You’re probably looking for great ideas for Hanukkah gifts for your children. And maybe you don’t want to spent $37 on alef-bet blocks like the folks over at Kveller. So, here’s a list of gift ideas bound to keep your children busy for the next year, based on my scientific market research. (I took some notes about what my girls played with a lot this week.)
1. A bag of lentils ($.79, eco-friendly)
This became both a play telephone and a baby during dinner last week. Caution: do not let children open bag and put lentils in nose or ears. Note: Also good for soup.
2. Polystyrene (free, not so eco-friendly)
Yesterday, Zoe, my five year old, made a dress, a scarf, and a three dimensional picture of a cow for her best friend out of one long sheet of polystyrene. Caution: should not be eaten, in soup or otherwise.
3. Old baby toys (also free. Potentially annoying.)
Every once in a while I agree to let my children come into the attic with me. There, they spot the baby toys I have stowed away for….well, I have no idea what for. Down come the Playskool Press and Pop toy, the plastic key ring, the Fisher price Rock a stack, the Little Tikes “piano”, and all those things that made Mozart sound crappy. Tip: Do not replace dead batteries. Second tip: First tip will not help with the “piano.”
4. Your clothes (free, until you have to replace them)
My children have a drawer full of costumes. They prefer to tromp around the house for hours in my Uggs, my shirts, my sweaters, and of course, my bras (as hats.)
5. Boxes and bubble wrap (Free. Sort of)
The only good reason to actually go out and buy presents.
Alas, none of these items will be on sale on Black Friday.
posted November 23, 2010 at 11:04 pm
too funny. my kids (3 and 5) have been highly enjoying the baby toys that are meant for the baby when he is big enough! the fisher price piano and the mozart cube both have been popular here!
posted November 24, 2010 at 12:29 am
Cardboard box, duct tape, and glitter paint. ‘Nuff said.
posted November 24, 2010 at 8:45 am
you let your kids use glitter in the house? you are a NICE mama.
posted November 24, 2010 at 10:51 am
Put the bag of lentils int a fuzzy sock: even cuddlier!
posted November 24, 2010 at 11:26 am
I love this! I would add spice bottles. Fun for ages 6 months to three and perhaps beyond. Plus if/when they get dumped out, it just gives you hope of using them up before they go stale.
posted November 24, 2010 at 1:33 pm
We have wood floors. And it’s mostly me using the glitter paint (shhh, don’t tell)
posted November 24, 2010 at 2:04 pm
At various times, the most popular gifts in at EdibleTorah HQ included:
1) a TV remote. not *the* remote, but a $5 universal remote (with batteries, so the buttons light up), which controlled nothing less than everything in the child’s imagination.
2) spare old house/car/whatever keys
3) An old empty baby advil dropper bottle.
4) a paint brush, a bucket of water, and a couple of hours to “paint” the deck (and the window, and the house, and the dog, and each other) on a warm afternoon.
5) old gift cards, or hotel keys, or anything like that. Relabeled “tickle license” because, you know, you’re not actually allowed to tickle someone if you don’t have one.
What? You didn’t know that?
posted November 26, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Bubble wrap was a favorite here when my kids were little. After unwrapping some package in the mail, I would lay it out in the hallway and everyone would dance on it. Oh, the memories.
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