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My new sponsored child's birthday is approaching soon. I do not have the money to send a SNG. However I would still like to send a birthday card. Any ideas for what else I can send in a standard envelope? I know I can send stickers and bookmarks, but anything else?

Thanks!

Here are a couple of idea depending on the age. Soft covered books standard envelope size and under 1/2 inch; bookmarks, postcards, photos, colouring books, sticker books; plain artish drawing pads, craft paper for school, oragami paper just to name a few.

If your kid has any interest in art, I recommend signing up for the Dover Publications free sampler that comes out every Friday. They let you print out a few free coloring pages from several different books (in the hope that you'll like it enough to buy the book). If you print out all suitable pages every week and collect them, in a few weeks you'll have enough to send to your sponsored child in a 9x12" envelope, w/4 U.S. stamps, via the Kansas City office.

I recommend limiting it to 25 pages (that's what will fairly comfortably fit into a staple). Then, you could put a little tape on the side of the first page of the packet as a backing, and onto that, tape a piece of paper with your sponsored child's name, ID#, your name and #, and the words "coloring pages." This is sturdy enough to stay in place so the CI people know how and where to deliver it, but can also be peeled off without marring the coloring pages. Only a couple little pieces of Scotch tape would remain. That has worked well for me.

I think paper dolls. Another idea a journal or dairy made with scrape book paper for a cover and notebook paper inside. Hope it helps as I am new to CI. 

I just posted a recommendation to Dover Publications.  They have a handful of coloring-book graphic novels, but they are hard to find.  (One must enter "color graphic novel" into the search box.)  I recommended that they include "color-in graphic novels" as a subheading in their "coloring books" section; if people can find them, that should increase demand (and enable greater selection).  I also recommended additional books/stories which would make good graphic novels (which are like comic books, but one book or a miniseries, rather than the series format used by comic books). 

What they did have: maybe 7 or 8, the best of which seemed to be Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Hound of the Baskervilles.  Cost: high $3 to low $4 each (for these three).  It might be more cost-effective to get several at once due to shipping costs. 

You may send paper items, and paperback books, less than 1/2" thick via the Kansas City office, as long as they are clearly marked with you and your child's name and ID#s.  The 3 books mentioned above are the right size to fit into a 9x12" envelope and, given their description, I believe they are well within the width limits.

They were described as suitable for "grade 3/age 8 and up" but also as fun for all ages.. .not having seen the insides of the book, I do not know if they would be suitable for older kids. 

However, for kids who don't speak English, the pictures might carry enough of the story to let them figure it out.

I love the journal/diary idea. You could even laminate the front and back covers for more durability.  And what boy of any age wouldn't like a paper plane book?  I'm going to look into that idea and send it to my child in Honduras. He's 17, but has a couple of younger siblings. How fun! I'm also going to make sure I use Smile.Amazon.com. I got an e-mail from Amazon yesterday telling me if I placed an order by 3/31/14 they would add an extra $5 to what they donate to CI 

Great ideas! Are there any limits to the dimensions of the books, etc that can be sent outside of the 1/2 in spine restriction, such as width and length? Also, is the restriction of a 1/2 inch spine per book, or sum total for the package? Thanks for all of the tips! :)