[00:00:00] Welcome back to the creative homeschool podcast. Let's talk about gifts. Now, at the time of this recording, we are in the holiday season, but these gifts can be used at any time of the year. They can be used when your kids just want to give their friends something. And you're trying to figure out what on earth do I have my kids make that's meaningful.
That's fun. That's actually something that other people would really like to receive. And maybe, here's the key, what if we could get actual homeschooling subjects in this as well? You know, science or math or language arts. So today I have 10 ideas for you. Now, if you don't use any of these ideas. That's fine.
What I'm hoping is that if you don't use any of these it helps get that little hamster wheel in your head turning and You'll come up with your own I would make sure you bookmark or save this for the next time you have you know a holiday season I know some of us we have seasons to [00:01:00] where there's a lot of birthdays in a row.
These are not holiday specific I just thought this would be the perfect episode for this time of year for those of you who are looking for something for whenever. So the first is a puzzle kit. One of the things that you can get at the store is a big stack You can get these on Amazon too, is a big stack of, they're usually wood or a really really thick kind of cardboard and the puzzle pieces are already cut.
So it'll come in a shape of like a rectangle, sometimes there's a heart, and the pieces are already cut for you. Now one of the really fun things that you can do with these is you can create art on top of this puzzle piece. Or on top of the puzzle and then kids break them into pieces and they put the pieces in an envelope or in a really fun box and they gift it to someone and they can create it.
Now you can be really tricky and not actually tell anyone what the puzzle pieces will actually make or when [00:02:00] they're done with their piece of art, you can have them take a photo of it and include that with it. Now when creating these kind of puzzle kits, you don't want to use art supplies. That are going to smear like oil pastels when you touch them or chalk pastels That's what's gonna rub off on your hands So if you use something like that, you're gonna want to make sure you use a sealant.
I've used paint sticks. I've used Like Posca paint pens on top of them and they work great even crayons or permanent markers like sharpies They don't just come in black. You can use those kind of permanent markers again Just make sure you're aware. Another thing you want to be aware of is when drawing with marker on these things, wood does weird things to markers, so it can make the lines go in different directions, so just make sure to test it first.
But, first one, and also you get in that math, right, of your puzzle kit. And you could use this for a lot of things. You could have them write a poem, get in the language arts, draw a country, , draw flowers that you see for, you know, [00:03:00] botany. Just about anything with a puzzle kit. That's number one. Number two is a seed bomb You can blend science and nature and create those seed bombs.
Now. I don't personally have a recipe There's a lot you can find online you with a quick Google search, but kids can learn about plant cycles ecosystems and then make wild Wildflower seed bombs or you can even get seed paper , seed bombs are a lot easier to use, but then you can gift it to others to spread the joy of wildflowers in the spring or whatever season, just depending on where you live.
So that's a really fun one to do for science. If your kids are, or your gift. E is a gamer. You might want to have kids make a customized board game. That's number three now Cardboard is really hard to use everyone One of the best [00:04:00] things that i've ever done when you want to create a a new board game If you go to somewhere like goodwill or your local thrift store Chances are they're going to have a lot of certain kinds of games These are the types of games that people get and then they donate very quickly One of the things that these old board games Come with is, you know, a really really solid board and one of the things you can actually do is Purchase one of those games for you know, 99 cents a dollar 99 Use gesso over the top.
It's a nice primer or some kind of some kind of primer that you have and just spray over The piece that's painted, right, or the piece that's printed, and then kids can get out paint pens and design their own game. This is a really fun way to make a different version of Monopoly too. You can use that gesso to kind of, , keep those colors or kids can choose their own colors.
But. Kids, especially older ones can create their own board game. They can [00:05:00] use different types of clay or air dry clay or model magic to create game pieces. Lots of different options here, but get in a lot of math. And again, there's a lot of different ways that you can use this. Doesn't have to be monopoly by any means, but kids will have a lot of fun designing and planning their own board game to create with a friend or a family member.
That's number three. Number four, homemade bath bombs so they can combine, get some chemistry and learning how baking soda and citric acid create that really fun fizz. You can use essential oils. You can use different types of, , different types of scents and herbs and dried flowers just depending on what your gifty likes and also , be aware that there can be, you know, skin and allergic reactions to different types of bath bombs.
So make sure you know who you're gifting this to first. [00:06:00] There's a lot of recipes online. Typically, there's a kit that you can get that will create a bowl, but you can actually pack up the citric acid and a baking soda together. It's a really, really , fun and easy way to create a bath bomb and you can even turn them into colors.
You can add some, I believe they have like mica powder or something like that. Do not quote me on that, but there's a lot of recipes, but take a look for homemade bath bombs. It's a really, really fun way to make a lot of something that's a really, really useful and beautiful gift. Number let's see, what are we at?
One, two, three, four, number five. A country themed recipe book. If This is a really fun way to share what you've learned, geography wise, with a friend or family member. Kids can research different authentic recipes and then combine them, create a cover for them, and give [00:07:00] them as a gift for someone. And, you know, to learn about a country or a region, this can be a gift for a grandparent where they look up some of their, , you know, back then when the internet didn't exist.
I mean, gosh, that was a long time ago, but it was hard for people to find those recipe books. I know my grandmother had a lot of those little teeny tiny books. And recipes that you find like on the backs of like jello packages. And you can go and try to find some of those old recipes and collect them. So you can turn this into geography.
You can turn this into a history lesson too, collecting recipes from different times a year and giving it to someone as a gift. So here's the next one, poetry in a jar. So have kids write poems. If you have, , you know, a gift like a grandparent or really, really close. family member, they can write poems and put them in a jar.
They can decorate the jar. They can decorate the poems. They can put [00:08:00] them on strips of paper. They can put quotes. They can put, you know, affirmations, things to just brighten people's day, kind of like a jar of happiness. Can you imagine having to or getting to draw a piece of paper out of there every day and just bringing a smile to you and to a loved one?
Next one crystal growing kit. So we've all seen these kids love growing the crystals What exactly do you do with them when you're done? Well, one thing you could do is create something like a diorama You could try to take it. You can learn wire wrapping and You can make it into a piece of jewelry. I know some of the crystals get pretty big So that's probably not a good idea But some of those little pieces that break off kids could have fun learning how to wire wrap.
So they're getting the science in of the person and creating a gift or, , I'd say key chain, but keys sometimes can take a little bit of a beating. So you might want to choose something a little [00:09:00] bit less like that, but they can include it into just about. Anything. Next, if you're anything like me, I'm actually one of the rare people who does not use a bookmark, but everyone else seems to, especially if they like the feel of having a book in their hands.
And if you're not a Kindle reader, I am not a, an electronic reader, I have to be holding a book. , bookmarks are a great one to create. This is a way to get an art. You can put in quotes. You can design it with a country, a history era. You can, if you have a mushroom lover, research different types of mushrooms for science and create an entire bookmark with a mushroom theme.
You can do lots of different subjects in here. You can laminate it and make sure that it's Protected, you can get a laminator, or sometimes they have things that are kind of self laminating on their own where, you know, you can put a [00:10:00] plastic covering around it so that it doesn't get ripped easily. Lots of different options for creating a bookmark, but have kids learn how to make those little tassels on the end.
It's, , really fun for them. To create something or, , little beads on the end and do a little bit of stringing. Really fun art project That is really really useful. Next one, friendship bracelets. Don't underestimate the power of a friendship bracelet. Now, how does that have to do with homeschooling subjects?
Math, everyone. Patterns, patterns, patterns, patterns. Ask your kids to figure out. What someone's favorite colors are and to include them in a pattern. So we have that A, B, A, B. So that red, blue, red, blue. But you can get more complex. And kids who have been doing friendship bracelets and things like that for a long time, I grew up making them from my friends.
You know that you have to get really, really clever with how you wanna get that, those patterns in there. [00:11:00] Patterns are math. It's a really, really great way to get that fine motor control too. And to be able to get method and create something that they can wear for a really long time. Lastly, story stones.
Story stones are a beautiful way to use those rocks that you found to make painted rocks. You can use posca pens, you can use It's regular acrylic paint. You can create story stones regarding a certain theme. If you have a friend who's into Minecraft, you could make these story stones be all Minecraft related.
You could use little stones. You can use them to tell a story. You can use them to write a book. You can also use them when you're designing something such as in Minecraft or in something like Dungeons and Dragons. To get ideas and to get those creative juices. flowing. It's a really, really fun way to do rock collecting.
You can create a little bag or get like a little drawstring [00:12:00] bag to keep all of those in. But again, that makes for a beautiful gift. So going backwards in order, we have story stones, friendship bracelets, bookmarks, crystal growing kits, poetry in a jar, recipe books. Bath bombs, customized board games, seed bombs, and A do it yourself puzzle kit.
I hope this really, really got your creative juices flowing. You have some ideas for this holiday season for the next birthday season and for the next to let kids be able to create things in an inexpensive way that are fun, useful. You get that homeschooling and it's a huge win win. Okay, everyone until next time.
