Holiday Gifts for Kids to Make and Give
Easy to Do Treats and Crafts to Share at Christmas Time
Nov 19, 2008
Christmas time comes but once a year, and much of the time the special meaning of the holidays is lost in the hustle and bustle of shopping and commercialism. Why not change that for your family this year? Why not decide to be different?
This year you can get off to a running start on making the holidays special by making your own gifts. Here are some fun and easy treat and crafts you can make followed by some ideas for gift giving.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Directions:
1. Cream sugar, butter and oil until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs.
2. Sift dry ingredients together. Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Roll into balls. Press to flatten slightly with a glass.
4. Bake at 350° F for 15 to 20 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet until cookies are light brown.
(HINT: Slightly dampen the bottom of the glass and dip in colored sugar before flattening the cookies.)
Place decorated cookies in a basket you decorated and add some instant hot cocoa and a pretty mug. It's the perfect gift for friends or family.
Gingerbread Play-Dough
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup flour
- 1/2 Cup salt
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- Spices – Cinnamon, Allspice, Ginger, Nutmeg – finely ground
What you do:
1. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the spices – putting in a small amount at a time – until the dough smells and looks like you want. Your dough will be nice and brown looking.
2. Mix water and oil together first and then add them to the dry ingredients and stir. In a pot, cook the mixture for two to three minutes, stirring frequently. The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the pot and stick together. When this happens, take the play dough out of the pan and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth.
3. Allow the dough to cool and then store it in an airtight container.
You can use this playdough just as you would regular playdough. It smells so much better! Place balls of the gingerbread playdough in colorful zipper closed plastic bags and they make the perfect stocking stuffer for a child. You can also roll out the dough and cut Christmas tree ornaments out using cookie cutters. Use a toothpick to write the year on your ornament. Allow to air dry for several days and you have a delicious smelling tree ornament to give as a gift.
Both the Christmas sugar cookies and the gingerbread playdough are ideas that are easy to do yet allow kids to be involved in the gift giving process. These simple ideas are just another fun way to encourage your child's creativity and craft skills.
