The holiday season is a wonderful time to teach children about kindness, generosity, and thinking of others. Creating simple gifts for neighbors and teachers alongside your child is a wonderful way to help them learn the blessedness of giving while caring for your community. Here are some gift ideas that are simple, affordable, and perfect for your child to help with.
1. Ornaments Made by Children
Handmade ornaments make a thoughtful and meaningful gift, and the activity of making them doubles as a fun Christmas craft for your little ones. Simple wooden shapes —like these from Michaels — can be painted, or just colored with markers and decorated with stickers. Clear glass ornaments make a classy yet whimsical option and can be filled with glitter, pom poms, or paint. Or simple, traditional, and economical salt dough ornaments can be made at home with just flour, salt, and water. They finish feeling wholesome and artisan — the opposite of a consumeristic Christmas.
2. Sweet Treats
Of course baked goods are a classic neighbor gift, but you don’t have to fill an elaborate tin with 23 different kinds of cookies for this to be a special and sweet present. Cookies, muffins, holiday bark, or even granola are simple options that children can mix, scoop, or decorate. Package treats in festive decorative bags or clear cellophane bags tied with colorful ribbon. This year our family made salted toffee to give as gifts and it turned out beautifully. The recipe uses just butter, sugar, chocolate, and sea salt, and takes just 15 minutes (and then some time to set). The nuts look beautiful but we skipped them to make it more allergen-friendly. One tip is to make sure you have a reliable candy thermometer, because the only trick to success is to make sure the sugar and butter mixture fully reaches the hard crack stage, which is 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Hot Cocoa Kits
A more specific kind of sweet treat idea is a hot cocoa kit, a gift that is both fun and practical. Fill a small jar or bag with cocoa mix (either from scratch or pre-packaged), marshmallows, and a candy cane. Children love to help scoop ingredients or to decorate the packaging. A tag decorated or “signed” by your child makes this gift personal and whimsical.
4. Bulbs or Seed Packets
Seed packets or spring flower bulbs are a thoughtful reminder that warmer days are coming. Children can help decorate envelopes or make plant identification markers to include with the gift.
5. Candles
The Dollar Tree has many beautiful little candles that can be decorated with ribbon and a tag and given as an easy but very appreciated gift. Alternatively, add tea lights or votive candles to small jars to make it more customized. Children can decorate wrapping or add gift tags.
6. DIY Household Gifts
Homemade sugar scrubs –even more fun if they are holiday themed–make a luxurious-feeling gift while still remaining budget friendly. Simmer pot kits can easily be assembled with oranges, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. To make simmer kits even fancier, add cranberries, anise, and rosemary sprigs. Children can help assemble the ingredients.
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