Use for when someone benefits from the action, and use to when the objects moves in the

direction towards something or someone, like this,

I brought a chair for Sam. ('Sam' benefits from the action.)
I brought a chair for myself. (I benefit from the action.)
I brought a chair to the table. (The chair moves in the direction towards the table.)
I made a cake for Pat. ('Pat' gets the cake! Pat benefits.)
I made a cake to Pat. (Ungrammatical. Use a movement verb, like 'give'.)
I gave a cake to Pat. (The 'cake' moves in the direction towards Pat. Pat also benefits, but don't use
'for'. The verb 'give' already has the meaning of benefit within its meaning.)
I wrote a letter for Pat. ('Pat' benefits. Someone else did the work.)
I wrote a letter to Pat. (The 'letter' moves in the direction of 'Pat'.)
I will buy a cake for Sam. ('Sam' benefits. Someone else does the buying.)
I will buy a cake to Sam. (Ungrammatical. 'buy' expresses an exchange of items (money and things
bought) so 'for' is best.
Sentence Structure with two objects:

In simple sentences the object is easy to see:

She hit him.
They took the money.
Some verbs, however, have two objects:
She gave me the book. (= she gave the book to me)
The book is the real object of this sentence. It tells us what she gave.
"Book" is the direct object (D.O.)
"ME" is the indirect object (l.O.)

FORM 1. VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + TO OR FOR + INDIRECT OBJECT.

Give the money to him

FORM 2. VERB + INDIRECT OBJECT WITHOUT TO OR FOR + DIRECT OBJECT.

Give him the money

Note: that it is not possible to use the second form when the direct object is a pronoun
(me, her, him, it, etc]. The longer construction must be used:
Give it to John. (NOT Give John it.)

Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object.

James gave Michael a Cd. - Emma gave Rachel a book
James = Subject
Gave = Verb
Michael = Indirect Object
A Cd = Direct Object

Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Phrase with to/for

James gave a Cd to Michael. - We bought ice-creams for all the children
James = Subject
Gave = Verb
A Cd = Direct Object
to Michael = Phrase with to/for (Indirect Object)

TO OR FOR
To = We give something to someone
Bring, give, hand, lend, offer, owe, pass, pay, post, promise, read, sell, send, show, take, teach, tell,
throw, write.

For = We buy something for someone

Book, bring, build, buy, choose, cook, fetch, find, get, leave, order, pick, reserve, save.
Other Uses. "For"

FOR can be used to talk about somebody's purpose in doing something, but only when it is followed by
a noun.
We stopped at the pub for a drink.
I went to the college for an interview with Professor Taylor.
(A drink, an interview are nouns)
You cannot use for before a verb in this sense. The infinitive alone is used to express a person's
purpose.
We stopped at the pub to have a drink
I went to the college to see Professor Taylor

You can use for before "ing" to express the "purpose" of a thing (what it is used for) especially when
the thing is the subject of the clause.
Subject = that Cake, An Altimeter, etc.
Is that cake for eating or just for looking at?
An altimeter is used for measuring height above sea level.

But when the clause has a person as subject, it is more common to use an infinitive to express the
purpose of a thing.
Subject = We, James, She, etc.
We use altimeters to measure height above sea level.

'Give sth to sb' is an idiomatic use. We can't say: I gave some money for him, even if it(money)
benefits him. Still, we can use the above sentence where 'him' is not indirect object. For example: I
gave some money to John for him.
"Buy sb sth" is preferrable to "buy sth for sb'.

Use "to" when there is some kind of transfer happening or something is being moved from one place
to another. "To" expresses direction.