Generous Gift Giving for Kids
The fulfillment of giving gifts seems to be instinctive in young children. This time of year, we tend to put them to work writing their Santa letters or circling the toy catalogs in search of their own gifts, but with a few simple materials and a quiet afternoon, we can help them learn the joy of thoughtful generosity within their own families.
I’m sure mine aren’t the only ones who unveil every single masterpiece from their two-hundred page coloring book with a dramatic “Look! It’s for you!”
Each time they squirm with the anticipation of my reaction, and the moment I trot out my well-rehearsed, “Wow, you really worked hard on that one didn’t you?” they stand ready to point out their favorite parts. Nine times out of ten, they point out the details that were added just for me. Little Miss Three says, “The flower is yellow, mama, like your favorite color.” Or Miss Kindergarten shows me her latest message written the kindergarten way: “I luv you becuz ur different.”
Hmmm, she’s either taken those Todd Parr books to heart or she’s trying to tell me something.
Anyway, the point is, the girls seem eager to give thoughtfully. How better to capture the sentiment of the season than to help them make useful, creative gifts for their loved ones.
So many websites have wonderful suggestions for gifts that kids can make. Feel free to add your own in the comments section, and if you haven’t seen them before, take a look at these:
- Wondertime Magazine highlights 3 ideas that are really keepers
- Family Fun, as usual, offers a whole range of creative gifts kids can make
- Making Friends.com has unique ideas sorted by gift recipient
- Kaboose.com has a nice list as well
Take care not to simply turn the kids into an assembly line to tick off enough gifts to go around. Stretch those empathy muscles!
Keep the list rather small and spend some time thinking about the recipients. What would he/she like? What would he/she use?
With prompting like this, even Little Miss Three was able to come up with a good idea for her big sister. Since Miss Kindergarten is enamored with activity books lately, Little Miss Three wanted to make her one. I found a clean folder in the file cabinet, and she took her time decorating it with paint and sequins. We went online together and picked out a pile of connect-the-dot and color-by-number pages available from www.coloring.ws.
I was happy to see her so eager to do something nice for her big sis. I am even more impressed now that she has kept her secret for a few days!
Good luck helping your child find the perfect gift that meets their recipient’s style and their own creative capacity.
