hours. I had a lot of time to think. Then, I remembered a name I had heard a few times at the Boys Club that sounded like my name. I knew that someone mixed up the names; and had given Mr. Tenant the wrong phone number. When Mr. Tenant came back in from his meeting, he said the game was rained out. I still said nothing about the lie.



Willie McCovey



Roger Maris



Orlando Cepeda

After three days of rain the sun came out; and game six of the World Series would be played. That morning Mr. Tenant picked me up; and we drove out to Walnut Creek to pick up another kid. Off to Candlestick we went. The funny thing is I don’t remember much about the game itself. I remember helicopters drying the field when we got there; and I remember seeing and hearing the names of the players. Perhaps you know some of the player’s names like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey Felipe Alou and Orlando Cepeda, The Giants won game six by a score of 5 to 2 tying the series at 3 games apiece. Game seven would determine the 1962 World Series champs. I think that Juan Marichal and Felipe Alou telling the ending to the 1962 World Series would be a lot more interesting than me telling you.