Thank-You Gifts From Kids

Thank -you gifts from kids have a special meaning to the recipient.

Kids should learn to be appreciative of gifts or acts of kindness from others. Recipients of thank-you gifts from kids appreciate them. Depending on the recipient, the situation and the reason, an appreciation gift can range from expensive to inexpensive. Kids can choose a gift for the person they are wishing to thank. They may also make a handcrafted gift that will have a special meaning to family, close friends or teachers.

Inexpensive Gift Basket

Let your child choose several items from a dollar store to fill a basket. The gifts can be for one or both genders, such as a grandmother or both grandparents. A teacher's gift basket can hold small decorative items for a home or things she would use in the classroom. A child may choose a variety of items to give a thank-you basket to a family. Treats, movies, family puzzles and seasonal decorations would suit a family.

Flowers or Plant

Let kids choose a bouquet or a growing plant for a thank-you gift.

Moms, grandmothers, lady teachers and babysitters typically love flowers and house plants. A child may choose flowers to create a bouquet or pick out a ready-made flower arrangement. House plants can be given as is or with artificial flowers stuck into the dirt. Outdoor annual or perennial plants are gifts that are appropriate for men and women alike. Let the kids choose some bedding plants for the vegetable garden or flower bed. Give a rosebush or other annual flowering bush that will bloom through many years. If you know the gift recipient well, the choice of indoor or outdoor plants and flowers will be easier to choose. However, simply knowing whether the person owns a home or rents a house or apartment will also help in choosing the right growing gift.

Handmade Gifts

Encourage your child create a craft to give as a thank-you gift. She may paint a birdhouse, clay flowerpot or a picture frame. Kids can use stamp pads and ink to create stationery or note cards for a gift set. Have her decorate a plastic container with markers to hold cookies or candies. Let kids use permanent markers to draw a picture on a ceramic tile square and glue a magnet piece to the back for a refrigerator magnet. Arrange letter blocks to spell out a name, "Thank you" or another phrase and help your child glue the blocks together with a glue gun.

Framed Thank You

Have your child write a thank-you letter or poem on heavy paper. He may also want to draw pictures around the edges of the paper. Younger children can draw a picture of themselves with the thank-you gift recipient, the item he received from the person or a memory from the school year or a trip to Grandma's. Let your child choose a picture frame to put the special thank-you into. If the frame is plain wood or plastic, your child may also choose to decorate the frame.

References

• She Knows: How to Get Your Kids to Write Thank You Notes
• Preschool Kids: Parent Gifts Kids Can Make

Resources

• Thank You Note Samples: Kids Thank You Cards
• Givers Log: Fifty Gifts Kids Can Make for Teachers