Gifts that Kids Can Make

Homemade gifts are always special because they're made with love and care. Take a look at this list of easy-to-make gift ideas that your children can make for loved ones.

Homemade Books
Children will put their reading and writing skills to use when they make their own books. The bookmaking projects in this section are designed to help children make books to give as gifts rather than keep for themselves.

Illustration Coloring Book: Give the book artist sheets of transparent white paper to position over various picture-book illustrations. The child traces the outlines in the illustration (some books are more appropriate for this kind of activity than others), then removes the sheet and writes a caption: "Curious George does tricks on his bike." The book artists can choose one illustration to trace and color for a book cover. The tracings are stapled together along the top or the left side to make a book.
Family History Books: Children can create a family history in different ways. One child may want to write a short story based on a real-life event: "The Little Heroine: How Great Grandma Ethel Saved Her Brother from a Fire." Another child might want to research a historical figure. Or perhaps together children can write a biography about Grandpa for his sixtieth birthday. For a finished look, kids can assemble the pages of their books in a report binder, staple the pages together and tape over the stapled spine with cloth tape, or punch holes and tie through with ribbons or yarn.
Puzzle Books: Children can collaborate and produce puzzle books for each other and friends for holiday and birthday presents. Save samples of puzzles from store-bought books or the newspaper that the children can use as model for creating their own puzzles. Include word searches, crossword puzzles (based on themes or books), acrostics, scrambled words, and other favorites. Provide graph paper for crosswords, if possible; lined notebook paper will do for everything else. The children can assemble the puzzles pages in a narrow-leaf binder or insert binder rings. Remind them to include the answers at the back of the book.
Accordion Books: Children will need a sheet of paper at least 18 inches long to accordion-fold into panels 3" to 4" wide. Another possibility is to tape individual sheets of paper together and accordion-fold along the taped sides. The children will also need two pieces of cardboard for front and back covers, and material to cover the cardboard, such as gift wrap or thin fabric. The poems are printed on all but the first and last panels of the paper. The end panels are glued to the insides of the covers. Explain to the children how to fold up the book accordion-style. They can keep the book from folding open by tying a ribbon around the construction.

Bookmarks
Suggest that children make bookmarks to enclose in a gift book or to mark the place in your own book where you left off during read-aloud time.

MATERIALS: Sturdy paper or thin cardboard, materials for decorating (see suggestions), clear contact paper

To decorate a set of bookmarks, kids can choose their favorite medium from among these:

Tiny pressed flowers
Marbling (floating oil paint on water)
Crayons or markers
Picture cutouts from book clubs or book reviews
A handwritten poem
Rubber stamps or stickers

If you have clear contact paper, let your children laminate their bookmark between sheets of the contact paper after they finish decorating. Smooth out the contact on both sides, then cut out around each bookmark. If they like, the children can insert a tassel or piece of ribbon between the contact to hang down from the bookmark.

Making Bookplates
By designing labels that identify books as their own, your children are acknowledging that books are among their most precious possessions. They might like to share that value by making bookplates for the books they give as well as the ones they receive.

MATERIALS: Paper, scissors, ruler, fine-line markers, rubber cement

To make a bookplate, your child first cuts down a piece of paper to about file-card size, or a little squarer. Next your child decides on some wording: "This book belongs to Sarah Elizabeth Franklin," "From the Bradford Family Library," "For Pearl Wong: Friends and books are forever," or some other appropriate line that identifies the owner of the book and perhaps expresses some sentiment. An older child might enjoy making up a book riddle, a popular convention on medieval bookplates.

After printing the words carefully, your child illustrates the plate with a fanciful border, geometric design, a favorite book character, or even a tracing of an illustration from the book itself. Go to the trouble of purchasing rubber cement for gluing the plate to the inside front cover of the book; other glues and pastes don't apply as evenly and some crack over time. Rubber cement will also allow your child to reposition a plate, and to peel off smears.

Collect Memories
Start a memory box and share stories of past experiences.

With your children, look through drawers or storage boxes. Collect objects that bring back memories. Or, as in the book Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman, let your kids hunt through the attic with a grandparent.

Start a memory box. Fill it with things that hold special meaning for you and your children, such as:

Toys you played with as a child
Grandma's locket
Family letters
A favorite picture book
Buttons from an old dress

From time to time, take out the memory box. Let each child pick out something, then tell the family a story about it.

Reading Coupons
Reading aloud is a gift children can give as well as receive. A coupon for Grandpa (designed and decorated by your child) might say, "I will be happy to read to you for fifteen minutes so that you can close your eyes and relax." Or the giver may wish to be more specific: "This coupon entitles you to a poetry reading from the words of your favorite poet, Robert Frost, by your favorite (and only) grandson, Peter."

MATERIALS: Construction paper, scissors, marking pens, stapler or hold puncher and ribbon (optional).

Supply children with paper, scissors, and an assortment of felt pens for printing the wording of the coupon and drawing a decorative border. A standard-size sheet of construction paper will produce six 3" x 6" coupons (just fold and cut). To make a coupon book, line up and staple the coupons along one short end, or punch a hole in each coupon and tie the bunch together with a colorful ribbon.

Reading coupons make thoughtful gifts. But why wait for a special occasion?