Children's Gift to Parents Ideas-infants???

[Miss Lindsey]

HI! I am celebrating my first Christmas with a "full" daycare (4 kids total). I have a 2 1/2 yr old, a 15 month old, a 6 month old, and a 4 month old. I want to do some christmas craft things to give to mom and dad as a gift from their child for Christmas. But I'm at a loss as to what I can do with the littlest ones. I love the handprint kind of stuff, but the little ones just squeeze their hands together, making a mess with most paint things I've tried.

Any good ideas?

[melskids]

sometimes when i cant get a good handprint with paint on the littlest ones, i trace it on construction paper and use that instead. last yr i had a 6 month old i did that with and decoupaged it on a ball ornament. mommy loved it just as much!!!

[GretasLittleFriends]

In the past I have made reindeer for the kids to give as a gift for their parents.

Trace the child/baby foot on a brown piece of paper. Toes are the top of the head, draw on eyes, and a red or black nose at the bottom.

Trace the child/baby hand on a yellow piece of paper, usually you can only trace one hand, so you will have to duplicate it to make two hands. These then get glued on the top of the reindeer's head with the thumbs being on the inside, now you have the reindeer's antlers.

I then usually glue the whole thing on a green piece of paper, and if it's small enough, fold the paper in half and viola you have a card.

Another option would be to punch a hole in the top of the head, run a ribbon or piece of yarn through it and use it as an ornament.

[VTMom]

Last year I made a "snowflake" using baby's feet painted white. I had them fan out around a white circle center on baby blue tag board. It was cute and easier to manage then the hand paint!

[AfterSchoolMom]

I agree with the foot idea...anything that you could do with a handprint would be just as cute (if not more so) with a tiny footprint.

[Miss Lindsey]

I didn't think about a footprint. That would definitely work better!!! I like the snowflake idea!!!

[QualiTcare]

take a small box (you can find them at dollar tree or free if u want to take the time to ask around).

wrap it as nicely as you can and tie a nice ribbon around it.

print out this poem and laminate/contact paper it:

I took an ordinary box
As empty as can be
I filled it with a special gift
And wrapped it carefully.

But please don't ever open it
Just leave the ribbon tied
And hold it tightly near your heart
Because my love for you's inside!

I'd write the year and the kid's name on it too. Then, punch a hole in the corner, and put the ribbon through it so it's attached TO the "present."

You could also put a magnet on it or a hook to make it an ornament, but u don't have to. i think it's adorable!

[misol]

take a small box (you can find them at dollar tree or free if u want to take the time to ask around).

wrap it as nicely as you can and tie a nice ribbon around it.

print out this poem and laminate/contact paper it:

I took an ordinary box
As empty as can be
I filled it with a special gift
And wrapped it carefully.

But please don't ever open it
Just leave the ribbon tied
And hold it tightly near your heart
Because my love for you's inside!

I'd write the year and the kid's name on it too. Then, punch a hole in the corner, and put the ribbon through it so it's attached TO the "present."

You could also put a magnet on it or a hook to make it an ornament, but u don't have to. i think it's adorable!

Too cute. I think I might do this with my kiddos.

[Lilbutterflie]

Cinnamon Handprint Ornaments!!!

You can make a cinnamon handprint ornament, I did these last year!
You just trace an outline of their tiny hands on cardboard or cardstock. You can also do some extras for your tree of stars, gingerbread men, Christmas Trees, etc. You mix together the following ingredients:
1 cup applesauce
1.5 cups ground cinnamon
1/3 cup white glue
Directions

• Combine.
• Make ball.
• Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle surface with cinnamon.
• Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Use desired cutters.
• Use straw to make a hole on top for ribbon.

Let sit and dry for two days. You will see a color change.
Last year I'm pretty sure they were dry after just one day.
I also bought puff paint in metallic Christmas colors and decorated them with the child's name and year, and some with polka dots, or dashes around the outline, etc... They are SUPER cute! And they still smell pretty this year and are hanging on our tree. They are somewhat fragile, so wrap them nicely in tissue when you give them to the parents.

[Blackcat31]

How about a copy of a classic book that the parent can share with the child. Some favorites are "Guess How Much I Love You", "The Giving Tree", "A Star So Bright", "Someday" "Where Ever You Are: My Love Will Find You", and "I Love You, Sleepyhead" I love promoting the special time parents can have with their child reading. Every one of these books makes me weepy when I read them.

[kitkat]

You can make a cinnamon handprint ornament, I did these last year!
You just trace an outline of their tiny hands on cardboard or cardstock. You can also do some extras for your tree of stars, gingerbread men, Christmas Trees, etc. You mix together the following ingredients:
1 cup applesauce
1.5 cups ground cinnamon
1/3 cup white glue
Directions

• Combine.
• Make ball.
• Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle surface with cinnamon.
• Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Use desired cutters.
• Use straw to make a hole on top for ribbon.

Let sit and dry for two days. You will see a color change.
Last year I'm pretty sure they were dry after just one day.
I also bought puff paint in metallic Christmas colors and decorated them with the child's name and year, and some with polka dots, or dashes around the outline, etc... They are SUPER cute! And they still smell pretty this year and are hanging on our tree. They are somewhat fragile, so wrap them nicely in tissue when you give them to the parents.

Do you remember how many you were able to get out of one batch? I think I'm going to try this tomorrow. I'm so excited!

[broncomom1973]

In the past I have made reindeer for the kids to give as a gift for their parents.

Trace the child/baby foot on a brown piece of paper. Toes are the top of the head, draw on eyes, and a red or black nose at the bottom.

Trace the child/baby hand on a yellow piece of paper, usually you can only trace one hand, so you will have to duplicate it to make two hands. These then get glued on the top of the reindeer's head with the thumbs being on the inside, now you have the reindeer's antlers.

I then usually glue the whole thing on a green piece of paper, and if it's small enough, fold the paper in half and viola you have a card.

Another option would be to punch a hole in the top of the head, run a ribbon or piece of yarn through it and use it as an ornament.

We did these last week and the parents really liked them.

[AnythingsPossible]

Another idea for the little ones you have. Take a picture of them while they are napping, print it out in black and white or sepia. Make an ornament for their tree, with a saying along the bottom, such as "while vision's of sugarplums danced in their heads" and put the picture above. I did these one year and they were adorable.
This year, I am doing the If you give...books to families with a mix. Such as, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, with a Cookie in a jar mix, or Give a Moose a Muffin with a muffin mix, or Pig a Pancake with Pancake Mix. I did this a few years ago as well. I also thought of doing a family movie with a pizza certificate for the older kids, but it's so hard to know what they already have.

[Greenshadow]

You can make a cinnamon handprint ornament, I did these last year!
You just trace an outline of their tiny hands on cardboard or cardstock. You can also do some extras for your tree of stars, gingerbread men, Christmas Trees, etc. You mix together the following ingredients:
1 cup applesauce
1.5 cups ground cinnamon
1/3 cup white glue
Directions

• Combine.
• Make ball.
• Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle surface with cinnamon.
• Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Use desired cutters.
• Use straw to make a hole on top for ribbon.

Let sit and dry for two days. You will see a color change.
Last year I'm pretty sure they were dry after just one day.
I also bought puff paint in metallic Christmas colors and decorated them with the child's name and year, and some with polka dots, or dashes around the outline, etc... They are SUPER cute! And they still smell pretty this year and are hanging on our tree. They are somewhat fragile, so wrap them nicely in tissue when you give them to the parents.

I totally forgot about this craft!!! Thank you for posting it! Im doing this with my kids tomorrow! YAY!!!