Whenever we have school holidays coming up, I always try and order at least one new book for Anya. It’s just something I started doing a while ago but now it’s become a holiday habit. The holidays have somehow become my prompt to get her some new books and with half term coming up next week, I went looking. I don’t always get a story book but it can be an activity book, a joke book, an art book or anything that looks interesting and will keep her occupied for a while.
“Have you said thank you?” is the line I often find myself saying to my seven year old when she receives a gift or she’s leaving a party or a play date. She’s a well mannered child and does remember to say thank you most of the time but I still remind her just in case. It’s our job as parents not only to teach our kids good manners but more importantly to lead by example. I’m sure most of us are polite and always remember to thank our friends and family for the obvious things like gifts, their hospitality and their help. But what about the little things?
December is a month where we accumulate far too much. Anya has her birthday and then a couple of weeks later it’s Christmas. Apart from giving stuff to charity, I also don’t let Anya open all her presents at once. Do you do the same or am I the only mean mama? I seriously don’t think any kid can really appreciate 10-15 presents in one go or even 5. So she is allowed to open the wrapping but not the gift itself. I keep them away and come a rainy day in January/February when it’s too cold or wet, she always has something to do. Last week on one such day she opened this beautiful coloured sand Djeco craft kit and she was hooked for hours.
Sometimes when time is short and you’ve left stuff to the last minute, it’s handy to have one place to go to, to find all your gifts. That place for me is Little Flea – a one-stop place where you find all the best baby and kids brands from small, independent retailers. Rather than trawl the entire web looking for christmas gifts for kids, I find it a lot easier to go to Little Flea where I still get lots of choice but save a lot of time too.
In our home, Anya’s birthday is just a little before Christmas. That means December is full of presents for her – sometimes too many. So what we do is give her a big present for her birthday and small, inexpensive stuff for Christmas. I always get her birthday present organised in time but with everything going on the little Christmas gifts often get left till the last minute. So today I headed to Little Flea to make a list of possibles for Anya and while I was there I picked out some of the best little gifts that you too can get for under £20 with many that are under £10 too. Here are my picks for the best Christmas gifts for under 20:
Books are my favourite gifts to give kids. For birthdays, for Christmas gifts, for any occasion at all. With so many fabulous kids books out there, it’s not hard to find the perfect book for any child. Here I’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite books – some of which we already have and others that are on our wish list. I’ve mixed up the selection to include picture books, art books, activity books, educational books and more.
Anya’s Christmas gifts always include books and usually a selection of different types like the ones I’ve suggested here. The one that I am looking most forward to buying her this Xmas is The School of Art which I have browsed through and it looks great not just for kids but for adults too. The books I’ve picked are for a range of ages from toddlers to 10 year olds so there’s something for everyone. The ages though are just rough guides, not set in stone.
Here are my best kids books gift suggestions for this year:
Yesterday it was all about the girls so my next Christmas gift guide, has got to be all about the boys. If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that I don’t do plastic toys, battery operated toys or anything like that. Instead I prefer toys that require imagination and encourage creative play. So you’ll find lots of fun wooden toys, games, crafts and more. Many of these gifts would work for girls as well, including things like the superhero dress up set – after all girls can be super heroes too, right?
Here are some of my favourite Christmas gift ideas for boys:
With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I would share my next gift list. This is a list of lots of gift ideas for girls aged mainly between 4 and 7 years. I’ve tried to mix up the suggestions as not all girls like girly things so I’ve included building toys and superhero stuff too. There are quite a few crafty things too as I always believe in giving gifts that encourage imagination and creativity. So here are my top Christmas gift ideas for girls:
Earlier today I shared some adorable Christmas gift ideas for baby boys. Now it’s the turn of the baby girls. I had such fun putting this list together because everything is so, so cute! While I’ve called this a baby girl gift list, there are lots of things here that would work just as well for a baby boy too.
I’ve picked a selection of toys, clothes and useful things all with gorgeous design and lots of cuteness for babies aged 0-2 years. So here are my favourite Christmas gift ideas for baby girls:
I can’t believe I’m talking Christmas already – where has this year gone?! But Christmas is coming and that means it’s time for me to share some gift ideas with you. Every year I ask you guys if you want gift lists and every year I get a big, huge yes! So once again I will be sharing lots and lots of gift ideas for kids of different ages and some ideas for mums too.
To kick of this years gift list, I’ve got a whole range of Christmas gift ideas for baby boys. Babies don’t need much but it’s always fun to spoil them especially at this time of the year. So I’ve gathered a range of fun toys, a few clothes and books most of which are suitable for babies from 0-2 years. I will be sharing a separate gift list for baby girls but as you’ll see there are many gifts on both lists that will be loved by baby boy or girl.
Do you know Furoshiki? Don’t worry, it’s not a swear word but it’s a beautiful eco-friendly Japanese tradition of wrapping gifts in cloth. It comes from the old Japanese culture of caring for the environment and reducing waste. Last week I was reminded of this beautiful Japanese cloth wrapping tradition when I was given a cloth wrapped gift by a cousin visiting from India. She didn’t use a traditional Japanese cloth but instead used an Indian fabric which looked so pretty. With the gift giving season coming up and since we’ve got a spate of birthdays before then, I thought it was a good time to start thinking gift wrapping and why not try something new and environmentally friendly this year?
Furoshiki wrapping cloths are available to buy in the most beautiful patterned Japanese fabrics. They can be expensive compared to paper so think of them as part of the gift. Otherwise you don’t have to restrict yourself to these – my cousin just used some off-cuts of fabric she had lying around the house so you can use practically any fabric that you have. I’ve also seen gifts wrapped in beautiful tea towels which are very much a part of the gift. Once you get used to fabric wrapping, you can wrap practically anything in these cloths. The Japanese don’t stop at gifts but also make pouches with handles to carry stuff around or wrap their lunch boxes in these cloths as some of the pictures above show. I also love them for wrapping a bottle of wine – so much nicer than taking the bottle as is.
This Japanese cloth wrapping method looks complicated but it’s actually quite straightforward – it’s kind of like origami with cloth but simpler. In case you want some help, here is a good site showing you lots of different ways to use cloth wraps. The site goes in to step by step instructions for different methods of cloth wrapping, making it easy to follow. But for the simplest option, you can also get cloth wrap bags that tie at the top to make them look wrapped like in the third picture.
Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, kids, teens and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...
