Great Gifts Kids Can Make – Special Replay
Are you ready for the just for kids series? Here are some great gifts kids can make! And for cheap. The holidays are coming soon and you may be thinking about what to buy people in your family. Well, it is time to think about this and to be on the lookout for the things people really need.
Here are some more great podcasts for gifts kids can make!
I’m going to give you some great ideas about the things that your family may want and also some ideas about how to make things instead of buying them. Sometimes you will need to look at information online, so make sure you have an adult with you. They can use the links I have on my show notes page. Some of these gifts take the help of an adult, so you may want to ask another adult –not the person you are making this gift for, to help you! I am a grandmother and I love to help my grandchildren to make things for their parents or even their aunts, uncles, or cousins.
I love handmade gifts much better than store-bought gifts because it shows that the person making them cared about me and took the time and used their talents to make them. I’m going to share some of my favorite gifts. One is potholders. Some of these were decorative, meaning you can’t really use them on hot things, but they looked pretty when hung up on the wall. Others were paintings or pictures. Sometimes the kids made my jewelry—and I must admit that I did not wear the necklaces or even earrings they made. But, my mother—their grandmother did! She loved the bead necklaces, so she just added the ones the kids made her to the group of necklaces she already wore.
So, here are some things I want you to do.
- Look around. So, here is where your deep-deep-undercover skills come in. You don’t need binoculars for this assignment, but you do need to look around you and think about what people need or want. Does your mom or dad have a favorite mug they use every morning? If you look at the things your parents like, maybe your mom or dad collects different things. My grandmother loved wind chimes, and I do as well. These are easy to make. Or you can’t have enough hot pads for the table. So, take some time to look around.
- Think about the gifts you liked. Think about the gifts you get and try to remember your favorite presents. What are they? So many times, we cannot remember any super-favorite gifts because they either broke or we didn’t really enjoy them that well. I wanted a camera, but when I got one, I didn’t use it that much. Why did I want a camera? Because I liked painting and I thought I could take pictures of the things I wanted to paint to make it easier to remember what I wanted to paint. I could paint, but only if I looked at a picture. So, think about why you liked the gift—and maybe your reason is like mine.
- How much time to make a gift do you have? Often we don’t have as much time to make a gift—but then we can be creative. I’m going to give you some great ideas of some other podcasts I did for creating gifts that might help you. Easy gifts are ones that take the things you have around your house, and here is a great insider’s tip—did you know that you can turn things that are broken into presents? Yes, you can, and for pennies!
- How much do you like crafts or making gifts? If you say not very much—don’t worry! I have a great solution for you, so hold tight. The solution I have will have some that are super-fast-gift-giving ideas. But even though it is fast, you must put some thought into what you will do and wrap it up beautifully.
- Do you have a talent that can be turned into a gift? Time to think—again! What is something that you do well that can be turned into a gift? Can you draw or paint? Can you bake? Can you make something out of wood –or even legos? Do you collect things? Think. Think. Think.
So, here you go –here are my top 5 gift-making ideas for kids.
- Office accessories. For example, a pencil holder. Yes, I know this sounds lame, but it is one of my mom’s favorite gifts that I gave her. Here is how you do it. Supplies: A middle-sized empty can of playdough or fast-drying clay, pasta shells, seashells, old buttons, or something to stick on the clay.
You cover a can with clay, and then you can use pasta shells, buttons, or even seashells to cover the can. Have someone help you to put a clear spray over the can, or you can even paint the pasta shells ahead of time. You don’t even need glue because the shells stick really well.
Once it dries you can add some pens, pencils, highlighters, or sharpies to this set! You can use a variation of this covering a small box and using it to hold office supplies like paper clips.
- Decorations: For example, wall art. You need a piece of art paper, glue, and either spray paint like white or some other solid color. You will need an adult to help you. Also, look for a place where your family can put these on the wall—sometimes, you do not have much wall space, but be creative. Can you put these pictures in a hallway or even the bathroom? Do you have plants in your yard that would not miss a few leaves? Or even weeds that might work? You can take a big piece of art paper, like watercolor paper, or even a piece of thick cardboard and pick an odd number of leaves. Bigger leaves work well—but they may be hard to find in the winter. You can even use twigs, pine needles, or pieces of pine cones. Be creative! So, what you do is you make a design on a piece of paper. Once you have a design in mind, you can glue these things to the paper. Be sure you do not have dirt on your leaves, twigs, etc. Once glued, allowed it to dry. Then, take a solid color of spray paint and paint over the entire thing—you may need an adult to help you and do this somewhere where the overspray won’t be a problem. You can also take a large brush—like a wall paintbrush- and paint a solid color. Believe me, this looks great! You can make a pair of pictures to hang up. They do not need to be big.
- Personal care items. For example, hand scrubs. You will need a glass container with a lid, sugar or salt, and some type of essential oil. You can even add a few drops of light oil like olive or cooking oil.
In the winter, especially, our hands tend to get dry, and you can easily make a sugar scrub with a few items. You can use sugar or salt, and what you do is measure out one cup of sugar or salt in a bowl, add a few drops of essential oils like lemon or even lavender (ask your parent’s permission for these things!), and stir them up. Many people like to use sugar for a sugar scrub, but I actually like the salt scrub better. You then add a few drops of oil. Put a tiny bit of oil in a bowl, add ¼ of a teaspoon, and mix it up. How does it smell? If you can not smell anything, you may want to add a few more drops of oil. Now, you can place this in a glass container, add a ribbon, and wrap it up! Variation: You can make bath salts as well. This is super cheap, and it works great. (One of my favorite presents) Take Epsom salts and just add a few drops of essential oils and mix them together, then place them in a mason jar. Add ribbon and wrap it up!
- Fun Gifts Wind Chimes, hot-pads, and vases. Now it is time to get creative. If you are not holding on, I saved the best and easiest gift for last! So, you need scraps, broken items, and creativity for this gift. Wind Chimes: You can make wind chimes using things that make noise. Is there a bent spoon, fork, or something that your parents are throwing away that, when it clinks together, makes a nice tinkling sound? You can make a wind chime.
Hot pad: Did a pretty glass dish or glass break? Instead of throwing it away, with your parent’s permission, ask if you can keep the flat pieces. You can use scrap tile or wood to cover the bottom with material or felt. That is to keep it from scratching a countertop or table. Then you can draw a picture and cover it with the glass, OR you can make a pretty mosaic out of the broken glass. Be careful; glass cuts. You will need clear-drying glue for this activity. Flower vase. Do you like to bring your mom flowers from the yard—they may be weeds, but they still are pretty! You can search for a tiny container that does this… keep an eye out! Often, small olive jars or small containers that your mom or dad buys at the store are thrown away or used to recycle. You can use these as a flower vase. Either add a ribbon to the top and tie it or you can use sheets of tissue paper. Tear off the sheets of tissue paper and use clear drying glue. You can paint on the scraps of tissue paper. You can even use a mason jar and add a candle for a pretty votive light. Again, ask for things that your parents have around the house, and be on the lookout!
- Gift Cards: One Free Gift Card – you will need note cards or small pieces of paper and neat handwriting, or do this on the computer and cut it out!
Another of my favorite gifts includes gift cards from my kids to me! For example, one free car vacuuming and cleaning up, one free car vacuuming, neck rub, doing the dishes or babysitting the little kids. Believe me, your mom, dad, or grandparents will love these gifts! And the best news you do not need any craft or artistic talent to do this. And, for fun, you can wrap it in a small box, but the small box in a bigger box and keep wrapping it up—again, ask your parents for permission to use cheap wrapping paper and tape!
So, what do you think? Do you like any of these ideas? I listed other ones in my post, but these take a little more work, sometimes even spending money on supplies. Do you have a favorite gift idea? Please share it with me!
Links for the parents:
These crafts looked great –but they need an adult to help. Marbled Coasters
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On today’s show, I invited my business partner, Lesli Richards from 
