I don't know if your ds has a birthday coming up ... but we got a great suggestion last Christmas of giving our dds the Sunday circulars from the newspaper (especially the one from ever popular Toys R Us) and allowing them to cut out their wish-lists for Santa. They cut out as many things as they wanted every weekend and each put them in their own envelope.
This probably sounds a bit materialistic, but honestly, the girls never really cared if they actually got those toys. They just enjoyed the cutting and choosing and comparing with each other. And if you have a child who would care (because certainly, some would), you might tell him that he can put as many items as he likes in the envelope but he will receive only one that he has chosen.
You could probably do the same with back to school items, etc.
