Before you head out to the malls or discount stores to buy hundreds of dollars of Christmas gifts for kids, I have a few "insider tips" to share with you first. These are some ideas for Christmas presents that don't involve sugar, won't set you back hundreds of bucks, do not have the potential to ruin something in your home (like your carpet or sanity), and, most importantly, I can almost guarantee KIDS WILL LOVE AND PLAY WITH. For the past year, I have been watching my kids (ages 6 and 10) diligently with what they truly play with around the home, and here's what I've come up with:
A plain, brown box of any size, but a bigger one is good for more imaginative play. These can be bought at any of the businesses that rent storage units.
A tape measure, of their very own! You'll be so relieved to have yours back, too.
Boxes and boxes of band-aides to be used as they wish (within reason, of course).
Rolls of scotch tape, again to be used as they wish and within reason.
Interesting pieces of wood (like the rounded-shaped ones, not too long, though) that you can buy and any home improvement shop.
A set of REAL keys. Naturally, they don't need to be cut, but buy more than a few so they are nice and dangly sounding. A nice keychain to go with it would be a good touch to this.
Reams of paper or drawing tablets and an accompanying accordion-style briefcase to keep all their masterpieces or stories in.
A fresh set of crayons and/or markers. These will come in handy for the box, too.
A tote bag. Not a purse, not a backpack, not a dufflebag. A canvass-like bag that you can find at any of the super-marts that the kids can carry their toys from one room to another very easily.
A flashlight. Again, you'll be glad to have yours back!
And finally, a laminating machine. This will not go over well at first, but once they realize how they can "immortalize" and preserve their art, they will fall in LOVE with it.
I know it is such a cliché, but you know how many times we say, "They play more with the box than the gift it came in." These are those kinds of gifts. Maybe they will inspire you, save you some money, or just get your own wheels turning.