It's that time of year when daycare's all around are working hard on a little gift or two for children's parents. Typically gifts are sentimental that capture this time in a child's life (think handprints, pictures, etc.). Some daycares do the same gifts year after year. Me? I like to change things up. I do enjoy doing the handprint ornaments with Model Magic every year, but in addition to that, I like to give parents something the kids actually made AND that looks cute.
I call these Parent Presents, not to be confused with Parent Pleasers, which is typically a work of art that was clearly not done by the child themselves. They're cute, but I assure you little Sally did not draw a perfect reindeer and color in the damn lines at 2. Sorry to burst your bubble, but your child's daycare provider or teacher did that for them and who has that kind of extra time?
I'm a fan of Parent Presents. They're not always pretty and they do require some guidance and overseeing from myself, but for the most part, the kids do the presents themselves. There's some I like better than others, but I mostly still have my kid's own Parent Presents that I sentimentally set out on display year after year.
Here's 6 easy, cute, and perfect presents for parents from the exhausted at Christmas time provider:
1.) Handprint wreath
2.) Hand print Christmas tree canvas painting
3.) Finger print Christmas lights
4.) Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer foot print ornaments
5.) Decorate a glass plate. Be adventurous and let kids wrap them in Christmas wrapping paper, stick a bow on, and those bad boys are ready to go.
6.) Make your own ornament. Keep it easy with salt dough or buy a clear ornament and do something simple like this (the kids shoved cotton balls inside and I drew a face on):
This year's Parent Presents are wine glasses decorated in Metallic Sharpie markers (that will likely wash off....and probably should be washed off quite honestly), mini bottle of cheap wine, cookies for the family, and a hand print ornament to take home.