Edited with one more idea at the bottom
In a long, rambling post, I suggested that maybe we could have an exchange of ideas about low-cost, yet not junk Holiday gifts for kids.... (you can include ideas for a spouse if you like too). My friend, KJ, said she'd play along too... Anyone else want to play?
The rules... I telll you what I'm thinking for gifts (low-cost and not something cluttery) and then you share what you're thinking.
Here are some of the things I'm thinking...
1. Books NEVER junk...Always good, but I don't have any specific ones in mind... I'd like to shoot for books for N's age--almost 5! If you have any favorites, I'd love to know. (Yea, I know this one is a no-brainer!)
2. Bath soap / Bath Crayons / Foam Soap (Sesame Street or Dora are fun)
My girls LOVE this stuff. It makes bath time fun! Baths are often an hour (or longer) activity at our house. I don't consider this junk because it provides so much entertainment, and because it runs out so I'm not stuck with JUNK. During their long baths, they pretty much play nice with each other with me just supervising... they don't fight in the bath tub (go figure!). See why I encourage bath time fun?
3. Art supply boxes with their names on them... Maybe get something like this and put their names on them with those foam sticky letters.... I'd prefer something with a handle for them that looks like a little tackle box. I plan to put new crayons, glitter glue, washable markers and things for them to trace in the box... (or something like that). Or they could just get the box with nothing in it (I'll probably at least stick crayons in it)... They will love having their very own personalized box to fill up and carry around (that's why I want a handle!).
4. Towels wraps (I probably don't have time to make these this year. And for next year, I'll probably try to suggest this to MWH's Mom for her to give the girls. She is very good at making things. I am not.) See this for a how-to. One modification I would make to that is that I would add straps to it. I have a towel wrap for me that has straps and I LOVE it. My girls love it when I wear it. They tell me they want one when they see me wearing mine. They tell me they love my beautiful dress. It has flowers on it so it must be beautiful.
6. DVDs. I always feel a good DVD is a gift that keeps on giving. I love it when the girls get DVDS. They also don't take up much room. I don't mind when N and K watch a DVD because we usually always do educational ones. We are doing more movies that are more entertainment and not educational. (We've done Nemo, Charlotte's Web, Heffalump, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast (The last two to my chagrin!), and now we want the Cars DVD.)
7. Dress up clothes (hats, boas, etc. Michael's has them fairly cheap...Granted this falls into the "we'll have more stuff" category, but I love things that encourage the girls to be creative.)
8. Both N and K want some more dresses. K is TOTALLY INTO CLOTHES. You know, most kids don't like getting clothes as a present, but I imagine K will love getting them. I'm thinking about getting them each a dress. It seems like cheating, but I think they will both like it.
Here's a couple of random things I may want to get.
one Floor art pad
two Craft apron
It may seem lame to buy "paper" for your kid, but that poster size floor paper is great. N had it when she was about 2 and she loved it. I couldn't find it again. I am so excited that we can have it again!
Oh... Nino shared that this was a wonderful present last year. Any one else concur? I think my girls would like it.
Okay... I shared. Your turn! What are you thinking about?
Next up (or very soon)... A post about what N and K have asked for.... I don't really like their requests, including one "big" item, but that's a whole 'nother post! Your turn... Share! Please!
One more idea
I know Nino has a lot of Christmas ornaments that have a lot of sentimental value to her. I think I am going to start giving each little girl an ornament that they hang on the tree each year. Perhaps I'll have a special boxes for N, K and T to store their own ornaments in at the end of the holiday and then next year they'll each be "responsible" for hanging up their ornaments that they already have and then they'll get one more on Christmas. When they grow up, they'll have some ornaments to take with them to their own house and share with their family. It will be interesting to see what they remember about this tradition. What do you think?
4 comments:
A friend of mine with daughters who are now grown up made a few special Xmas decorations with them every year. Her tree is a monument to how artistic skills develop.
I love, and H & K enjoy, their wooden railway so I am giving them more of that. Probably some dolls clothes if I find good ones for their favourite dolls (which currently only have 1.5 outfits each). Probably either single beds (they are in cots [US=cribs] with the sides off at the moment) or chairs like the ones your girls have - big things that we'd need to buy anyway.
We've been giving ornaments each year to our kiddos. I try to pick out an ornament that highlights something about that child for the year. For example, this year I gave A a horse ornament. I have on the tree all my ornaments from my childhood - my mom did the same thing when I was growing up - there is a ballerina, a horse, a piano ornament, etc.
My mom got this book for A for Christmas (http://www.bramblethicket.com/Index.htm) it looks really neat!
Also, I bet N would love this book (I wanted to get this for her earlier this year - I think when you blogged about her interests in science, but R said we just couldn't afford to right now...): The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature - it's really cool.
We're getting A a piggy bank this year to help her start learning about money, saving, giving and spending.
We got the Cars DVD as a "family" present for Christmas this year.
A is totally into puzzles, so we got her a few more. She is also getting a bath robe (with pretty flowers on it too!), a Play Mobile farm set, paint - oh and here is an idea...
We got her a portable (Dora) CD player and tape cassette player (two separate things) - found them at Toys R Us. Our library has a huge selection of books on tape/CD where they take the actual book home with them and have it on audio. This will be great for her "rest time" in the afternoon. She loves books and now she can listen to them being read as she is learning to read.
Another tradition we have is to get our kids jammies each year and they get to open that present on Christmas Eve and wear them to bed. (And that way I get cute kiddos in matching jammies to take pictures with on Christmas morning.)
I love reading your posts, and have never commented, but after reading about Christmas ornaments, I though I'd put in my two cents. You know, since you asked ;-). I have no children, but I remember being one. My Mom usually gave my sisters and I ornaments every year that she bought at different places. During elementary school, we often made ornaments around the holidays to take home. So when I moved out, I gathered all my ornaments (we never put them in our own box which is a great idea) and many of the ones I made as a child, and ended up with enough to decorate a 6' tree. It is a wonderful idea as I remember many of the ornaments and you do see the skills develop from thumb prints on pieces of wood to things that get glued, to miniature bird-houses my family made when I was in high-school. So I think it is an EXCELLENT idea.
--A.S.
Post a Comment