Help! Need a quick gift for the kids to make for their parents

[torontokids]

So I feel like although we have made a bunch of crafts to prepare for Christmas, I don't have anything that would feel special for the parents to receive. Last week I tried making salt dough hand print ornaments but these failed. Some of the kids didn't want to do it (didn't want to get their hands dirty), some kids didn't push hard enough and in the end they didn't look that great after baking so I chucked them. We are having a party and concert on Thurs and the kids have done some baking already for this. I feel like I should have something nice to send home on Thurs for them to open on Christmas or present to their parents at the party. Ideas? My one kid won't be here until Wed and the party is on thurs so it needs to be something that can be done in one shot and be dry/ready the next morning (the party is a breakfast). These kids aren't into hand print type painting crafts.

[Secondtimearound]

I am making a canvas with their footprints, them making them look like ornaments , underneath write mistletoes !!! Got the idea from Pinterest !!! Lots if ideas there !!!!
Then I just bought the kids a book with candy and a cute gingerbread man bag !

[5 Little Monkeys]

Check pinterest for sure!! Lots of cute, simple, quick things you could do.

Today we made clay ornaments. We made and baked them this morning and then painted them this afternoon. It's 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 cup water(I added a couple tbsp more tho). Melt this over the stove until it's all one big lump. Put in a bowl with a damp cloth covering it. Let cool (about 30-45 minutes). When it's cool enough to touch, knead it a bit and then roll out about 1/4 inch thick. Then let the kids pick their cookie cutter and cut out the shape. Take a straw and poke holes in them so you can put string in later. Bake at 175*F for an hour and 15 minutes, turn over and bake another 45 minutes. Let the kids paint them!! (If you wanted, you could even bake them tonight and let them paint them tomorrow?)

We are giving these, some baking, some nuts and bolts and a calendar to the parents. Oh and a homemade card.....that I have to do tomorrow morning as it's one kids last day!! I better put that on my to do list before I forget lol

[Dreamalittledream]

Trap them in a snow globe!
...a full body image of them inside a jar amidst a snow scene (I used Mason jars). I did this over the weekend to add in their gift bags, although kids would love assisting in this as well...
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/12/how-to-make-a-homemade-snow-globe/

[2cuteboys]

We did salt dough with ornament cookie cutters, then used their fingerprints to make hearts (had to push pretty deep) and then did mod-podge and glitter over top. I also had the kids paint (and decorate with stickers tomorrow) wooden picture frames from michaels, and we'll make a card as well.

I'm starting to think the same, but honestly, we've been super busy as it is, I don't want to cram in anymore than we are! We've done a bunch of ornaments that are going in their bags, plus kid-decorated cookies and some baking.

[Daisy123]

Dollar store-plain wooden boxes. Kids paint them and fill them with candy ie Hershey Kisses. Another cute idea I saw on pinetrest- dollar store canvasses. Kids apply green handprints in the shape of a tree.

[torontokids]

thank you. I tried making the homemade clay to do our hand print ornaments as I had everything on hand already. I love the consistency of the clay. They cracked however so I am not sure what I did wrong. The dough was a little sticky after having the cloth on it so I added a bit of cornstarch, maybe that was my mistake?

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm not sure torontokids. I made mine pretty thick but they did crack a bit around the edges.

My dough was a bit sticky but not bad. Once I kneaded it, the stickyiness went away. They turned out okay but not as smooth as I wanted

[playfelt]

Don't feel guilty. I am not doing "parent" gifts by plan - haven't for several years. There are too many divorced, separated, remarried situations to deal with and I felt it put everyone - child included - in an uncomfortable position. My job is not to stoke the parent's ego. I do some general crafts with the kids and spend a bit more on supplies to make them fancy - a lot are decorations they can hang. I usually put their picture on one of them at some point - often just a face on an elf they coloured or something similar.

I make something for the kids and usually buy them a couple books - have access to scholastic book orders to pick from. This year they are getting crochet snowmen handpuppets and the book of Frosty the Snowman. Same thing for all of them.

If you do want to do a craft why not plan it for next week. A lot of stuff is going on sale now and you should be able to get things really cheaply. I made a couple things for a craft sale donation and jut got a wreath from the dollar store and a swag of poinsettias and cut them off and glued in place, added a bow and couple ornaments - also from dollarstore. Looked really nice actually. You could do it with the kids by giving them all the supplies and letting them decide where to put stuff and then you put a gob of hot glue there and they put items in place.

[2cuteboys]

This is the salt dough recipe I did:

http://simplybeingmum.com/2013/03/18/simple-salt-dough-recipe/

I don't think I added all the water it called for (I'm sure that's no help to you... Sorry). I baked them at 200 F for close to 3 hours, the thicker ones needed flipping. They didn't crack at all though.

I'm not sure how well it would work for handprints though, as I said I had to push their fingers in quite hard. It might work if you made them thicker and pushed quite deep, then cut them out after.

[Dreamalittledream]

So glad you posted this...I too just had no luck with the salt dough ornaments (first attempt); never hardened enough:(. Will try out the other recipes (next year!)

[5 Little Monkeys]

I'm sending home the parents gifts today. The kids are super excited (a few think it's for them lol) My oldest, an almost 4yr old said "I've never given mom and dad a gift before!" That is why I do it!! :) So cute!!

[playfelt]

Mine are so young they just are not into it. They would rather even read our "usual" books than any of the special Christmas books. 3 out of 5 have no memory of anything Santaish from last year and the other two are non committal so we are not exactly in the Christmas spirit around here which is not helping. I put up our Christmas window stickees including some bears around a fireplace on the kitchen window and the older two just whined cause it they couldn't see the squirrels on the fence clearly. Oh well I tried.

It wouldn't be so bad if the "gifts" were actually done by the kids but other than slapping a foot or hand print on something the rest is all adult done which defeats the whole purpose in my mind. With 4 and up that take part in the doing and can draw the face etc. great.

[5 Little Monkeys]

Playfelt, I wish you could visit my daycare and see the young ones do their art. You would be amazed at how much they do on their own :)

This is what we gave the parents....

-a calendar...they did all the artwork for each month on their own.(various stuff such as crayons,markers,stic kers,gluing,painting ) I put their pictures on a few of the pages and got them bound at a UPS store
-2-3 clay ornaments...I cooked it and rolled it out, they choose and cut their shapes out with cookie cutters. They painted them and I put the string on them to hang from tree
-bag of nuts and bolts...they dumped all the ingredients into the pan. I did the sauce as it was hot. They decorated the ziploc bags with stickers and I put the nuts and bolts in them
-a few rice krispie treats...they counted out the marshmallows and dumped the rice krispie in. I stirred it and put in pan
-a bag of art that we have done so far. Things like green and red painted papers, christmas stickers on paper, a christmas tree onament that I glued together and they glued pom pom's on, tree ornaments that they painted from the dollar store and paper with red and green bingo dabber on it.

My group right now is 20 months, 28 months and almost 4 so not too terribly young. I have had younger kids and they all did this same stuff. Sometimes the younger ones are actually better listeners than the oldest!! lol Start them young and they catch on to things much faster!!

**not trying to pressure you into doing art if your not interested (cuz if the adult doesn't want to do art than it's a disaster in the making lol) but I just wanted to say that even the young ones can do art if they are just given the option to try. I had a dad who never believed his son did the art I sent home so I videotaped his son doing it. He was with me from 8 months to 2 years and did art the whole time he was here. Dad never doubted me again LOL

[playfelt]

Mine are 13m, 16m, 23m, 24m, 37m. Two don't even sit on chairs at the playtable yet. The 3 year old still can not use scissors. The two year olds poke playdough but don't have the manual dexterity or strength to cut out anything with the cookie cutters even if I roll it out for them. They scribble with crayons. No one draws anything although the 3 year old attempts to do a circle sometimes. Art is just not something they enjoy.

On the other hand they are doing well with other academics. I have made some games for them with seasonal themes which they can play over and over and that keeps them happier.

It isn't that I'm not interested. I love to craft. I just don't feel at the toddler age I should be forcing the kids to do them if they are not interested.

[playfelt]

Mostly the kind of "art" we do is them coloring a picture and then sticking on something I have cut out like I cut the apples and they colour the tree. Or I cut out the ghosts and they coloured the haunted house. I have a great printer that takes the 11x17 paper which is a great size for them to colour on. I often print something on the page to at least give the parents an idea of what we have been talking about but there is lots of open space too so the kids can either colour the picture part or free draw on the blank parts.

It just seems like all I am hearing is providers stressed out about the gifts they are making for the adults and wondering if the kids are really getting the benefit of the joy of the season. Spending an extra hour a day stuck in a highchair or at the table instead of playing may not be the best use of their time. Thank goodness we only make kids do this a few times a year.

[bright sparks]

This year my group is 10m, 14m, 19m and 2 1/2. The 2yr old loves crafts but doesn't miss that we have not done much this year. 10m old obviously not doing crafts and the other two when given any kind of direction to do anything just stare blankly back at me. We have sang songs, got a couple of Xmas Treasure baskets and sensory tubs going and that really is it. I have reindeers to assemble out of their feet and hands and then I will attempt to have them stick noes and eyes on but that's a bit of a disaster waiting to happen. The two year old has a Pom Pom wreath to make this afternoon and tomorrow I am going to make gingerbread with him while the little ones sleep. He will be able to manage his activities himself with only little direction. I have had a group of under 2's before who have been into crafts and able to do lots but this group is just not interested.

[playfelt]

You hit the problem when you said just look at you blankly. I am so finding kids are taking longer and longer to grasp anything. Even simple commands like we need to take your shoes off, please sit down and they just stand there. Kids these days are really different than they used to be. I am sending kids off to JK with less skills than I expected from the two year olds not that many years ago. I am hearing the same thing from JK/SK/Gr 1 teachers that they are having to scale back their programs to meet the kids where they are at.

I do think kids are not getting the time they need to play. As babies they are held too much or confined into something instead of exercising muscles. Now infants and toddlers are off to swim and gym classes instead of just being and doing their own thing. They come to daycare ready to be entertained that is for sure. I am doing many of the things I was taught to use with special needs kids to try and get them up to par and that is sad. Wrist and shoulder strength is especially poor but that comes from not getting trunk control soon enough from being carried or supported by stuff early on. I know parents mean well but.

Add to that the fact the kids are coming to daycare exhausted they probably aren't processing very much of what we tell them.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I do art like this all year round so my group is used to it. Obviously when I had the 8 and 10 month olds they did age appropriate stuff but even then they did it themselves. I actually preferred when they were in highchairs lol. I just put them in there in their diapers and let them go town! It was much easier to clean up that way too.

I'm lucky that I have had kids who enjoy art. I did have one boy who hated getting his hands dirty with paint so I would just give him a brush. He eventually started to do finger painting on his own.

Nobody knows how to do something for the first time (adults included). This is why we practice, practice, practice :) I admit, scissors don't come out often here....that will be the new year's goal! lol

[5 Little Monkeys]

I find the same thing.....they blankly stare at me when it's time to get ready to go outside. All of the parents, including the 4 year olds, dress them!!!

About once or twice a week, I gather their jackets or sweaters with zippers, boots and mitts and we practice getting dressed and undressed. It's helped a bit!

[bright sparks]

A 1 year old for sure can get something out of craft time but lets not bs here. ..they are not doing the craft, simply partaking in a sensory activity where they do what they are able to do which means feeling the materials in their hands whether that be collage materials, paint, popsicle sticks, pom poms etc. They do not have the fine motor skills, hand eye coordination and many other skills needed to follow instruction and carry out a craft activity independently. I always vow to my dcp's that they will never have a craft on their fridge by me! Every child I care for does this. In their high chairs on their tray they get the same materials as the older kids and there are no rules. If their ladybug looks like roadkill then so be it, if the whole lot gets slobbered on then so be it, it's an important EXPERIENCE, and it doesn't matter what the end result is at that age.

I am extremely crafty and creative and love to craft with my kids. I used to craft every single day but very quickly I came to my senses that children DO NOT NEED TO DO CRAFTS! Now with my years of experience and research I know that their are much more valuable ways to teach the children so I only do crafts at certain times of the year because obviously they can be fun and are a wonderful keepsake and achievement for the children. The children who do not have the physical ability to craft will be able to craft better when they are older if I start off with sensory and malible play when they are very small. The will develop muscle strength and control and the kids who lack the get up and go to craft will likely find confidence during the fascinating process of sensory and malible play.

How about we skip craft time and play in the mud for a change #TBT :)

[5 Little Monkeys]

You are right bright sparks. Crafts are completely different than art. I didn't learn this until I took a bit of ECE schooling. I do not do crafts unless it is for a holiday. However, we do art almost daily :)

There's no reason we can't do art and play in the mud all in the same day :)

[playfelt]

I guess for me it is that there is no end product. By that I mean we play with pom poms, we make collages out of sticks and rocks and shells but then we dump the contents back into the dish and make a new collage - it doesn't get glued down and sent home. They have the same experience with the materials plus learn that the same materials can be used in a different way to make something totally different. I don't call it craft or art. I call it play.