Gifting ideas for children

Many times one needs to gift something to a child, on birth days or on visits etc. It is usual to fix a budget and buy something, which may or may not be suitable to a child.

It will help if one thinks it over, when she is in such a situation.

Fixing the budget is first aspect. Due to inflation, cost of things had gone up. Hence, if one has budget like Rs 100 etc., one may not get anything really useful. So budget should be fixed taking this into consideration.

Next thing that can be considered is what can be given as a gift. Here are some ideas, which I found useful.

If the budget is small, say a couple of 100 s, it may be a good idea to give cash. The child can accumulate few such gifts and buy something useful.

Another idea, if budget is small is, a good book. But this will work only if the child is interested in reading books. Book can be obtained in various budgets. From National book trust(thee is a post on this in this blog), there are good books which are very reasonably priced. One can select few books suitable to the age and liking of the child. But the issue with this idea is  that getting a book  may take time(either from a store or internet).

Next, buying a toy(object) for the child. Here one needs to be a bit careful. Now a days, one is getting all kinds of toys like things(gun, harmonica etc), DIY kits(Mechanics, electricity kit etc) or games.

When choosing this, one needs to consider the aptitude of the child. Giving a Do It Yourself kit to a child, who is not interested in making things, may be waste of money.

Also, one should have realistic understanding of the toy being purchases and do not go by the age mentioned on the cover of the toy. Now a days, children are more knowledgeable about things and any conventional toy becomes obsolete very fast. Also, there are really no good toys etc as gifts for children above 10  years.

Thus, one needs to think through the process of gifting from end to end (buying to utilization) with the child concerned in mind, to make the process enjoyable to the giver and receiver.

The observations are based on experience  after being in both sides of the process.

This post is mainly intended for a person who is gifting to a child, for whom, he/she is not a parent or guardian.

Will touch on gifting ideas to a son/daughter in another post.

Secrets of Mental Math

Recently I chanced upon a book “ Secrets of Mental Math” by Arthur Benjamin. Arthur Benjamin is a mathemagician who combines maths and magic in his shows to entertain the audience. There are few videos of him on youtube and TED.

Of late, many children are being trained in Abacus method of fast computations. Children thus trained will be able to do calculations faster. Reactions to this method and outcomes are mixed, from parents.(This observation is from my interaction with limited number of parents in my circle). As I was not very comfortable/carried away by the concept, I did not opt for this for my children.

But I had a feeling that the ability to calculate can be inculcated and improved. I found this book as a pleasant surprise in that direction.

In the book the author explains how calculations can be made faster with the help of simple ways. The method is in line with theory a child learns in school. So this helps understanding.

This can be read by a 5^th grader with the help of an elder.

This is a good exercise between a parent and child and clears some basic mathematics concepts to both.

A useful book.

Natonal Book Trust

NBT or nationl book trust is a good resource for books for all ages.

The books start from age 3-4, for children who don't know how to read an extends  to books on various topics. I remember initiating my son into reading with some of NBT books.

Books are available in many indan languages. Also books can be ordered online.

All in all, it is a good resource for books. One can try it.

Interesting book

My journey into personal finance started with a book.

Before reading that book, I was not taking care of my finances as I did not know how to. This book, I read by accident. It is Rich dad poor dad, by Robert Kiyosaki.

There are great many opinions on the net on pros and cons of the concepts espoused by the author or what his personal finances are like.

I am not interested to go in that direction. My idea is to take the useful information from a book(or incident or person) and move on. In this aspect, the book helped me.

The theme of the book is improve financial literacy. It is true that many learned persons lack the basics of personal finance. This ignorance leads to sub optimal decisions and loss of possible profits.

The financial concepts like assets and liabilities and balance sheet etc were explained in a fashion any one can easily understand.

The distinction between assets and liabilities is explained well. If emulated, this concept can lead a person in the path of wealth creation.

In addition to learning these basic financial concepts for oneself, one can pass on these concepts to one's  children. This I feel is more interesting use of the book.

When a child learns about these concepts at an earlier age, they will stand him in good stead through out his life.

On the whole it is an interesting book.

Please leave your comments on the post or the book in  comments section.