Nice little token pressies for Dds' friends

[TheFowlAndThePussycat]

I have 2 dds, 3yrs old & 18 months & would like to buy/make all their little pals something for Christmas. Last year I put a limit of £5 per child, but what with little brothers & sisters coming along I'm now buying for about 15 3s & under & that's a bit of a financial hit!

I thought about making Christmas biscuits or something, but then I thought, mumsnet will know! Anyone have any ideas?

Do you have to do that ? It is a lot of children.

Could you make them each a little felt tree decoration? That would be a lot cheaper than £5 per child - more like £1-2. More work than biscuits but you could get them all done in an evening. Pick up a pack of mixed felt, some ribbon, a bit of cushion stuffing, some buttons and some red thick thread and you're away.

I really wouldn't
you'll make the other mums feel bad

What bigchris said. Think about the precedent you're setting. It really isn't common ime to give presents to your children's friends at Christmas.

It's a lovely thought but I suspect there will be parents running around trying to get a last-minute reciprocal gift, but most won't bother. I know you don't give to receive, but at 3 will you dd understand that although she's handed out 15 presents she won't be getting nearly as many in return?

It's very kind of you, but tbh even with the time and the money, I wouldn't do this.

I think it's a lovely idea, and even though I would not have the time to do this personally I would be really touched if someone gave my little ones a few prettily wrapped homemade biccies or something like that.

If you think about it and decide that the people you are giving to would actually feel bad about receiving a gift with such a kind sentiment behind it, then I'd not bother. Not because I wouldn't want to make them feel bad but if they are actually the sort of folk that would grumble about being thought of, they don't deserve it.

Probably against the majority but- come on! Don't be so mean spirited everyone! Op isn't doing it to make people look bad, it's because she's kind!

(this actually happened to me last year- ds1 in reception at school and a couple of new friends had bought him little token presents- couple of plastic dinosaur figures, some sweeties etc. I simply said to the mum thank you for ds1's treat- we haven't had time to do anything like that this year but it was so kind of x to think of ds1- and left it at that. I really cant believe that anyone with an inkling if what it's like being a parent would feel hard done by with that. I hope!)

Of course she is not doing it to make people feel bad. It is a very kind thought. However, people so then feel obliged to do the same

Ooh, sorry, I should be more specific. The kids I am talking about are all the children of my good friends (I haven't really considered giving things to kids from nursery/preschool where I don't know the families). I'm pretty sure these mums will get little pressents for my dds, we all get each others kids birthday presents etc. I was just looking for a unusual and, ahem, cheaper way of doing it.

Or is this still over the top? Do you buy presents for the children of your friends, who your dcs play with regularly? Obviously I'm not doing it to make anyone feel bad, just thought it was the nice and 'done' thing...

We absolutely still do it for our little circle of mum friends, there are 6 or 7 of us who met through antenatal classes and have similar aged dcs (6 ish and 2/3/4). Bdays and Christmases, you're right it does add up! I've tried to get things that both can play with- in the past it has been a couple of bath toys or something crafty that both children would play with together. The little pocket money toys in Hawkins bazaar are good- stocking filler-y things.

Don't think it's over the top.

I make ginger bread cookies every year and this time DD (4) will be decorationg them. I'll wrap some them in the small bag with lovely ribbon and christmas gift tag (she might make them too) and that's what her friends get this year. They are my friends' kids, not random school friends I don't even know.

Multipack of haribo minibags. Kids will be thrilled, sod the mummies!

Bags of choclate coins.

I think a little parcel of home made cookies would be lovely :) Nothing offensive or over the top about it.

I have a group of friends from Antenatal group too. There are 6 of us and we're getting to the point where 2nd babies have started arriving so we decided last year that to make it a little cheaper, we'll do Secret Santa rather than buying individually for everyone. We each have a £15 limit for our chosen family so we're not shelling out loads and everyone gets a lovely present.

There are 2 children in my family this year so I'm splitting my £15 three ways - would love your presents for a fiver ideas Fowl :)

Alternatives would be make up a batch of reindeer dust and label with the poem, or something I'm doing for the school fair are snowmans poo (white marshmallows relabelled with a bit of help from clip art)and reindeer droppings (chocolate raisons again relabelled with the help of a bit of clip art) - might be because I'm the mum of giggly boys though!

Oh, phew, I was beginning to think I was some sort of christmaszilla then! Cookies sound like a goer, but I love chocolate coins too, maybe I'll do a mix of both. I love the idea of the felt decorations but I'm not sure I've got the skills! Thanks everyone.

Just make a load of reindeer food and make little bags to put it in using red voile and ribbon.

All you need is birdfood and edible glitter mixed together.

You can loop the ribbon so it hangs on the tree util xmas eve too.

I made enough for my dd's y1 class and they loved it.

Oh yes, I'm sure any sort of 'poo' would go down well with dd1 & her friends .

In terms of presents for a fiver, last year I bought things like tiny playmobile sets (sort of one-figure size), wooden play watches, little shakers/instruments. The kids were obviously all a bit younger then!

Snowman poo is inspired!

Get them a fun toothbrush and toothpaste, knit them gloves and a hat or a colouring book and crayons each. any of these shouldn't cost more than a couple of pounds.

I don't do this and frankly although it's a lovely thought, I would be really downcast if a friend suddenly started doing this in our circle. Even if it's 'just' £2 for 'just' 15 children, another £30 on the budget is a major addition for me. (And the idea of knitting 15 pairs of gloves is a face-freezer too...)

If you've always done it, then I guess you are going to carry on. But I think you could arrange with the other parents not to do it, if you wanted to.

Something I plan to do this year is to decorate our front window really well (it's right on the street) so that it's pretty for everyone to look at.