Nine FREE gifts you can give for the holidays or any day!

Originally posted by mecheng
reply to post by LAinhabitant

 

Nice idea... and something we should do all the time. But as a "xmas gift"?!?
I can only imagine the 1) shock, 2) puzzled looks, and 3) tears when my kids come down xmas morning and realize there's nothing under the tree except me
standing there ready to hand out their free 'gifts'.

As adults it is our responsibility to teach children what is important in life. I have witnessed cildren willing to give away their new Christmas toy a child who had no toy as well as seen a child on their own offer to give away some of their money and toys to those in need. They were taught that they don't need everything for themselves and to lovingly share and give to others. These were also children in a family that was not wealthy so they didn't get a lot of toys but were taught that is was good to be kind, loving, caring and compassionate to others.

Perhaps you should have your children read about how people lived in the great depression and as a family give either gifts that are handmade, recycled, or free. If your children think of a special gift as only something money can buy then you need to educate them more.it would be a valuable lesson.

The gift: a lesson on what is valuable in life and being content with what you have.

reply to post by ThichHeaded


We live on a materialistic society that fails to realize that material things are not the only things we need. These other things are imporant to both give as well as receive.

reply to post by actionpotential


Some other ideas you may be able to use-

A coupon for going shopping or running errands for an elderly person or taking them and assisting them shopping.

A coupon for cutting the grass.

A coupon good for a car wash.

All the working Moms I know would love to get a coupon good for a few hours of housework.

Guys may like one for doing their laundry.

A single person would probably like a good home cooked meal.

Thank-you for adding your thoughts to this thread! Glad you find these ideas useful!

A few more ideas:
A coupon good for a drawn bath and massage by candlelight.

A coupon for a date to a local art walk or cultural event.

A coupon good for cleaning out the fridge or washing the floor.

A coupon good for housesitting, dog walking or watering plants while away.

For kids:

Create a Scavenger Hunt withe a gift coupon at the end. Suggestions would be a homemade pizza party for the recipient and friends or a movie night where they get to stay up late and eat popcorn. Or for the older ones- a "get out of jail free" card, good for redemption in place of a curfew broken or a night out instead of being grounded. Or make them be a special treat for an extra hour out or on the computer.

Small children may like a coupon for a special trip to the park or cartoon night downtown on the square.

More kds coupon ideas:

- good for not cleaning their room
-good for their favorite cake or batch of cookies

A great gift you can give to kids is to teach them economic boundaries.
A great gift you can give them is a gift of time with them creating good memories.

Ideas for things to make for kids:

-a dress up box: put in an old purse, large beaded necklace (not for small children),a hat.
In the purse you could have old keys, wallet, paper money you make, pictures, pretend credit cards you get in junk mail.

- a workbench from old scraps

-a create or invention box with nuts, bolts, old gears in t.

- a treasure box for special finds like rocks, leaves

-make a glider out of a meat tray

Here's some other ideas if you can sew:
cut off the legs of an old pair of jeans, sew across the bottom and add straps to make a teen a Jean purse.

- make doll clothes from old clothes or scraps
- make a super hero cape
-an apron for tools, cooking or art supplies
- a throw blanket from old clothes or old t-shirts sewn to an old sheet
- a t-shirt pillow from a kids fav too small t-shirt
-patchwork placemats
-sock puppets
-doll blanket and pillow

Another coupon idea: a soup of the month coupon. Each month you could make a different homemade soup and give it to whomever you gave the coupon to. Some ideas: brocolli cheese, cream of mushroom, minestrone, pumpkin soup, and chicken and rice.

The gift of a service is a good idea too, Perhaps you can change the oil on a car, tutor a student, cut hair, teach someone to use a computer, or give cooking or bakin lessons.