How to Make Christmas Gifts with a Toddler and Preschooler

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

18 Dec 2008 12:24 PM

Last night we decided to wander around a few area stores to see if the rumored discounts were really as good ad we were lead to believe. One of your stops was Target, where we scoped out some gifts for our youngest child, who always seems to get the shortest end of the stick when it comes to new toys and clothes. I also needed to pick up a secret santa gift.

Our middle child, the preschooler, really wanted to pick out some gifts for the rest of the family. Some of the ideas she had included a new bed for Daddy, who complains about his back. Well, as it went, time got away from us, and our preschooler never did get to shop. She was very upset about this, and it put her in a bad mood.

So today, I decided to put the laundry and the dishes aside, let the crumbs build up in the dining room and leave the stray socks all around the house in order to sit down with my two youngest children and help them make some gifts for the rest of the family.

There are so many crafts that young kids can make with help that will wind up being nice gifts that they can be proud of. Here is what we made today.

Individual soaps using two holiday silicone muffin pans as molds, that I got as a secret santa gift--snowflakes and Christmas trees, along with microwavable glycerine soap and some "jewels" to put inside the clear soap.

Foam snowmen from a craft kit. Even my youngest was able to put together the snowmen, put on the hat, scarf, eyes, noses and decorations (I straightened them out for him). You could also cut the pieces out of construction paper and let the little ones assemble and glue them.

God's Eye. This classic craft involves two wooded sticks that are crossed. The kids wound yarn around the sticks to form snowflakes. I started them off and let them wind it any way they wished.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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