With the holidays quickly approaching, I've spent a portion of my maternity leave coming up with gifts for Sean and Evan from both us and from Santa. Considering Sean had a birthday in October and was spoiled rotten by all (thanks everyone!) and Evan doesn't need anything, I've tried to come up with some things that are either homemade, take up less space, or are less expensive this year.
For Sean:
I'm going to make a bunch of games I saw on Pinterest that help with his letters, numbers, and words.
1. I started with
"Parking Lot ABC's". $1 for the poster board.
I basically took a white poster board and markers and made parking spots around the board. Instead of words like the blogger used in the picture above, I used all the letters in the alphabet spread at random. I'm going to include a few Hot Wheel Cars with the poster board for him.
2. Magnetic numbers fishing! $14 for magnetic foam number set.
I bought some magnetic numbers on Amazon and will make a fishing pole out of a dowel rod, a string, and a paper clip like shown above. It can start out simple with him telling me which number he pulled, then we can add things on like fishing for two numbers to learn his higher numbers.
3. Memory Cards made out of pictures of cars, trucks, airplanes, etc. FREE.
I'll simply cut the pictures in half, laminate them, and store them in an empty wipes container for him to get out when he wants.
4. Fish in the sea counting game! $3 for a package of Goldfish.
I used two empty egg cartons, painted them blue, added some scrapbook stickers of fish, and numbered one set 1-10 (leaving two blank to store his goldfish in) and 10-20 (leaving 1 blank for fish storage). I'm going to include a package of goldfish with this gift!
5. I figured that was enough games to last us through the winter, so the "big gift" from Santa this year is going to be his very own table he can play on for his cars! He loves to slam his cars on our end tables and I'm reaching my limit with all the scratches and nicks it causes, so I bought a cheap black end table at Ikea for $9.99 and will have Scott help me build a garage with parking spaces, small pond, roads, and gas station on the table. It's going to look similar to this table here, but much smaller! $10 for the table + whatever it costs to make the add-ons.
6. Lastly, I'm going to get him a "car wallet" from Etsy so he can store some Hot Wheels and we can take them as we go. Usually, we have them all over the car, in my diaper bag, all over the house, etc. But, I'm hoping the wallet can be an easy thing for him to grab and feel as if he's got something he's responsible for bringing places like his blankey. $16
For his stocking we are going to give him another wooden stamp set by Melissa and Doug, a wooden lace up toy that helps teach him to feed shoe lace through holes by Melissa and Doug, and a Disney Car's activity set that comes with a coloring book, crayons, stickers, etc. We'll probably throw in a few other things like Annie's cheddar bunnies, applesauce pouches, and other stickers. And he's done! We'll have spent less than $75 and he's got some cool stuff!
Now for Evan...
1. A
fuzzy fleece blanket that he can use eventually at daycare when he gets a bit older. Sean had one from Carter's with blue elephants on one side and green fleece on the other and he loves it. Still uses it every day at school to cover him up during nap time. So, we'll get Evan one too. $22
2. A Large Utility Tote from the company Thirty-One personalized with his name so he can have a nice bag for overnights to a Grandparent's house or trips up north over the summer. Again, Sean has one with brown and white polka dots that we have used so many times and it's always been the perfect size to fit everything he needs. We chose a black one this time with his name in a royal blue thread. $42 with personalization.
Those are really the only gifts we're giving him. In his stocking we will probably include a few small toys or teethers and maybe a few baby food products or accessories like bibs since he'll be 4 months old right after Christmas and we'll probably introduce a few solids. I made all of Sean's baby food when he was a baby and plan on making the majority of Evan's too. Again, we're spending less than $75 on Evan as well. He will only have two items, but I don't think he'll mind. :)
And that's our plan for Christmas this year...
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