It really doesn't have to cost you anything...
For those of you who don't frequent Money Saving Mom, I thought you might enjoy the post below which I'm cross-posting from there. By the way, I don't link over there very often, but if you like to save money (who doesn't?) or enjoy getting free stuff, or like discussions related to frugality, be sure to check in there every once in a while.
I've seen a whole lot of gift-buying guides around the blogosphere, but this one was classic - in more ways than one.
We're not big into toys for our girls, especially since they are both under three. We love our daughters, we sacrifice for them everyday, and we spend lots of time with them. But we've decided early on not to lavish them with gadgets and gizmos and heaps upon heaps of stuff.
So far, Kathrynne (almost 3) seems happy as can be without a boatload of toys. She enjoys her Legos and dolls, but more often than not, you'll find her happily engaged in writing, drawing, coloring, cutting, or looking at picture books. Her most favorite thing of all is to spend time working alongside me or playing with her younger sister.
I guess you could call me old-fashioned but I believe your presence is much more important than your presents. Making memories and spending time together with your children is more valuable than all the stuff money can buy.
So, for those of you frantically trying to come up with something to give to that little child in your life, I'm not saying you shouldn't give them toys, but remember that they might just as well enjoy a toilet paper tube, or a paper grocery bag, or a simple cardboard box.
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On a related note, I've been asked repeatedly recently to share on meaningful gifts and books I would recommend for young children. I've not had a chance to put together that post yet (maybe I still will get it done before Christmas!) but I'd love to hear from you all on this subject.
What ideas do you have for meaningful gifts for children? I'd also love to hear what meaningful things you are doing to celebrate the season at your home and to make Christ the center and focus of this season.
I've seen a whole lot of gift-buying guides around the blogosphere, but this one was classic - in more ways than one.We're not big into toys for our girls, especially since they are both under three. We love our daughters, we sacrifice for them everyday, and we spend lots of time with them. But we've decided early on not to lavish them with gadgets and gizmos and heaps upon heaps of stuff.
So far, Kathrynne (almost 3) seems happy as can be without a boatload of toys. She enjoys her Legos and dolls, but more often than not, you'll find her happily engaged in writing, drawing, coloring, cutting, or looking at picture books. Her most favorite thing of all is to spend time working alongside me or playing with her younger sister.
I guess you could call me old-fashioned but I believe your presence is much more important than your presents. Making memories and spending time together with your children is more valuable than all the stuff money can buy.
So, for those of you frantically trying to come up with something to give to that little child in your life, I'm not saying you shouldn't give them toys, but remember that they might just as well enjoy a toilet paper tube, or a paper grocery bag, or a simple cardboard box.
-------------
On a related note, I've been asked repeatedly recently to share on meaningful gifts and books I would recommend for young children. I've not had a chance to put together that post yet (maybe I still will get it done before Christmas!) but I'd love to hear from you all on this subject.
What ideas do you have for meaningful gifts for children? I'd also love to hear what meaningful things you are doing to celebrate the season at your home and to make Christ the center and focus of this season.
posted by Crystal Paine at 5:57 PM
29 Comments:
We had BOXY in our house for awhile.A friend bought a new refrigerator and gave us the box.Both children 2and 5 loved it and even took naps inside of Boxy.
By the way today I didn't tackle a big job but did all of the trash,laundry,bathrooms and kitchen ,2 errands all befor elunch.House look spretty good tonight.
Wooden blocks have been a favorite at our house. Simple blocks can engage children for long periods of time using their imaginations, improving dexterity and just "plain old having fun"!
We have had more fun with boxes as well. Refrigerator boxes are the best. My two kids and I put ours in the garage and cut and taped and painted it into an awesome spaceship. We had more fun flying to distant galaxies and pretending to be everything from astronauts to weathermen. I love pretending with my kids! They played for hours in that thing!
I know a very wealthy famous Christian couple and they started this tradition when their children were born---- each of their children get three gifts for Christmas --- because there were three wisemen. That's it!! and not three very expensive gifts. They focus on the fact that it is Jesus birthday and they always adopt a few families and give three gifts to each of the needy children in those families. God Bless, Pam, South Bend
We have a couple of older daughters, so my husband gave them each the assignment of coming up with colors and design ideas for their rooms. This gift can serve many purposes: 1) We all work together to paint, create, and redecorate together. 2) They get first hand, hands-on knowledge of beautifying a space, preparing them for when they have their own homes and families, and 3) We don't feel like we've wasted a ton of money. This idea is functional as well as fun and every time they (or we) enter their room we can see the fruits of our labor and where the money went, unlike with trinkets, toys and gadgets. It's a win-win for everyone!
Meaningful gifts for children?
Last year one of the gifts we gave our 8 yr old was a homemade book of coupons for things such as:
-Mom will do your regular jobs of sweeping the floor and clearing off the table.
-A trip to the park of your choice.
-A special eat out at a restaurant w/dad to try lobster
-Get to stay up 1 hr longer than usual
Anyway - she has been using the coupons sparingly...still has a few left (and they expire this month!) - there were certain rules (included in the coupon book) like some redemptions would need a day's notice.
For the most part I tried to honor the coupons when she gave them to me, even when it wasn't in my plans for the day.
Coupon books like these could be made up for grandchildren with coupons for: good for one story read by grandma, good for one overnight stay with grandparents, good for one trip to the park w/grandpa etc.
These can also be made up for siblings - coupon for babysitting nephews/nieces, coupon for a meal delivered to their door.
Children don't want just more and more toys - they want attention and activities.
We do four gifts...a need, a want, an educational gift, and a spiritual gift. It works well for each other as well! It sure does make shopping a whole lot easier!
AMEN! I agree about refraining from toy and gadget overload. My kids also enjoy the simple things. We spend a lot of time making forts and playing chase and hide and seek and coloring and such also. Very rarely do they play with a "favorite toy" unless it's their favorite stick they found in the backyard and are using as a "huntin' for deer mom" gun. We do buy one item for them at Christmas. Something that requires their physical activity or imagination. Last year a big box of lincoln logs and a sign up with the YMCA for t-ball. This year new bicycles since they are both riding (got 'em on ebay too...great deals).
As far as meaningful things we do at Christmas I just did a post about that very thing. I'm truly enjoying our just-getting-established Christmas traditions that teach my boys about Jesus and the gospel. Probably my favorite is the Christmas eve tent. We pitch a 2 person tent in our living room next to the tree on Christmas eve and I read the boys John 1 and explain to them John 1:14- what it means that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. I tell them Jesus left HIS big, beautiful, joyous home to come live in a tent among us. To God our bodies are like tents. The boys really get it that Jesus left somewhere great to come somewhere temporary. They sleep (at least for a bit) in the tent. We started that last year and several times throughout the year they've brought it up and remembered the story. I also use Proclamation ornaments which you can read about on my post.
http://awifeofvalor.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-are-your-familys-christmas.html
We try to lean toward gifts they can enjoy together, like games, books, craft and art supplies, Little House DVDs (our girls are 8,5 & 3). We also go for "experiences" - this year we are taking them to a children's concert in January (I'm wrapping the tix up with a CD they can all enjoy), and a trip into Chicago the day after Christmas to see the department store windows and have lunch.
I LOVE the ideas that people have posted here! I have a one toddler and am still new at buying gifts etc. We don't have a big budget but we have tried to get him something that he will use and enjoy.
Yes - my little one is very fond of boxes. Thanks for posting such a great picture of your little girl. So cute!
We try to keep things simple and meaningful with our two young children. We hand make alot of our gifts and do family activities like cookie baking and crafts. Some things that I think are neat boughten gifts for children are: quality wooden puzzles, building blocks, a big heavy duty dump truck, and craft supplies such as finger paints, safety scissors and paper, washable markers, etc. Most of my children's toys are hand me downs or from rummage sales. We usually do buy them a toy for Christmas, but I like to get such things that are multi purpose and provide room for alot of creative play, rather than just something that eats batteries constantly and has flashing lights and buttons to push and that's about it. They tire of things like that quickly!
We also LOVE boxes in our house. My son thinks it's the greatest if I cut out one side of a series of boxes and set them together so it's a tunnel he can crawl through. We've also used a box to make a garage to house his toy cars.
We give different gifts each eyar to our children for Christmas, but the ones that remain the same are a book and an ornament and a pair of pajamas. Last year we bought them each an inductive study Bible with a set of marking pens. That was the most remembered gift. They will get new markers this year to replace the ones that have run out of ink from a years worth of Bible study. When your children are older, ask them what they got for Christmas the previous year and I guarantee they will be hard pressed to remember...especially if they were overloaded with gifts.
Blessings,
Gina
Our children are 14, 9, 7 and 3. We comletely agree with the NO gadgets and gizmos. We don't do the popular playstations, nintendos, etc. etc. etc. We would rather give gifts that our family all enjoy together. What we usually do is this: The majority of our childrens' presents are gifts for all of them together..we usually try to buy about 4 of them, so each can open one. These are usually games, family books, movie (very picky about that one), etc. Then, each one of them get 2 or 3 gifts such as a book, piece of jewelry, some type of clothing, or something handmade. I think books make a lasting impression on a child's life, so we've begun now building a library of books for each child.
As usual, I love what you have to say, Crystal! Glad your little one is feeling better!
Christy
www.oursimplelive.wordpress.com/
When my oldest was 3 (she's 15 now) my girls received a set of silk scarves from a Waldorf-type catalog. You can make your own from lightweight silky type material about a yard square--just hemmed or serged. A set of 4 or 5 makes a great gift and is not expensive. They have literally worn these scarves out over the years. They have used them in so many ways..."landscaping" when playing with blocks, "tents" over a table, tablecloths for a tea table, doll blankets, dress-up clothes, etc. About 5 years they requested a new set for Christmas. I asked if they were too old and they said no. They are one of the most played-with "toys" I've ever purchased since they are basically "anything" the child wants them to be.
Other meaningful gifts: each year we add one or two new books to our "Christmas Book" collection. We put these books away with our decorations and get them out for Advent. We read a couple of them every night.
I made a cute box house out of a huge air conditioning box for my daughter to play in this summer. All the neighborhood kids spent hours in it!
For Christmas, we play it very simple. My daughter will be getting a beautiful doll with fancy clothes and long hair that I picked up at a Christian friend's yard sale this summer for $2 in mint condition. It looks a lot like a Beautiful Girlhood doll. In her stocking (which is filled Christmas night by Mommy and Daddy, not Santa) she will get some diapers for her doll and a pretty barrette I made for her. I am making her a child-size apron, which I will give to her early so she can be "like Mama."
Our son will be getting a photo book (scrapbooking the easy way!) since we don't have as many photos printed of him now that we store all our photos on the computer. This is something we will save for him and will be fun for him and his family to look through someday. He will also be getting a beautiful teddy bear I got on clearance, a toothbrush in his stocking (his first one!) and an educational board book.
For his birthday we got him wooden blocks, and a wooden tool set. I love wooden, old-fashioned toys! Our budget for each kid for Christmas is $15. For birthdays it's $20. As they get older their gifts will probably include a lot of books or toys from Vision Forum!
In order to curb the zealous grandparents who have a knack for getting us the flashing, noisy, annoying toys, we told one set to make us some wooden boxes that can hold toys and books and the other set to get us some much-needed educational things like paper, craft supplies, child scissors, etc.
I love the ideas given here!
One more idea: All of my friends and I with toddlers are getting together tomorrow to let the kids play and have a gift exchange. Each child needs to choose a toy or some books of theirs in good condition that they want to pass on and that's what we will wrap for the exchange. This saves on us feeling obligated to buy my daughter's playmates a gift and allows the kids to have some different toys to play with. I also won't feel bad about giving them to the thrift store in a few weeks if necessary since they were used to begin with.
I loved this post. I have 2 young boys (4 and 2) whose birthdays are in december. We get major gift overload!!! This year we put away ALL of their toy except 1 or 2 things each. They don't ask for their other toys and don't seem to notice them even missing. We also called the grandparents and asked them not to but our children any toys. Instead we asked for things we needed like clothes, or for other things that we would like them to have. I mean we asked specifically! "Theron really needs a new snowsuit..." "silas could use a new sweater.." The family has been very accomodating, even mentioning that it was nicer to know what we wanted so they didn't have to guess.
Exactly, children don't need more stuff. Just think what you love to remember from your childhood: how many toys you had, or how your mother used to hug you?
Amen to that, Crystal!
My husband works in shipping supplies and Grace has a ball with these gigantic, fort-sized boxes that he brings home, LOL.
It's so true that children really value time the most...spending it with their parents, siblings and loved ones. :o)
GREAT ideas ladies!! We have usually gotten them ONE gift every year, because they get a LOT of toys and clothes and books from both sets of grandparents and aunts & uncles, etc! But this year, for some reason, we got them a bunch of gifts...not sure why. Would like to go back to the simple. Thanks!
My mother has a Christmas tree ornament that she made with her aunt when she was 4 or 5 as her Christmas gift (this would have been in 1955 or so). It's just a random pink ball that you could probably even get today for 10 cents, that they decorated together with her name and some pictures in glue, and then covered with glitter. She loved her aunt, and this may be my mother's most prized possession. My mother is now a very successful career woman who makes an obscene amount of money, but I think you're totally right about time being more important than money in the eyes of children, at least in the long run.
We LOVE books around here! Just cannot get enough of them.
We also love Learning Resources for educational toys that do not end up opened and forgotten!
But most of all, we just love playing together with whatever (I may have the only 2 yr old who thinks a swiffer duster is a toy), snuggling to read books and just having fun together!
But we also think that things you need, or things to help you learn are great gifts!
Crystal,
How do you handle gifts from relatives--do you keep grandparents from getting them lots of toys? how do you do that? Here i am the mother, yet i feel like all these relatives are deciding for me how my family will be.
--a-bit-overwhelmed
My mom always followed the rule "one thing to read, one thing to play with , and one thing to wear."
As far as meaningful gifts go, I think just about any child between the ages of 8 and 12 would enjoy a telescope (doesn't have to be a fancy one), or a magnifying glass with a book about bugs or rocks. (although I was still using my $50 telescope when it broke when I was eighteen!) These are definitely the kinds of gifts that stuck with me through my childhood as things that helped me see the world more clearly and had an actual impact on my future life.
I have always thought about getting one of those big boxes for the boys, but how do you get it home?
We do not really do a bunch for Christmas ourselves, but we do like to do things where we give to others. I guess when you do not buy gifts for your own family we can use a little for others.
I like practical things though, books, blocks, cars, games, puzzles, things that are timeless. We do the Operation Christmas Child boxes in Nov.
We try not to just do this at Christmas as often needy families are remembered at Christmas and forgotten throughout the rest of the year. We use our money from tithe for this.
I just left a message about Chick-Fil_a. That actually might only be a local store thing. I am NOT seeing it on their web site. :( SOrry.
My children are just a little older than yours. Solid wood unfinished Standard Unit blocks are a worthwhile investment that they will likely enjoy for years! And they can be stored on a bottom shelf or bin. They are expensive and can be added to each birthday/Christmas so you'll have enough for large masterpieces when they are old enough to build them! :)
Fun things that you'd like them to have anyway are other ideas: a bike and helmet for your oldest if she needs one, and a pretty dress for the baby. Amazon has Radio Flyer scooters on sale for $35 for 3-7 year olds, and Target has the classic Radio Flyer tricycle on sale for about the same! Since we don't have them already, that is our big Christmas gift. BUT usually we only give them a handful of books and outfits, since, like you, they get toys from family. Don't feel bad about that. Our children LOVE getting books, and they don't expect any more. They are happier with less clutter. The more we get rid of, the more fun they have!
We've also taken away ALL the elecronic gadgets, and it's one of the best things we've done for our family.
To: Anonymous A Bit Overwhelmed--
I started out exactly as you mentioned, knowing that I didn't want flashy electronic toys for my chilren. I mistakenly allowed loving family and friends to talk me into accepting and using their lavish gifts of such noisy, flashy electronic toys. It turns out that my children are actually happier now that I have learned to just get rid of those. Here is what I do now. If I get a gift from someone who doesn't know better, they probably don't know that we don't use electronic toys (aren't in our home much or at all). So it's easy for me to give them away. Thanks to all the toy recalls, our relatives have decided to talk to us about what they CAN buy since they know I have done the research. This has been the perfect time to lovingly give them ideas and specifics (for those who want them), and now they know. You can also go to wishlist.com and set up a list, but ONLY give it to those who ask. A lot of people think it is rude (including me) to be told only to buy off that list. Now when someone asks though, you can send them the link. I think if it is going to offend someone to tell them what to get, then just don't. Thank them and donate that toy. DO NOT KEEP ANYTHING you don't believe is right for your children. No guilt. You'll just regret it later, and your family might ask why you never said anything sooner. So if they ask, tell them simply. If they don't ask and don't know, then they probably don't see you much. No need to offend them. Be grateful. If you have to, even sell the item on ebay and get what you really need or regift them to children whose families you are certain like those things. The most important things to remember are to be gracious about it. At least people love you and want to buy things for your children, and not everyone has that experience. And most importantly, do what is best for your children - no need to make a big deal about it. Just do it.
Here are my ideas:
1. select a certain type of toys, series of books, or something that is part of a set and begin a collection. Then, make sure that everyone knows what you are collecting.
When my sons were little, my mom asked for gift ideas for birthdays and I suggested the GA henty books. She has been getting them one for each birthday for years now. They finally started reading them when they were about eight or nine. Last year I asked my oldest son if he'd rather have something else and he said "No way!" My mom likes it too beacause she never has to worry about what to buy.
We also started collecting items for our children's "hope chests" when they were infants. Our sons each have a tool box with QUALITY tools and our daughters have a collection of QUALITY homemaking resources. Because we started when they were so young, we are only including the very best. If anyone in the family asks for gift suggestions, we give them items off these lists. I have also held a few Pampered Chef parties for my daughters and suggested that if grandparents bought birthday gifts from the catalog, it would benefit my daughter twice.
2. Rotate toys.
How do you handle people who don't ask for ideas or prefer to buy the children all those flashy gizmos? (My children are THRILLED to receive hope chest things, books, or tools, but Great Grandma thinks they are being deprived.)
I've learned to just accept these gifts gratefully and allow the kids to enjoy them if possible, knowing they were given in love. But I also make sure they understand that these things are not things that will last.
I always keep at least half of my childrens' toys out of circulation so I can rotate them occasionally. This keeps them from being overwhelmed when it comes to clean up and gurantees that they always have "fresh" toys to play with.
It also provides a great way to make unwanted toys disappear without starting a war. Because the children are used to having their toys replaced, I can allow them to enjoy "Christmas junk" for a brief period of time, before "rotating" it out. They don't mind giving it up, because they know it will be replaced with favorite toys they haven't seen for awhile. And no one gets their feelings hurt.
(Just as long as you don't use the term "junk" within the children's hearing. Sometimes kids aren't really good at descerning what should be repeated. LOL)
Melissa Telling
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/amtell
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