Okay, we’ve all been there. That beautiful moment when your son is sitting at your feet, beaming, saying, “Open it!” You carefully tear that crumpled wrapping paper to find…a STUNNING necklace made of none other than a plastic dinosaur wrapped in a strand of shiny, metallic purple beads (think parade freebie)! And then…the words…”You can wear it to church tonight!” Mmmm! Hmmm! Yes, that really did happen and yes, I wore that necklace to church on Christmas Eve! In hindsight, it was incredibly sweet and I will never forget it! However, it did inspire me to create this list of the best tasteful homemade gifts young kids can make!
Now, here’s the problem…how do you help your kids make gifts for you? You could try to be sneaky about it, or you could pull up a tutorial for your husband to follow. But a tradition I’ve started with my daughters is to host a “Santa’s Workshop” party with a few friends, and I help them all make gifts for their parents! My girls get to make them for their grandparents, or, sometimes, they surprise me with them instead!
Either way, it’s so much fun to help my daughters and their friends create gifts for their parents or grandparents. We also wrap the gifts so they can take them home and put them right under their Christmas trees. Believe me! There is so much joy in helping children give gifts. They are so proud!
Last year, we made sugar scrub for moms and let me tell you, the sugar scrub SMELLED so much like olive oil that the girls agreed they MUST add some lavender oil to it. Whoa! They definitely learned that a little essential oil goes a long way! But their moms could still all use it, and the girls were proud to give it.
So, give your kids the chance to give gifts they are proud of with this list of some of the best tasteful homemade gifts even young kids can make!
- Personalized, Colored Calendar—
You can easily print blank calendars (free!) and then allow your child to decorate the upper part with his or her own artwork. Have the calendar spiral bound at a local office store and voila! You have a great Christmas present for Dad! (Staples work just fine too!)
You can make this project more fun and entertaining for older kids by allowing them to design more detailed artwork for the upper part (think painting; collage; graphic design on the computer, etc.) Or, ask a child who loves to draw to sketch each family member or try his hand at caricatures!
If you want, you can also work together as a family to create one calendar. Try having each child draw a self-portrait for his or her birthday month! Go the extra mile by writing family birthdays, important dates, and activities that you know of on the calendar before you give it to Dad!
- Monogrammed Button Canvas—
This is an easy, yet inexpensive and cute gift for kids to make for their parents. I did this project with my children and my niece and nephews to keep them busy while at my sister-in-law’s wedding all day.
First, grab a canvas. You can choose any size, but smaller (8×10) is usually better because most kids don’t want a craft project to take all day! Then, draw the outline of your last name initial on it. Use some tacky glue and buttons to create the first letter of your last name. As a wedding gift, we did the first letter of the last name, and two smaller canvases with each first initial, for a complete monogrammed set.
Older kids might like to try their hands at an ombre initial using the buttons, or a monochromatic theme, while younger kids may not have any rhyme or reason to their placement of color, but it will still turn out adorable!
- Dry Rub for Barbecue—
This is a great gift for dads, but I have a feeling that moms would love it just as much! I like this one because kids can work together to make a large batch of this, and then you can gift it in small, individual jars.
You can find your own recipe or use a recipe you already have. However, if you don’t already have one, this recipe is pretty good.
Kids have fun mixing and measuring, packaging and labeling their jars (you could use a small Ziploc bag too).
- Sugar Scrub—
This is another cute gift that can be made in a large batch and then individually packaged, if you’re making it with several children to take home! Find several different options and recipes here.
Note—I would stay away from using olive oil simply because it gives your sugar scrub a dingy green-brown tint and does have an odor. Grapeseed oil may give the same color too, so Vitamin E oil is probably ideal.
- Beaded Bracelet—
Many kids love to string beads—so if you’re hoping for a piece of jewelry that’s a little less tacky…provide nicer beads! There are so many options now that we don’t just have to stick to the pony beads, ladies! Also, I tend to go overboard with options. However, limiting the options helps cut down on the number of colors used together, which, in general, makes for a less tacky look.
Older kids could go the extra mile and make their own beads out of Polymer clay and then make bracelets or necklaces out of them. I wouldn’t recommend doing this in a large-group with several kids because it is time-consuming. It would take a while to make the beads, then, the beads have to be baked, and then they would have to be strung; so it’s a process you may want to divide over a few days.
The end results are beautiful though!
No matter what gifts your children make, they are keepsakes! Be sure to appreciate whatever they give you, no matter how tacky you might think it is. I’m serious! This is an important part of their self-esteem, and their love language!
If your child gives you a gift, but you don’t use it or wear it, what message does that send? It sends the message that you didn’t like it and it isn’t good enough. That child will be less likely to give another gift for fear of failing again.
I wore that dinosaur necklace to church and instead of getting compliments on my appearance, I got compliments on being a good mom! A compliment about the substance of my character meant a whole lot more to me than a compliment about what I was wearing.
Being genuinely appreciative not only gives your child confidence, but it also models gratitude to them. There will be times in their lives when they get a gift that is not what they expected, but will be able to show genuine gratitude for it because of the example you set for them. I really cannot stress that enough!
Helping your children, or your friends’ children, create gifts that are easy to love for parents and grandparents helps, but in the end, let the mistakes (like using way too much lavender oil!) and the imperfections be part of the beauty of that sweet, thoughtful gift!
RElated: 5 Best Keepsake Gifts for Kids’ Milestone Birthdays
