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Tag Archives: DIY gifts for kids

A Special Day in a Box Gift Idea

11 / 21 / 1911 / 21 / 19

Adventure Day in a Box Gift | Mama Papa Bubba

With Christmastime quickly approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about gifts for the kids…  We’ve kept it pretty minimal for the last few years and have just done a really good stocking for each of them, plus their usual book and jammies on Christmas Eve, but at this point, even filling a stocking feels unnecessary.  Our kids are truly the luckiest and really just don’t need anything at all. With the help of my friend Crystal {of Otherware}, I’ve come up with an experience gift I’m super excited about and I just know they’re going to LOVE it.  I’ll be sure to share it here afterwards, but it’s a lot like this ‘a special day in a box’ gift idea I used earlier this year to plan a special day with each of my kiddos.

Now a little back story first… As much as I’d love to take credit for the idea, Grae was actually gifted an ‘adventure in a box’ by her uncle and his girlfriend a few years ago and I just thought it  was the sweetest, most clever gift ever!  It was presented in a little box with a beautiful ‘Adventure’ sticker on top and inside were little notes and items that explained the day.  BRILLIANT, right?! Firstly, it meant a really special day with two people she loves, and secondly, it completely avoided the addition of STUFF.  Something I appreciate beyond measure. {Plus I just really love a good DIY kid’s gift.}

Here’s a peek at how I put together my version of ‘a special day in a box’ for Grae and Sam….

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.{this post contains affiliate links}

First up, supplies…  You’ll definitely want a box (I bought mine at the dollar store) and a photo representing each of the stops on your child’s special day (I snuck out one night after bedtime, quickly went around town and snapped them on my iPhone, and sent them off for printing at London Drugs that same night).  Once those things are ready, scour your drawers for items like paper, scissors, fine liners, tape, glue, baker’s twine, tissue paper, card stock, labels – whatever you think you might need to put it all together!

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Alright – now to put it all together!  First up, create a label for the top of your box.  It can say anything you like – I went for ‘a special day just for you’, but ‘let’s go on an adventure’ would be cute too.  Whatever floats your boat.

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Stick or glue the label on the box and that’s done.

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Next up, write a little note to your child explaining the gift…  I did this on a tag-shaped piece of paper with a little baker’s twine through the hole at the top and went for rhyming and cheesy and wrote:

Sam,

I’ve got a special day planned just for me and you,

So look in this box and see just what we’ll do!

Love,

Mama

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Now to prepare the activity cards…  Again, this can look however you like, so feel free to make it your own!  I had my photos printed as squares (4×4 if I’m not mistaken), then cut out card stock rectangles that were slightly larger.  When I glued the photos onto the card stock, I glued them nearer the top so the finished cards would look similar to polaroids (not that my kids would know what those are – hah!), and wrote a little note at the bottom explaining the stop and what we’d do while there.  I finished off the activity card with a number sticker in the top corner just because I had them and I knew they’d provide Sam with some good exposure to numerals {do teachers ever stop thinking like teachers?!}

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Here’s a look at what Sam’s special day in a box included, though keep in mind that we live in a small town with very limited options and I gifted these to my kids for Valentine’s Day, so smack dab in the middle of our cold, snowy winter…  Had we lived in Vancouver at the time – oh my gosh – the possibilities!  Or had it been when the weather was nice?  So many outdoor options!

Anyways, with that disclaimer out there, his special day included a stop at the dollar store to pick out a Hotwheels vehicle (his absolute favourite), a trip to the mall to ride those cars you put a dollar into, a stop at the bookstore to browse and select a book, and a visit to his favourite cafe to have a warm drink, play with the trains, and enjoy a baked good.

Now I will say this…  As much as I maybe felt like some of these options were a bit lame and more focused on STUFF than I would have liked them to be, Sam thought each stop was absolutely incredible and was nothing short of STOKED throughout our adventure.  I actually don’t think the activities matter a ton.  Of course you want them to be things your child enjoys, but I think it’s more about the time together and the fact that this is a dedicated ‘special day’ than anything else.  I could have told him that we were going to the park right by our house that we go to all the time and my guess is that he would have been thrilled with that too.

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

And here’s a peek at what Grae’s ‘special day in a box’ included…  You can actually pop over to CBC Parents to read my ‘Build an Adventure Day in a Box’ post all about G’s day.

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Alright, time to finish off the gift!  I lined my box with a strip of tissue paper, then set the activity cards in, making sure they were in the correct order with the last stop in the bottom of the box and the first stop on the top.

A Special Day in a Box Gift | Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Then I wrapped the activity cards up in the excess tissue paper, put my little note on top, closed up the box, and that was that…  A special day in a box ready for gifting.

A Special Day in a Box | Mama Papa Bubba

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DIY Slime Kit

8 / 2 / 188 / 2 / 18

DIY Slime Kit

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love putting together fun gifts for kids.  It’s my jam.  There was a period in time when Miss G was a preschooler where I’m pretty sure every one of her friends got a play dough kit of some sort when their birthday rolled around, but we’ve also done LEGO kits, writing kits, art kits, car kits, baking kits, sensory play kits, craft kits, science kits, peg doll family kits, travel activity kits – wheeew.  The list could go on.  The kit-style kid gift is obviously my go-to.  It requires no actual making of things…  Simply collect items, pop them into a container of some sort, make the kit look somewhat pretty / organized, and you’re good to go.  Truthfully, when we make kits as gifts, we don’t even bother wrapping them.  We just add a tag with some baker’s twine and call it good.

This DIY slime kit is one of our more recent diy gifts put together for my sweet, slime-loving niece Kinslee for Christmas last year. Well, apparently it was well liked, because guess what we’re putting together for her for her upcoming birthday….  Yup – another DIY slime kit!  {G’s also got one on her birthday wish list, so maybe I should just shop for two while I’m at it?}

DIY Slime Kit

Here’s a peek at our collection of kit items once we had done our shopping…

DIY Slime Kit

{this post contains affiliate links}

The first step in the collection process?  Picking out a slime recipe book to include in the kit.  There were a surprising number of options at our local bookstore, and while they all looked pretty good, I ended up picking The Slime Book over the others simply because I liked the fact that it didn’t advertise its recipes as ‘borax free’ like the others did.  {Silly, I know… I don’t know why it bothers me, but slime recipes that are made using laundry starch, detergent, contact lens solution, etc. all work because those products contain some form of borax.  Therefore, not borax free. Hmmm…}

DIY Slime Kit

I also really liked how it included this little shopping list in the front…  Made the job of collecting things super easy!

DIY Slime Kit

We were able to find everything else between our local dollar store and the big box grocery store we often shop at, which I thought was pretty good.  Here’s exactly what we included in the kit…

– 2 bottles of this clear glue {though this clear glue is a much better deal and what I was looking for in the first place}

– Bausch + Lomb re-nu fresh contact lens solution

– a large bottle of Elmer’s white glue

– a box of baking soda

DIY Slime Kit

– a can of shaving foam

– a container of cornstarch

– a couple of bottles of glitter {which is terrible for the environment, I know…  we’ve stopped buying it for use at home, but I’d love to find a more earth-friendly version for situations like these… any suggestions?

– a package of neon liquid food colouring

– a package of regular liquid food colouring

DIY Slime Kit

– a set of silicone spatulas

– a set of silicone measuring spoons

DIY Slime Kit

We also included loads of fun add-ins, some of which were from the list at the front of the book and some of which were inspired by flipping through the slime recipes themselves:

– googly eyes

– acrylic snowflakes

– sparkly pompoms

– faux rhinestones

– rainbow sequins

– big acrylic jewels

– small acrylic jewels

Of course you could really add any fun little bits and bobs you find to your kit!

DIY Slime Kit

We also picked up some little containers to put all of the little bits in:

– taller glass craft bottles {these ones are similar but have cork tops}

– shorter glass craft bottles

– interlocking craft containers

DIY Slime Kit

DIY Slime Kit

The containers aren’t necessary, but I do think it makes it easier for slime kit recipient to manage all of the loose parts and it certainly makes the finished kit look more put together.

DIY Slime Kit

With everything ready to go, we placed everything neatly in a white bin we’d picked out…

DIY Slime Kit

And that was it.

DIY Slime Kit

To finish it off, we slid the book into the back and attached a big old-school mail tag that said ‘Kinslee’s SLIME KIT’ onto one of the bin’s handles, and our DIY slime kit gift was done!

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DIY Art Kit for Kids

10 / 16 / 1710 / 31 / 17

DIY Art Kit for Kids | Mama.Papa.Bubba.Oh, the awesomeness that is the annual ‘cousins’ birthday’…  A few years back, my sister-in-law and I came up with a plan that allowed us to celebrate all of our kiddos’ birthdays in person, despite living in different provinces {or on different sides of the world}.  With all 5 of our kiddos having birthdays between July and November, we simply decided we’d do ONE celebration the one time we were guaranteed to be together each year – August long weekend in the Okanagan – and make it an official celebration of everyone!  And that’s what we’ve done ever since.  It’s super low-key…  We sing a big ‘happy birthday’ song that includes everyone’s names, each cousin opens a special gift, and then we play or hang out or get on with whatever else we had planned.  It’s something we look forward to each year!

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DIY Science Kit for Kids

10 / 24 / 1510 / 27 / 15

DIY Science Kit for Kids | Mama Papa Bubba

For the last week and a bit, Miss G’s been having a total blast experimenting with all sorts of open-ended science activities and challenges…

IMG 3960{this post contains affiliate links}

And it’s all because of this book – The Curious Kid’s Science Book by Asia Citro.  We are big fans of her first book, 150+ Scree-Free Activities for Kids {which actually inspired us to create a taste-safe sensory play kit for a friend last year}, and this second book certainly does not disappoint!  What I think I love most about it is that it really gets little ones into the scientific process {but in a totally organic and child-led way} – asking questions, testing different methods, making observations, making adjustments, re-experimenting, and coming to conclusions.  What I also really love about it is that at 5 years old, Miss G is very capable of leading many of these explorations completely on her own, giving her a huge sense of pride and independence. Win!!

IMG 3974

So, when I asked my good friend what her little guy was into a few days before his birthday party and she responded with, ‘He loves doing science experiments!’, there was no question what we’d put together for him.  A DIY science kit it would be!

Luckily for us, Asia {the author of the book} has made this part extremely easy by providing a list of the most common materials needed to do the experiments in the book both on her blog and on page 28 of the book itself!  And in case you’re wondering, most of what’s on the list is really easy to find either at a grocery store or at a dollar store.

Here’s what Asia recommends including:

  • salt
  • sugar
  • corn syrup
  • cooking oil
  • vinegar
  • lemon juice
  • baking soda
  • pinto beans
  • food colouring
  • coffee filters
  • plastic cups, short and tall
  • zip-close bags
  • straws
  • masking tape
  • cotton balls
  • cotton swabs
  • dish soap
  • potting soil
  • children’s safety goggles

IMG 3959

We took a few liberties with our list, but included most everything {save the darn children’s safety googles that I waited too long to go out and find!} and also included one of Miss G’s favourite science tools – plastic pipettes.  In the case where something came in a monstrous size bag that we felt was excessive for the size of our kit, we simply re-packaged the goods into smaller sets / bags and used some funky washi tape to pretty things up a little bit.

IMG 3963

IMG 3965

Next up, Miss G created a personalized book plate and stuck it just inside a copy of The Curious Kid’s Science Book.

IMG 3966

Then we tied the book up with some baker’s twine and placed everything neatly into a pretty plastic bin.

IMG 3977

As a finishing touch, we added a little label to the front of our kit, and it was done and ready to be given.  ☺

IMG 3978

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