36 Awesome Gifts Kids Can Make (from Toddler and Up)

Know someone who needs a little help with Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or maybe birthday gifts? These tips on gifts kids can make may be useful! You’ll find craft ideas for toddlers and up.

As I am sure you know, children usually love to make and give gifts to their parents or grandparents. I lost track of all the drawings I’ve received a long time ago. When my youngest son was 2 years old, he gave me drawings of “nice sharks” every day. Very cute.

In this post, you’ll find plenty of ideas to put your kids to work on gifts for mom or dad (or someone else). I’ll start with gifts that even really young kids, like toddlers, can make. Further down, you’ll find additional ideas for older children.

Have fun!

(And by the way, even if I write mostly about gifts for mom, most of these tips work equally well as gifts for dad, grandparents or even siblings. )

Gifts All Kids Can Make (From Toddlers and Up)

Here are some other things that younger children might enjoy creating (with the help of an adult, of course):

Dad/mom can make breakfast for mom/dad, and the younger child can bring it to mom’s room and surprise her. Or even just be the one announcing breakfast if the child is too young to carry anything. Decorating mom’s plate with flowers can also be fun.
Make Mother’s Day or Father’s Day signs and hang them around the home – even if there will only be signs with “nice sharks”, that will be a fantastic memory too!
Write a “love letter”, or a Mother’s Day card,
Paint something on colorful paper. Glitter glue is fun for most toddlers and young kids.
Print out a Mother’s Day, birthday, or Christmas template for kids to color and present to their parents.
The kids may offer to do certain chores for a week. Even toddlers can do this, and a 2-year-old may take this very seriously and with great enthusiasm if they get to choose what to do!
Use construction paper to make a hanging sign spelling out the word love, mom, dad, grandma, etc.
Slightly older children can really enjoy creating necklaces and similar with beads.
Painting and decorating a photo frame and having Dad put in a picture of the child. I did this together with my oldest son for Christmas once. He painted the frame and then glued glass beads that looked like diamonds (according to him) onto the frame. He enjoyed it despite usually hating every kind of crafting when he was little.
Give mom her favorite flower or pick a pretty bouquet in the garden or the field and place it in her favorite vase.
Dad and the children can bake her a cake and sing “Happy Mother’s Day To You”. Baking with the children can be great fun (and a great mess!)
Film or record a message or song
Paint a t-shirt
Cut out bookmarks and color them (Or you cut them out for young children, and then they get to paint them.)
A bowl made from melted plastic beads. This is great fun! Just ask in the shop for plastic beads that can be melted in the oven.
Sew something, like a small pillow
Decorate a coffee or tea cup
Make clay bowls or sculptures and paint
A snow globe made from a yar
Homemade lotion bars
Homemade bath salt
Homemade sugar scrubs
Paint and decorate a glass vase or bottle
Paint plain wooden salad servers
Paint plain wooden egg cups and plant small plants in them
Painted window clings made from plastic lids, e.g. Pringles containers

Gifts that A bit Older Kids Can Fix

Older children can do a bit more. For some ideas, they might need some money (or they have their own):

Take mom/dad/grandparent out for lunch
Buy her favorite color nail polish, a t-shirt, or some other small gift
Give her a box of her favorite chocolates
Take her to the park for a picnic lunch
Clean (part of) the house or help spring fix her bike
Bake her a cake or favorite cookies
Take their parent to a movie
Make a special card using the computer
Record a special Mother’s Day greeting and post on Instagram or Facebook with Dad’s help
Buy her a gift certificate to her favorite store

I hope this gave you some inspiration. Make sure you forward the tips to whoever needs them! And please share your own tips on gifts kids can make; I’d love to hear them!

More Gift Ideas For Mom and Dad!

Gifts for New or Pregnant Mom
Gemstone Jewelry Gifts – The Meaning of the Stones
Gifts for Dad (That He Really Wants)
Family Christmas Gifts (Opens in new window)

Paula Dennholt

Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.

Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.