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EEK! Christmas shopping!
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My 7 year old is pretty easy to shop for. She wants a lab coat and Snap Circuits.
I’m having a harder time with my almost-3 year old though. She loves dinosaurs, so I have some ideas there, but that’s about it.What are you getting for your children? We limit to 3 gifts per child, and they can’t be “junky” toys.
- Legos (duplo or lego junior for younger kids).
- Stuffed animal to love
- Books
- Craft/handicraft/art supplies
- Instruments, this year probably a wooden drum for my 3 turning 4 year old. we have a piano, guitars. Another child is asking for a harmonica.
- Play doh cutters/sets – we make our own playdoh but the different presses and cutters are fun
- puzzles
- games (board or card)
- last year everyone got something to wear – quality winter gloves that are waterproof for playing in the snow/cold
- Water beads or insta-snow are fun to use with plastic dinos and toob type sets
- a pocket microscope
- rock identifying kit
- magnifying glass, binoculars
- mini/indoor trampoline
We are doing about 3 gifts each this year too, plus a couple of things for them to share. And I usually TRY to have at least one thing that is home-made. We spend $100 or less on each child.
DS 6.5: Playmobil knights/dragons set
Matchbox car play mat/road thing (made by me)
socks/house shoes
DD 3.5: Playmobil kitchen
beaded jewelry (made by me)
new underwear 😀
DD 1: couple babyish toys
quiet book
family book (photo book with family & names, since we live far away…made by me)
Shared: thrift store clothes for dress-up
books
some old dishes I saved for their playhouse
something musical (kid-sized instrument)
maybe a larger slide? (the one we have now is baby sized)
Plus stockings, which are things like band-aids, a home-made treat, Dick &Jane for DS, paper dolls for DD (made by me), embroidered handkerchief for her (me), etc. And probably an orange, because we love Little House on the Prairie 🙂
At that age, DD really enjoyed the Little People sets, and some of the Playmobil stuff is for 18mo+. Last year (she was 2.5) I found a solid wood doll bed at a thrift store & painted it & sewed her a little doll-sized blanket & pillow, etc. She loved that!
We do 3 gifts per child and then some crafty type things for a shared gift.
So, this year, some girls are getting magazine subscriptions (Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr.). One is getting an Odyssey CD. One is getting a Boxcar Children book on CD.
I need to put more thought into it!!! That’s about all I have ready to go – and I don’t have very many ideas this year, either!
We got a Playmobil Advent calendar for Advent. It has a family celebrating Christmas with Advent candles and a tiny nativity, so I was really excited! It’s hard to find non-Santa Christmas items.
I’m done shopping for the toddler. He’s getting a Leap Frog scout puppy, Cars Playdough set, and a bucket of colorful wooden blocks. I got him a paint with water book and some bathtub boats for his stocking.
My 8 and 10 YOs are each getting an Origami-a-day Calendar…there were 2 different ones, so I bought one of each since they both love origami. My 6yo and 13yo don’t have anything at the moment, except their stocking stuffers. Rainbow Resource had some paint-by-number mini art kits and cute bookmarks. I’m keeping stockings small this year, so that will be it, plus a couple treats to eat.
I’m thinking of putting together a kit for each of them: whittling, sewing, or art (based on their interests). I usually get them some sort of small practical gift: gloves, slipper socks, hats, etc. as well as new PJs (to open on Christmas Eve).
Kelley–My DC love their Snap Circuits! We have the basic set. I usually get them a family gift or two (movies, games, etc.), and I’ve been looking at the new Snap Circuit Arcade set for this year’s family gift.
Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read.
That is what I try to follow when looking for Christmas gifts. What he wants – animals, what he needs – fine motor control activities, to wear – I need to check his snow suit, to read – well that is never an issue as I have a huge book list that we can never get through.
Ooh, thanks for all the great ideas! I just thought of something for my almost-3 y/o. She LOVES jewelry. A jewelry box and thrift store jewelry! She’s always getting into her big sister’s jewelry box and I have to keep it put away.
I haven’t done a bit of shopping but I think my boys could use, and would like, new Bibles and covers. They’re getting older (and older) so it’s getting harder to shop for them.
I think my oldest will want some computer parts but I’m thinking we might want to get him started on some tool sets. We’ll see?
Funny…I was just in a well-known toy store today and felt surrounded by Chinese plastic. I did not buy anything. But I have been starting to think Christmas.
I am wrapping 25 Christmas or winter picture books to let children take turns unwrapping each night at story time in December. I ordered 6 books on betterworldbooks for $15. And I plan to buy Humphrey’ s First Christmas at Amazon. Last year on Black Friday they had 25% off any book. I am looking at getting the new DK Picturepedia book for ds11. Dd 8 likes Imagination Station books, so I am getting her another one in the series.
I was looking at Snap Circuits on Amazon. Are these good for teaching electricity to a 12 yo? Or would they be more for younger kids…more toy than educational?I picked up k’nex Bridges set for ds11. He is getting harder to buy for. He likes dinosaurs, but since he is getting older, I have to wonder if he will be playing with any dinosaur toys much longer. Yes?
The past few years I have been getting them a book and something wooden and more toys and stuff. I have a hard time limiting to only three gifts.
My 11 yo son started collecting wooden nutcrackers one year. I got him a handmade stick horse one year on etsy. Also wooden trains. I’ve gotten a few nice items from Maple Landmark and have been pleased with the quality and safety. The natural maple is okay to go in mouths and is naturally antibacterial. We got the ABC blocks and the small building blocks and all ages like to build with them. I am thinking of getting a larger set to add to it as a gift to share. I am also thinking of some silver each year: coins, jewelry. I usually buy some of the Kohls Cares $5 stuffed animals.
So…something to read, something wood, something they want, a stuffed animal, something to build/create with, and some candy. Plus something shared (game, large set of blocks, etc)
Wings2fly, which books did you buy? We have several Christmas picture books and a few chapter books but we could use some new ones. I think we’re gonna read one of the Yesterday Classics books on Kindle for $1.99, which looks really good. I think we fit in 2 chapter books if we start now 🙂
Wings2Fly, Snap Circuits are definitely educational. My 7 year old loves “playing” with them for now (if you hook it up correctly, the light will come on when you hit the switch, etc). I think that later if/when she wants to learn about circuits, capacitors, building more complex systems, they’re going to be a great, usable tool. They definitely are more than just a kiddy toy. 🙂 There are mini kits you can get to build radios, motion detectors, LED lights, and stuff like that.
Christmas Tapestry by Polacco, One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham, Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, The Legend of the Candy Cane, The Animals’ Christmas Eve (Little Golden Book), and Little Shepherd’s Christmas. I also got Christmas with Anne and other Holiday Stories, about Anne of Green Gables and 14 short magazine stories by LM Montgomery published in the early 1900’s. I am hoping my daughter will pick up and read it on her own. And Candle in the Forest by Joe Wheeler has short stories.
I look for books focused on good character morals and Christ, rather than secular festivities. We don’t do Santa, stockings, or trees anymore. I hope these titles work for us. I am going by reviews, descriptions, recommendations, and previews.
There is a good post in the past where I found some titles:
https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/good-christmas-books/
We have always have a tendency to go overboard for Christmas even though I always say I’m scaling down! This year I have been preparing the kids for a much smaller Christmas of three things: something they need, something they wan, and something to help them grow in the Lord. We’ll see if we can stick to it! ?
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