Gift Ideas for My Daughter's Fifth Birthday That Are Not Toys?

A new bike or a goldfish are both great gifts. You could also do a membership for the local zoo, museum or YMCA or tickets to theatre, ballet, or concert.

I love the idea of a goldfish!

Also you can never have too many books!
Or gift cards to book stores.

What about an experience? Show, production, zoo, museum, library (with card!), spa day? Girl time with mom!

Sounds just like our daughter.. she is still like this.. Books is all she ever asked for. Now she loves gift cards to download books onto her ipad.

Books.
Reading light
Book Shelves
Book ends
Books on CD
Book plates (you can order them customized so that they say
"This book belongs to daughters name".

A desk and chair.
Office supplies. Our daughter loved, office supplies.. Tape dispenser, stapler, file folders, desk pad..

Our daughter loved the container store.. She loved all of the storage stuff.. yes even at 5 years old..

Gift cards to the roller rink.
Bowling passes
Membership to the local children's museum
Tickets to a play

Sleeping bag, pop up tent, battery operated lantern..

Cozy reading chair, make a special reading nook in her bedroom with a pretty canopy, soft big pillows..

I just got my 6 year old a scrapbook, printed off a ton of photos of our extended family and events and such, gave her glue and art supplies and let her go to town. She works on it every week.

When my DD was 5 her favorite thing to do was to play with her Playmobil people, my dad built her a dollhouse and she had a ton of playmobil people and furniture and sets. It kept her busy for HOURS and HOURS and still does. You could start with a small house and see if she likes it, something like the 'Playmobil Sunshine Home 4857'

We LOVE books, and have over a couple hundred, easy. I order from Scholastic thru our daycare every month. Here are a few of our favorite books, and some game suggestions:

The cow that laid an egg
10 minutes till bedtime
Officer Buckle & Gloria
Interrupting Chicken
The Dot
Llama Llama books by Ann Dewdney
Pete the Cat books
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg (awesome book about making mistakes)
Me . . . Jane (Mcdonnell, Patrick)
Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman
Chewy Louie › Howie Schneider
If you think shes ready for a "chapter book" for you to read aloud, a perfect first one is the "My fathers dragon" series.

BOARD (not bored) GAMES:
Guess Who
Zingo
Richard Scarry Busy Town
Busytown Airport
Race to the Roof Game
Cranium Hullabaloo

PS if you get a fish, I recommend a Betta fish, they live MUCH longer and are actually pretty cool fish. Ours comes to the side of the bowl when we come in the room. We named him Happy and he is great!

My DD is gobbling up the Nancy Drew Notebooks series (which has now stopped; this is not the original series, but one based upon Nancy being in third grade). I have been buying them used on Amazon. Team a few of them up with a magnifying glass, a flashlight, and a blue notebook, but like Nancy uses to solve her mysteries.

We also like Judy Moody books and Stink books.

If she's not quite there yet for reading level, try Mercy Watson books and Mr. Putter and Tabby books.

roller skates?
a scooter?
ice skates?
an extra curricular activity? music lessons? dance? scouts? art class? story writing class?

Start a reading club and buy the first book for her and all of her friends who would be in the club. Read it along with them and model how they could run the club.

I know you said no toys, but does she have wood blocks? Building things is different from playing in many ways. And there are some very different styles of wood block available. And wood figurines of animals are fun.

Clothes for pretend play that match the theme or setting of a book you give to her. Or puppets. Find a way for her to share the stories she reads.

Gardening tools and a small garden box?

A hammock for reading in style :)

Reading lamp

Wood puzzles with patterns--good for learning math (make sure both important academic areas are covered)

Arts and crafts. Get a few artist canvases and paints

Artist clay for ceramics

Art frames for the wall for her art work

Cookie cutters or cupcake tin with springtime shapes and ingredients for the first batch

Special notebook for writing stories and including her own drawings (lined pages with a box at the top or bottom for the drawing)

Have her tell you the title of her favorite book. Buy a new copy to donate to her classroom with her name inside.

Tickets to a local children's play? Tickets to local events/outings? Skating? Bowling?

Well, what does she have?

If you want to get her a fish, get her all the things for a fish and then if she's still into the idea later, go pick one out with her. But it's "her" fish in name only. Get a fish only if you want a fish.

What about a new bike helmet? A trip somewhere, like the zoo? A special dinner out?

Does she have a nice bookshelf for all those wonderful books? We got one for dd last year and it's full to the brim!
My dd just turned 4, but some ideas I have are: board/card games, puzzles, outdoor toys; new blankets in a theme that she likes; a special trip that is geared towards her interests; art supplies, dress up clothes.
I also try to avoid buying toys (since she has plenty, and other people tend to get them for her). Good luck mama and happy early birthday to your girl!

If you go with a goldfish, PLEASE don't go with a small tank... goldfish are really "dirty", in that they poo a lot and that quickly contaminates the water... most of the times, they don't live very long in the cute little tanks....

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=0&aid=2650

http://www.superfish.orconhosting.net.nz/

Most goldfish require at least 10 gallons each! (Those tiny goldfish you see in the stores can grow very quickly..... they are mere babies when sold.... we had one that grew to about 6" in about 6 months.)

There are other fish that survive quite well in small tanks, including the very colorful betta fish.....

http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_care.htm

Have you ever checked out Fat Brain Toys online? Super cool stuff, educational. Does she enjoy science or experiments? Magic School Bus Science Experiments are also pretty cool. You can buy them singly, or buy a year's worth where they send you one each month.

http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/parentteacher/sc...

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/index.cfm?source=google&k...

My daughter is turning 6 and here's what I would get her.

Jewelry - She has some sterling silver necklaces & charms she loves. Earrings if her ears are pierced (my daughter's aren't)
Dress up clothes - princess, costumes, jewelry, shoes
Clothes - My daughter loves any clothes, socks, tights, shoes, pjs
puzzles, games (mancala is one of her favorites)
CDs - she loves to listen in her room
Cute decorations for her room
Hair accessories
Body spray, lip glosses, nail polish, body wash
Fishing pole & tackle box - If you go fishing
Accessories for her bike - basket, bell, streamers
Books - Olivia the pig, Fancy Nancy, Thea Stilton

I hope that helps. :)

Not knowing specifically what she has I'd say more books, jewelry, and board games for game night with the family.

magazine subscription
mini trampoline
cute sleeping bag or suitcase if she ever visits grandmom

Jewerly- age appropriate of course
Make up- same age appropriate
let her pick out clothes
Does she like puzzles?
Does she have a camera? Is she interested?
Dress up clothes- you can get them cheap at the second hand store.

Get her a fish bowl. And a Guppy. Guppies are easy. You don't need a complicated huge tank with all the air filters etc.
Many people here, just have their Guppy in a bowl, on their work desk at work, for example. And you just change out the water once a week. And get a water plant for it and fish food.
And she can name it.

Goldfish can get huge and they poop a lot.

How about tickets to the zoo or a play, coupons for ice cream or movie outings? My son is very quality-time oriented and just doing things with him tells him we love and care about him. These provide memories that will last a lifetime.

I just made a kindergarten picture book for my daughter that I will give her for her birthday. I am also going to make one with her baby pictures. After just having Christmas, there is nothing she needs or wants so I'm thinking the picture books are something special that she can keep forever. I did this on Shutterfly and you can find a bunch of discount codes online.

How about:
-an art easel
-zoo pass
-cute & colorful accessories for her desk
-cute throw pillows for her bed
-pretty framed girly picture to put in her room
-pink picture frame
-sm throw rug for her room in her fave color
-skating lessons
-take her bowling

At 5 she may only have the 12" bike. If so you need to take her to Walmart and let her try out the 16". It was too tall for our 5 year old for almost a full year. Now he's 6 1/2 and is still able to ride the 16" bike quite well.