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  1. #1
    Shy
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    Christmas presents for daycare kids?

    I was wondering what,if anything, you get for the kids in your care? Most of the parents get me a little something and I usually make a bunch of different cookies and give them out. But i feel weird giving them something if they haven't gotten me anything.

  2. #2
    Euphoric !
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    Ottawa, Ontario
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    I do the baking here to give. We make it in daycare or I make and they decorate so it is part of our activity program but then I send it home as compared to eating it all here. We use my portion for snacks. That way I don't feel bad and I got double duty as in it entertained the kids for a couple days.

    I even stopped doing the special gift from child to parent because I got tired of trying to figure out how to deal with separated/remarried parents and did not want to give them something more to fight over nor did I feel it was my responsibility to let some of the kids make 2 or more. With the cookies we can even split what they make and hand out two small plates instead of one big plate.

    Last year half of my group was already 3 and I used the Night Before Christmas set from the felt I sell and cut out one for each child which they played with at my house - mostly when babies were napping or I was making lunch, etc. Then on their last day I let them take the set home to keep. So again it was sort of a gift but I got double duty out of it. This year my two oldest are siblings of those kids so need to wait at least a year before I redo that one from a giving it out standpoint.

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  4. #3
    Starting to feel at home...
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    I usually set a budget of 25 dollars per child, and then I head to the Wal-Mart and choose something that fits well with where the child is developmentally and matches their interests. I avoid anything trendy, as well as any "hot button" toys (i.e. Barbie, water guns etc.) and I try to stick with toys that are fairly educational. For my one year old boys, I bought a Fisher Price mini fire hall (I'm sure the parents will love that ! LOL) I'm a big fan of the V-tech line - they have all kinds of things for different ages and stages. =) I also always include a book. I usually find them at Chapters or Indigo for about 5 dollars - I just think it's a nice traditional gift, and it's a way to encourage the parents to read to their child. =)

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  6. #4
    Euphoric !
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    I budget out $10-$15 per child ($15 is fairly rare) and watch out for bargains all year. I pick them up over time when I'm out and see something cool and cheap. Winners and Homesense are phenomenal for cheap toys!!! I lean to puzzles, books and 'thinking' toys. You can get really good books at those stores for $5-$6....awesome!!! For parents, it changes from year to year depending on the ages of the kids. One year we did t-shirts with kids' hand prints on them in fabric paint. Another year, we painted cheap wooden frames for their Santa picture (a yearly event). We did felt stockings decorated with fabric paint (from previous year) and glitter, filled with shortbread. This year, the kids are making dollar store tree ornaments from a kit (basically just a foam cut out with glue and glitter) and they will be attached to dollar store cookie tins full of shortbread I made. I'm soooooo sick of making shortbread Plus, as always, they get their Santa picture. It's always a group shot (with me in it as someone's always terrified of Santa), but I think it will be nice to have in the future.

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  8. #5
    Shy
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    I like the idea of decorating the cookies here, i guess it will be abit of a challenge because most of the kids i care for are under 2. And homemade gifts are so much nicer to get, i think.

  9. #6
    Shy
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    Books are always awesome gifts to give. I don't know why most people don;t think of it.

  10. #7
    Outgoing
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    I go to the Miko toy warehouse every year. this year the kids are getting a book ($1.75), a blanket ($7.00) and a stuffed tiger from Giant Tiger ($5.00). For the parents i went to Costco and got 8 angel ornaments for $12.00 (so $1.62 per parent) and a $3.00 tin of cookies from Walmart. The kids decorated wooden photo frames ($1.00 each) and a porcelain ornament ($2.00). So all totalled I spent less than $25 per family.

  11. #8
    Does anybody not give Christmas gifts? Currently I spend about 10 per child but am considering not doing gifts for next year as most of my families can barely get out a thank you - let alone a gift in return. Although, currently I do not have a very good batch of families. Last year everyone was thankful... but not this year, lol

  12. #9
    apples and bananas
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    I did some crayola stuff that's age appropriate. Cost about 10 a peice. That's all they need. I also have a ton of crafts going home to the parents. The kids open the gifts at home, not here. Probably won't even register who the gift is from so it's more the thought of it. I do a small 5 - 10 dollar gift for bdays too.

  13. #10
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    Last year I did salt dough ornaments we made here, plus 3 balls of unbaked dough each dyed a different colour for them to play with at home with a cookie cutter attached. I think it cost about $4 per child. So cheap.The kids also made a picture frame with their picture inside it standing in front of our xmas tree. But i dont think any of the kids used the dough, parents probably just tossed it.
    This year I bought each child a gift for about $15/$20. I got my girls a jewellery box they can decorate (they both love little bracelets and necklaces) and a puzzel or book. For the boy I have I got him a play took box with tools and a book.

    I am, however stumped on what to get for my parents, if anything. I did not get anything in particular for the parents but felt like crap since I got from one family a $50 giftcard, from another family, another 450 giftcard and she also got me gifts for my own two children.
    I know there was a thread about gifts for parents, but cannot find it. Sorry to hijack this one lol

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