I need help coming up with Christmas gifts that my 3 year olds can make...any ideas?

Question

We have SO MANY grandparents & great-grandparents in our family. They don't want anything from the store, they love hand-made gifts from my girls. I'm stuck--I can't think of anything that would be easy to make and nice enough for a Christmas gift.
Does anyone have any tips/advice? Or can you lead me to a decent website that has good ideas?
Oh, and I have twin girls so I need something for both of them to make.
THANK YOU!!

Answer 1

I think what their grandparents would really like is a picture of them that they can frame up and decorate with popsicles and such. You can also use these as ornaments. They would also appreciate cards or poems and drawings from the little ones. Have fun.

Answer 2

Try the local craft store. What about the plate where your child can make her handprint?

Go to a preschool and see if the director could give you some ideas.

11/05 SUGGESTION (Still have mine after 29 years)
It has been years since I had a 3-year old, so bear with me. Draw an outline on construction paper of a round Christmas ornament, a Christmas tree or some other item that represents the season -- large enough to hold a wallet-sized picture. Cut the outline out. (If the girls do it, give them blunt scissors.) Allow the girls to use Stick Glue to paste a current picture of themselves on the outline. Poke yarn through the top of the outline and tie the ends together to make a "hanger" for the Christmas tree. Be sure to write the year on the ornament you make. (Take a pic of the girls, then take it to the pharmacy & have a sheet of wallet-size pics made.)

SUGGESTION: Similar to the above, get your wallet-sized photos and put them in Christmas ornaments made to hold small pics, or in acrylic picture holders with magnets on the back.

Being that the girls are twins, consider taking the pics with both of them in view. Grandparents are able to see the changes in the girls from year to year if you use (& continue to use) this idea.

Answer 3

Well, I'm going to have my 3 and 1 year old make holiday cookie jars. They layer the dry ingredients in and I'll attach the recipe and a nice bow. 3 year olds love these kids of activities. You meaure the ingredients and they pour it in the jars. It's also a great idea because if grandparents and great grandparents don't want to eat cookies - they can give the jar away. You can make brownie jars, soup jars, chili jar, pasta dish jars - just by layering the dry ingredients in the jar and attaching your recipe. It has to be a really good recipe like gourmet though - not the everyday. Always put the more dense ingredients like cocoa powder and sugar on the bottom and the less dense ingredients such as chocolate chips towards the top so the layers don't mix into each other. These are great because you can make alot at once - make them ahead of time, and make extra to give away to teachers, therapists, anyone who stops by to pay a visit.

Answer 4

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/christmas-crafts-ms/

Try this site...I've found many many great ideas on here. There is a picture ornament on there that we'll be making this year. :)

Last year we made ornaments with thick copper wire and string buttons of all colors (or a preferred color you like) and then twist the top to form a circle. Put a string into a bow and hang from the tree. My son had a blast doing this...he just turned 3 when we did this. The wire is hard enough, so it's easy to fit it into the buttons, so it was really fun for him. Just make sure you can fit the copper wire into the buttons before you buy them both. This stuff can be bought at any craft store.

Good luck! (Check out Marthastewart.com)

Answer 5

Every year my son (almost 4 now) makes ornaments for everyone. It's super easy and costs next to nothing to make if you already have the paint and acrylic spray:

BAKERS CLAY
Categories: Crafts, Kids, Play dough

4 c Flour
1 c Salt
1 1/2 c Water

Mix into a stiff dough. Knead 5 minutes. Roll out dough to 1/4" thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Be sure to put a hole in the top of them for the string before baking.
Place on cookie sheets. Bake in a 350º oven for 1 hour or until hard when tapped with a fork the "cookie" should ping. Can be decorated with water color or poster paint and coated with varnish, spray lacquer or plastic. This will prevent them getting soft and spoiled. DO NOT DOUBLE MIXTURE. USE WITHIN 4 HOURS AFTER MIXING. AND DO NOT EAT!

They are so much fun to make and everyone loves seeing his painting get better every year. My son is also so proud to give them to all of our relatives and friends. I also have the kids in my daycare make these for their parents.

Hope this helps!!

Answer 6

Last year my children make cement hand prints and gave it to the grandparents. I got the kits at Walmart. This year we're going to be making picture frames and we're giving it to them with the Christmas photos in them. If you go to a craft store there are alot of great ideas for kids there. Good Luck and have fun.

Answer 7

Check out the oriental trading post magaize. They have lots of nice crafts for kids to make like ornaments, christmas photo frames and tons more. They all look easy enough for a 3 year old. Basically they just need to glue.

Answer 8

I take regular or magnetic acrylic frames and place double stick tape along the edges while the children nap. Let them place stickers, hole punches, or any small object from a craft store, on top of the tape. Then have them sprinkle glitter to fill in between and around the objects and TaDa!, a very nice picture frame that you can give empty or fill with a happy shot of your girls.

Answer 9

We are in the same boat w/ too many grand parents lol, any way this year at Thanks giving I will take a photo of each of my children w/ each set of grandparents. Then go to a craft store & purchase a wood frame (they are $1.oo at JoAnn and have a large frame area) then have my children paint them & add embelishments. Add the photo & I have my children finger paint brown shipping paper & we wrap the gifts in that. Good Luck

Answer 10

You could have them make ornaments out of plaster (etc.) with their little handprints in them. I believe they sell kits for this, but if not you can wing it :). You can also add a picture if you want and have them decorate them themselves. This is something special that the grandparents would love and would become a family keepsake!