Luckily, a mother on TikTok has shared her list of thoughtful holiday gifts you can get for your kids this year that will barely cost you a dime. RELATED: 10 Holiday Gift Ideas That Could Actually Save Someone’s Life
The mother has nine Christmas gift ideas for children that are free or cheap.
In a TikTok video that has been viewed nearly 50,000 times, social media mom influencer, Hannah, shares tips that will surely make parents’ lives easier this holiday season. In her video, Hannah describes an urge that many parents experience as Christmas draws closer referred to as “the twitch,” where parents feel the need to buy even more gifts for their children even after they’ve completed their shopping. RELATED: Mom Wonders If She’s Wrong For Making 5-Year-Old Donate Gifts Her Ex’s Family Gave Her Considering that most parents have to also buy gifts for people other than their children, Hannah shares easy and extremely cheap gifts that could save you money this year.
1. Time-tokens.
This gift is completely free and entirely handmade. Hannah explains that “time tokens” act as coupons or gift certificates that your kids can cash in exchange for time with their parents. “This could be something like baking cakes with mommy or a coffee date with daddy, kick around in the park, or a movie night together,” she says. “It’s something your kids look forward to.” RELATED: 3 Scary Reasons Not To Give Your Kids Too Many Presents
2. Bedroom art
Hannah suggests that parents design their own art for their children’s bedrooms. “I did this for me for my little girl’s room since she’s obsessed with pandas,” Hannah says. All she did was create panda prints for her bedroom wall on the free digital-art platform, Canva. “It’s super easy, completely free and she absolutely loves them.”
3. Write a letter
Another meaningful free gift Hannah recommends is writing a letter for your children. The letter could recap everything you have done together with your children during the year and emphasize your pride in them along with all of the things they have accomplished. “That could be a really special thing for a child to read,” she says. RELATED: Man’s Wife Wants To Cancel Christmas With His Family After His Mom’s Unhinged Reaction To Her ‘Cookie Sample’
4. Charity vouchers.
“I used to ask a lot for these as a kid,” Hannah reveals. She explains that various charities that offer people the option to donate items for whatever foundation that the charity supports may need. “It could be something like a midwife kit so that babies could be born safely in places where they don’t have adequate healthcare…or it could be chickens for a family in a rural area to help them start their own farm,” Hannah shares. She suggests googling charity vouchers to find one your child may like to contribute to. RELATED: Flight Attendant Joined By Dad On Every Christmas Flight So She Wouldn’t Be Alone Gets The Day Off ‘For The First Time’
5. Online workshops
Hannah recommends parents create their own online workshops for their children that incorporate hobbies that they enjoy doing. “My kids do quite a lot of these as part of their home education,” she says. “Kids can learn how to code their own Roblox game, they can learn how to do French rotisserie cooking, they can do a session on how to identify venomous snakes, as well as things like art, sculpting, and singing.” In addition to being a great gift, Hannah says that online workshops are fun and educational and allow children to pursue their interests. RELATED: Mom Refuses To Plan Christmas When Husband Says ‘Make It Work’ With $100 After He Blew Money On A Trip
6. Scrapbook
Similar to a letter, Hannah suggests gifting your children a scrapbook. The scrapbook can be composed of photos or any other tokens, such as ticket stubs or any other item that is attached to a memory from the year. “It’s a great way to record memories and kids will love looking through what they’ve done,” she says. RELATED: Stay-At-Home Mom Explains That She May Have To Tell Her Kids Santa Isn’t Coming Because Of Money Problems
7. Membership
Instead of gifting your children toys once a year that they’re bound to forget about eventually, Hannah advises getting them a membership that relates to anything they have an interest in. “Having a membership is a really good idea because it means you’ll get something throughout the year,” she says. Memberships include recipe kits or magazine subscriptions.
8. A day out
Hannah recommends gifting your children a day out where they completely call the shots. “If there’s somewhere your kid would like to go like a local zoo, or a soccer game or a cinema, this could be a really lovely idea,” she says. RELATED: Mom Writes Note To Server After Leaving No Tip Because ‘Christmas Is Coming’ & Her 3 Kids Need Gifts
9. “Fun Jar”
Hannah’s final gift recommendation is a “fun jar,” which is an empty glass jar you could put various activities on slips of paper and place them in the jar. “This could be stuff like ‘make a LEGO mythical creature, ‘draw our family as if they had superhero powers or ‘draw a comic strip,” she shares. “Just lots of different ideas so that when your kids are bored they can go to the jar and pick something out.” “These cheap or free Christmas gifts are thoughtful, meaningful, and valuable to kids!” Hannah captioned her video. “I think they are a great way to show your child that you really consider them and several of them are great ways to spend time together too- which is one of the most important things about Christmas!” So if you’re struggling with finding affordable gifts for your children this year, look no further! Hannah has you covered. RELATED: 20 White Elephant Gift Ideas Under $20 Your Friends Will Fight For Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.