5 Simple Frugal Gifts for Kids by Kids
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Throughout the holidays especially I try to teach my children about giving to others. Giving to those who don’t have, and even giving to those who do. The simplest way for me to teach my children to give is to make things for their cousins and grandparents to send in the mail! So today we sat down to make a few items for our cousins.
1. Make a Bracelet / Necklace.
It doesn’t have to be fancy! You can buy beads at the Dollar Tree, garage sales, or use small craft foam shapes like we did below. You can also incorporate shapes, colors, patterns, and sequencing in this as well.
2. Make a Sand Art Craft / Card
Sand art kits can be expensive, but you can easily make your own! We printed a Santa Clause face online, used liquid school glue to smear on the Santa face, then put sand on the glue! The kids made this completely by themselves (as you can see!!). Once everything is dried you can either send it as is, cut it out and paste it onto some construction paper to make a card, or even turn it into an ornament!
3. Toy Exchange
Have your kiddos go through their toy box and pick out some items to send to their cousins or classmates! Not only is it a great way to get some extra things out of your house but it also teaches a valuable lesson of sharing with others.
4. Make a Book.
When I was in 5th grade I clearly remember coming up with my own story and writing my own book! I wish back then that I had someone to give my book to so that someone else could enjoy it! My story was about a piece of chalk that came alive. Have your kids make and decorate their own book for their friends! You can get as simple or as creative as you want to! Print it on the computer, type it out, write it out, construction paper, yarn, glitter and jewels – anything you want!
5. Make a Pillow or Blanket!
No matter how little or old your children are they can make a pillow or blanket for one of their friends / cousins! You can see my simple post here how we made our own pillows. Depending on the age of the child they can sew it themselves, tie up ends of fleece fabric to make a pillow or blanket without sewing, or even use non-washable paint to decorate it!
There are SO many creative ideas that you can come up with or search for online! It’s not so much the actual gift that you give that counts but the idea that your children are giving!
Great ideas girl! I love the sand art and used that when I taught Kindergarten. The children wrote the letter on a large index card and traced it with glue. Then they poured colored sand on it and waited for it to try. Finally they had letters they could trace with their hand! This was one of their favorite centers!