Grandparents Guide to Kid’s Birthday Gifts 2025

The summer is our family’s birthday season. We have 8 birthdays between May and August. I have 5 grandboys and 1 grandgirl and so I always need to know what the kids are interested in so I can get them a gift they will love.

So, I always ask the kids and bug my daughter and my daughter-in-law about what the kids would like. So I thought I’d share my results with you. Maybe it will give you ideas for your kids and grandkids.

For The 2 Year Old

My youngest grandboy loves the book Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. If your grandchild doesn’t have it, get if for them. It’s great to read together.

My daughter created a birthday party based on the book complete with wall decor with flaps you could lift. I made a cake that sat on crates that looked like the ones the animals in the book were in and I bought animals to decorate and give as a gift.

These animals were great to decorate the cake and table.

And for his wrapped gift, I gave him some sand toys since he got a brand new sandbox!

For The 9 Year Old Athlete

My oldest grandboy loves sports and his favorite soccer player right now is Messi. His Dad said he’d love a Messi jersey, so I set out to find one. I had to do some research to find out what Messi’s jersey looks like and I found a kid’s size jersey that looks like Messi’s home jersey. It came with shorts and soccer socks and even though he’s not very vocal about certain things, I think he loved it because he ended up putting it on. It fit his trim little 9 year old self perfectly.

For The 9 Year Old Reader

In our family, this is the Summer of Dav Pilkey books: Dog Man, Cat Kid, and Captain Underpants. My oldest grandboy got 2 Dav Pilkey books from his cousin and he was so excited you’d think he’d been given $100! There are 14 books in the Dog Man series so you might want to start with the first book simply titled Dog Man. They are great for ages 6-12. The Dog Man book has been turned into a movie so if you’d like to give your grandkids a movie night, just pop some popcorn and stream the movie. It’s pretty funny and clever, even for adults.

Dinosaurs & Dragons Never Get Old

My second oldest grandboy who is 9 years old, he requested a “How To Train Your Dragon” dragon. He collects toys and figures from his favorite franchises. With the new movie having come out in theatres and soon to be streaming in the Fall, anything that has to do with it is very popular with the 7-10 year old crowd.

He requested the Titan Red Fury figure.

As Always, Barbie Is Queen With Our 4 Year Old

My one and only grandgirl will be 4 years old this year and she is in her Barbie Era! So, that’s pretty easy – anything Barbie. However, she’s also into Gabby’s Dollhouse. It’s a Netflix show and it has lots of toys to go along with it. This past Christmas I got her a Gabby’s Dollhouse Camping Set similar to this one. She loved it!