My kids had something like this when they were little, and they loved them. Right now Amazon has two Fisher-Price creature flashlights marked down: the Wild Lights Monster is just $4.73 and the Wild Lights Unicorn is $6.26. (Both ship for free with Prime, or on $25+ with Super Saver Shipping.)

These would be perfect for the gift closet, by the way; they usually go for around $13. And yes, I’d rather my kid not have a flashlight that makes animal noises, I guess, but the ones my kids used to have (tigers, if I recall) brought them so much joy, a little bit of gratuitous roaring seemed a small price to pay.