Christmas Gifts for Children and their Families
Consider giving a toy that has been carefully passed on for years. Make your own recycled cards, ornaments and wrapping paper.
In this lens you will find suggestions for ways to spend more time with your children while making their Christmas one that they will remember for the rest of their lives.
Giving the Gift of Time...
Christmas Gifts for Children Table of Contents
- Christmas Card Basket
- Christmas Cutouts for Gifts
- Christmas Tree Math
- Recycling Christmas Presents
- Opening the Christmas Presents
- Iron Your Wrapping Paper
- Make Your Own Wrapping Paper
- Recycle Christmas Paper for Math Practice
- Children can wrap gifts in Newspaper Origami
- Eco-Friendly Reindeer Food for Christmas
- Tatting as Snowflake for a Christmas Ornament
- Stringing Popcorn for the Christmas Tree
- Christmas Tree full of Birds
- Give the Gift of Time to a Busy Mom or Dad
- Christmas and Winter Time Lenses
- How are you going to make this Christmas inexpensive and Eco-friendly?
- Free Images for Your Christmas Website
- Meet the Author of this Lens
Christmas Toys that have Stood the Test of Time
Passing on Christmas Gifts for Children
Before you go out and buy something new that will get thrown away before the New Year, consider giving a toy that has been loved by other children so much that it is has been carefully passed on for years.
Talk with older relatives to see if they are ready to pass on some of the toys that you played with as a child.
As a child one of my favorite toys was a set of farm animals that my Grandmother brought it out whenever we went to visit. One Christmas she wrapped them up and gave it to my sister and I. It is one of the few presents that I still remember and have kept. This year I will pass them on to my children.
Eco-friendly toys like this may be found in Grandma's Attic or in a big brother's closet. Are they ready to pass these toys on yet?
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Eco-Friendly Christmas Tree Ornaments
Eco-Friendly Christmas Gifts for Children to Make
My grandmother made all her own Christmas ornaments and all of the children helped. We made bells from aluminum foil wrapped around egg carton sections and stars from cereal boxes covered in glitter and glue.
After Christmas as over we carefully wrapped each decoration in tissue paper to be used again next year.
Not only were we recycling the packaging that came into the house but we were spending time together, a gift that is more valuable than gold.
- Walnut Shell Christmas Mouse
- Make A Sleeping Mouse
- Gilded walnut shells for the Christmas Tree
- Gilded walnut shells suspended from colored ribbons looked pretty. The walnuts were covered with gilt paper, or dropped in gold or silver paint.
- Craft Elf_Free Crafts_Christmas Card Ornament
- Made from recycled Christmas cards this project is a great math (shapes) lesson for school children.
- Egg Carton Craft
- School holidays and rainy days are an ideal time to recycle those old egg cartons into works of art. Ask your parent or guardian before starting any of these project.
Eco-Friendly Recycled Christmas Cards
Children make Christmas Gifts for Grandparents to Treausure
Christmas cards can be made from left over scrapes, buttons, stickers, school pictures etc.
We have used brown paper grocery bags for painting pictures. After we have finished displaying them we put them in the recycling box. When it's time to make Christmas Cards we cut pieces from the green grass to make the trees.
Christmas Card Basket
Children Recycle Christmas Card for Gifts
My grandmother and great-grandmother made baskets like these for each member of the family. As children we would ask about each of the cards. Each one had a story, like a patchwork quilt.
The time we spend together making projects are the gift we give not only to ourselves but also to our families.
- How to Make a Christmas Card Basket from Old Christmas Cards
- How to recycle old or used Christmas cards into a Christmas card basket.
- Recycle your old Christmas & Greeting Cards!
- You can also use your cards as gift tags. Simply cut around the image you like with scissors, and use a hole punch in one corner. I like to use craft scissors with a decorative edge...pinking shears also work for a zig-zag. Use the hole to tie ribbon through, and on the back you can write who the gift is for and from!
Christmas Gifts for Children: Time Together or ReMade and Recycled
What kind of gifts will you give to the children in you lives?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byReMade and Recycled
Evelyn_Saenz says:
Wonderful gifts can be made from recycled and found objects. The time you spend with your children making these gifts is what will make these presents even more special.
Posted November 17, 2009
The Gift of Time
groovyoldlady says:
Gee, can I say BOTH? I guess for the sake of argument I'll go with "time" because it sounds so much more non-materialistic and therefor I shall appear as virtuous as those who have commented before me. :D
However, I love to MAKE gofts for my children: A barbie dress out of scraps, a "village" made of cereal boxes, a crazy hat made of felt and superfluous buttons. My children cherish these silly things and are always most appreciative of the time I take to make them.
Hey, wait...I know. It takes TIME to make these things. So I DO give them time. Especially when I make crafty items WITH my kids!
Posted November 28, 2008
Jimmie says:
Making cookies together is a favorite Christmas tradition in our home.
Posted November 16, 2008
Lisa_Jo says:
I will have to say that this Christmas has no budget for us. The little ones will be given the gift of time and love in the spirit of Christ's giving.
Posted November 16, 2008
"Spend Time with your children. It is the most precious gift you could ever give."
Christmas Cutouts for Gifts
Give a Christmas Decoration Gift
1. Make copies of these patterns.
2. Cut out scrap papers to decorate the cutouts.
Younger children could use crayons or paint to color sheets of paper that are then cut out by older children in a collaboration to make a Christmas Present for Grandma.
Finally attach a string to the top and hang on the Christmas Tree.
Opening the Christmas Presents
We also had to do all the waiting and cleaning but for us it lasted even longer. We had to take all the Christmas presents to our grandparent's house. Then we had Christmas Dinner, often well after noon. Then we sang all the Christmas Carols that we could remember with all the verses. There were hymnals for those who had forgotten some of the verses.
Finally when our voices gave out we were allowed to begin opening presents, but not all at once, oh no. Each person opened his or her present while all the others watched. Thanked the giver and then another present was selected for opening.
Each present had to be opened carefully so that the wrapping paper could be used again next year. Opening presents took a long time that way
Iron Your Wrapping Paper
Re-Using Wrapping Paper
Did you know that it is possible to iron wrapping paper?
We never bought wrapping paper in my family. We saved every scrap that was given to us, opened each present carefully so as not to rip it, ironed it and put it away in a box for next year. We still have some paper from the 1940's or 1950's.
When the pieces get too small for wrapping a present they can be cut to make tags. The left over scraps are used to decorate Christmas Cards.
- Reuse Wrapping Paper
- How to Reuse Wrapping Paper. Wrapping paper is something worth keeping, for its beauty, its design, or just for sentimental reasons. There are many different ways to reuse wrapping paper. Here are just a few.
- Reusing Wrapping Paper - Personal Finance Forums
- Is it appropriate to reuse wrapping paper for a gift? I have always done this, but I had some relatives over this past week and one of them was
Make Your Own Wrapping Paper
Splatter Paint
Splatter painting is a fun way to make your own wrapping paper.
1. You can use old newspaper.
2. Splash paint all over it.
Note:Use the paper that was under a spraypaint project for a cool effect.
3. Take an old toothbrush and dip it in a contrasting color and run your thumb over the bristles to make splatters.
4. Flick paint from a brush.
Note: Wetter paint works better.
5. The eraser of a pencil makes nice dots.
6. Dry the paper thoroughly and wrap your present.
Recycle Christmas Paper for Math Practice
After the Christmas Gifts are Open save the Wrapping Paper
Christmas wrapping paper often has repeated patterns that can be easily be counted.1. Flatten out the wrapping paper with an iron. Cut the edges to make it even.
2. Laminate or put the sheet inside a page protector.
3. Roll a set of dice to see how many items will be in each set.
4. Skip Count to see how many objects are on the page.
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Skip Count, Skip Count, Count by Two's
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Skip Counting is what you do when you count by 10's, 5's or 2's. All young children learn to Skip Count but did you realize that this is one of the beginning steps to learning multiplication. This lens has rhymes, songs and activities for teaching S...
Children can wrap gifts in Newspaper Origami
Newspapers can be turned into little boxes to hide treasures for Christmas.
In his book, How Children Learn John Holt tells of making boxes from oaktag. First Graders watched him and then began to make them on their own without any pattern. Children love to make things and activities like these help children to understand the concepts of geometry.
- Seeds
- Turn newspapers into organic, Eco-Friendly flower pots.
Eco-Friendly Reindeer Food for Christmas
Children make Christmas Gifts for for the Reindeer
Santa's Reindeer are hungry after flying all the way from the north pole. You can mix up some Eco-Friendly Reindeer Food and add a bit of Magic Sparkling Dust to help guide the Reindeer to your home.
Reindeer Food Recipe
1 Tablespoon Magic Sparkling Dust (sugar)
1/2 Cups Oatmeal
1/4 Cups Birdseed
Observe how the sugar crystals sparkle in the light. Mix and sprinkle in the backyard on Christmas Eve.
You could make a container for your reindeer food from paper scraps left over from paper grocery bags. Two of the following links have patterns and directions.
- Magic Reindeer Food Containers
- Make a container to hold your Reindeer Food
- Christmas Crafts with Poems
Reindeer Food Poem
Sprinkle on your lawn at night,
The moon will make it sparkle bright.
Santa's reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home.
- Lenape Lifeways Medicine Bag
- The Lenape made small bags to carry special personal items in.
Tatting as Snowflake for a Christmas Ornament
Christmas Gifts Children can make with Grandma
My great grandma made beautiful snowflakes for the Christmas Tree from nothing more than string.
- Needle Tatting
- A short article in the April 1917 issue of Modern Priscilla magazine described both a simulated and true Needle Tatting technique for making rings (Rozelle).
Stringing Popcorn for the Christmas Tree
Christmas Gifts from Children for the Birds
A very traditional way of decorating the Christmas Tree is with popcorn. Popcorn is still inexpensive and also Eco-Friendly.
Pop up a big batch of popcorn and use a needle and thread to make it into strings. Once Christmas is over, put it outside, still hanging on the tree for the birds to eat. (No salt please!)
- Oscar Stringing Popcorn
- Artist Katy Bratun
Oscar Stringing Popcorn
Fri, 04/27/2007 - 11:54 - Katy Bratun
Christmas Card, Portal Publications.
Christmas Tree full of Birds
Attract birds to your yard by using a homemade bird feeder made by you. Soon your backyard Christmas Tree will be filled with colorful birds flitting back and forth making an Eco-Friendly, Inexpensive natural Christmas display.
- Make A Bird Feeder
- Attract birds to your yard with this home made bird feeder.
MobiStories are Inexpensive Eco-Friendly Gifts for Children
...and their busy parents!
They are written by well-know authors and as a downloadable books they are much less expensive and more ecological than buying the actual book.
What is amazing is that your child can watch the pages turn, see the words written in large print and begin to read as he or she follows along.
As we all know reading is fundamental to succeeding in today's world. You may not know that literacy is becoming a bigger problem each year. Analysts tell us that less than 50% of children are read to despite the fact that statistics show that kids who are read to several times a day become better learners.
Now MobiStories offers a way for children to be read to anytime/anywhere when they have a screen. Now screen time is reading time.
MobiStories do not take away from the time you read to your child. They extend the amount of time your child is being read to.
Give the Gift of Time to a Busy Mom or Dad
Downloadable Christmas Gifts
Take a well-loved children's book, add narration and music and then make it downloadable and you have a wonderful gift for any child.
Not only are these stories appealing to children, but they give Mom or Dad a few minutes of time.
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Choo! Choo! A Train Unit Study
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Have you ever stood near a railroad track and watched a train? Trains are fascinating. They seem to be going so slowly at first and then faster and faster as they get closer. No matter what age you are, everyone loves trains. As your child chugs alo...
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Transportation Unit Study
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Young children are always on the go so it only follows that some of their favorite toys are cars, boats, planes and trains. This transportation theme can wheel us along with games, math activities and science projects that keep your child busily lear...
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Big Annie: Mississippi Flatboat Captain
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Activities related to the story of Big Annie, a flatboat captain who, despite all odds, brings Christmas toys from New Orleans up the river to the children of Natchez. Learn about the cultures, historical times and wildlife along the Mississippi Riv...
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Wintertime Activities for Kids
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Winter is the time to snuggle up and with a good book, make a winter table and watch the snowflakes falling down. It's a time when the days are short, the nights are cold and the smell of woodsmoke is in the air. Get ready for the cold with The...
Christmas and Winter Time Lenses
Buy at AllPosters.com
Reading to children is the best gift you can give them. As you snuggle and read you are giving them the gift of time. Something that can never be replaced.
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'Twas the Night Before Navidad or Christmas?
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'Twas the night before Christmas and all through la casa Not a creature was stirring, Caramba! Que pasa?... My cousins were Costa Rican so learning Spanish was always important to my family. While looking for activities to teach my children Span...
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Enjoying Educational Games
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What do kids do best? Play of course. Why not encourage this natural tendency by providing your children with great entertaining games that just happen to be educational as well. Educational Games such as Mancala and Set teach math concep...
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Favorite Christmas Tales
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Christmas is the time to cuddle up next to the fire and read all your favorite Christmas stories. Some are of Santa and Trees and Ballet, others are of snow and playing outside while others are of a manger and child. Christmas is also a time to lear...
How are you going to make this Christmas inexpensive and Eco-friendly?
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- tandemonimom tandemonimom Sep 23, 2009 @ 1:15 pm
- Lensrolled to I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas - and please add this to the plexo there!
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- tandemonimom tandemonimom Sep 21, 2009 @ 11:47 pm
- Great lens - and so thorough, as yours always are, Evelyn! I love the origami newspaper boxes. Lensrolled to Wrapsacks Gift Bags and Wrapsacks Reusable Greeting Cards.
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- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Apr 13, 2009 @ 9:59 am | in reply to spirituality
- Thank you, Squid Angel!
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- spirituality spirituality Apr 12, 2009 @ 10:09 am
- Great lens - you've been blessed by a squidoo angel :)
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- DesignedbyLisa DesignedbyLisa Feb 8, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
- Welcome to the Winter and Snow Group!
- Load More
Free Images for Your Christmas Website
Meet the Author of this Lens
Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog.
Find out what I'm up to when I'm not up in Grandma's attic looking for Antique Christmas Toys.-
Evelyn Saenz: Lensography of a Teacher
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My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning should be integrated and no skills should be taught in isolation. I believe that each topic s...
by Evelyn_Saenz
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