Family

Ideas for gifts that your kids can make for others this Christmas

You can't beat a gift made with love.
young girl doing Christmas crafts

Christmas can get expensive if you’ve got lots of people to buy for, especially if your kids have friends and teachers on their present lists.

One way of getting around this is to get your children to make gifts.

This can serve a double purpose – not only does it save money, but they can gain a sense of satisfaction and pride from making something special.

Craft shops such as Spotlight have a huge range of goods that can be ideal for gift making, from kits like candle making and pottery through to special paints and items that can be painted on.

Or you may like to get creative with whatever you’ve got at home.

Home baking is another great idea and can go down well with recipients, especially if care is taken with the packaging.

Here are a few ideas:

Bookmarks

These can be decorated in a huge variety of ways, and you don’t just have to use cardboard.

Try making tassels from brightly coloured wool, or felt flower shapes.

A colourful button glued onto a giant paper clip is another clever option.

Lego items

If your child is prepared to part with some of their precious Lego blocks, building items like pen holders or key pots can be fun for them and useful for the recipient.

Tin can lanterns

These are easy to make but look great.

Collect some tins, take the paper off and clean thoroughly. You can leave them as is, or paint them.

Use a nail to puncture holes in various shapes (hearts look good) and pierce two holes at the top to attach a wire handle.

Pop a tea light candle in the bottom.

(Credit: Getty Images)

Custom photoframes

Buy – or make – plain photo frames, then paint them bright colours, try writing on them with calligraphy pens or glue on craft figures like flowers and cute animals.

DIY wind chimes

These can go down a treat. Collect driftwood and shells at the beach for a seaside theme, or use pretty polished pebbles.

Old cutlery can also make a cute wind chime for kitchen windows.

A photo book

This is a thoughtful gift for a family member who doesn’t get to see a lot of your kids.

Print out a selection of photos of what they have been doing throughout the year, glue them into an album or journal and get your kids to write captions.

Or else you can make digital books online and get them printed.

Homemade soap and bath bombs

Great fun to make and the kids can experiment with colours, flavours and scents.

Wrap them in bright tissue paper and tie up with a contrasting coloured ribbon to add to the appeal.

Art work

Art work is often appreciated by family members.

It lasts longer and looks better when displayed if it is done on a canvas.

If there’s no time to make gifts

Get your kids to write out a voucher for things they can do for loved ones, like making breakfast in bed, helping with chores and giving hugs.

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