It can be tricky to know how to make Christmas special for a baby or toddler, especially as the purse strings tighten. But there’s no need to resort to getting your grey-haired neighbour to dress up as Santa, as you can put a smile on your child’s face with these suggestions for memorable activities with the little ones.
Cake making and decorating
Baking is not really a skill I possess or enjoy, but the guaranteed smile it puts on my son’s face is always worth it. As a toddler he loved every part of the process, from mixing the ingredients (read making a mess) to decorating the baked results (AKA creating colourful blobs).
If you want to steer clear of baking, just buy supermarket brand plain cupcakes and go straight to the decorating. It’s a lovely Christmas Eve activity where you can decide to either devour what you’ve made or wrap them up in a bow and gift them to visitors the next day.
Watch the switch on of your local Christmas lights
Wrap up warm and kick off the festive season by watching the switch-on of your local Christmas lights. There may be a chance for a bit of celebrity spotting for you, while your little one will be transfixed by the illuminations. If your child is prone to getting restless, avoid the heart of the crowds by staying on the outskirts of the action to enable a quick getaway if needed.
Make your own wrapping paper
A good all-round activity that can cater to an artistic toddler who likes to get creative with crayons, or a crawler, who will happily stick her hands into a tray of paint.
Professional gift wrapper Tina Nandha did this with her two daughters last year, describing it as a “sentimental” way to wrap gifts for family members. She says: “We use plain poster paper and made stamps with cookie cutters and potatoes, and we also used hand prints, stamp pens, glitter glue, whatever they could get their hands on really.”
Preloved gifts
Christmas on a budget doesn’t mean going without, and thanks to a selection of preloved sites targeted specifically at parents, searching for the right gift has been made that little bit easier.
Jennifer Mathisen, the founder of KiDSiE, a secondhand marketplace and parent community for preloved kid stuff, says that the gains are financial and environmental. “Parents sell and donate to each other through our app – anything from toys, baby gear and essentials, to books, clothing and kids’ furniture,” she says. “The average saving is 50% when people buy secondhand, and often there are free items donated by parents who want to get rid of stuff ASAP. One-third of toys are rarely played with after a few months, so there is great value in purchasing preloved.”
She adds: “Beyond cost, purchasing secondhand reduces environmental footprint.”
A letter from Santa
You can lovingly craft a Letter from Santa to your child for an £8 donation to the NSPCC. Choose from eight designs – including one that marks a baby’s first Christmas, and add details “only Santa knows”, such as their favourite hobby.
Obviously, Santa is well travelled, so the letter can be written in both English and Welsh. It’s the perfect way to introduce your little one to the magic of Christmas.
A personalised storybook
Stories always stand the test of time and as this is the perfect age to have books read to them – why not make your child the main character? There are lots of offerings out there on the market, so it’s just a case of finding which one suits your budget.
Tickled Moon provides one-off gems personalised with the child’s name throughout the book, as well as other details including your home town, names of loved ones, pets and toys. Representation is key when it comes to books from Beans and Sparks Club, as you can choose to recreate your child’s image, picking out the skin and eye colour, as well as the hairstyle. Here you sign up for monthly books, but the subscription can be cancelled at any time.
Both scream value for money as a keepsake for life, books which can be read over and over again – not just at Christmas.
Every donation that is given with a Letter from Santa helps the NSPCC’s Childline service answer more calls and be here for all children over the holidays. To donate and get yours, visit: letterfromsanta.nspcc.org.uk/letter-from-santa
Registered charity number 216401 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), SC037717 (Scotland) and 384 (Jersey).
