From Me To You: 11 Thoughtful Handmade Gifts From Kids

Distance doesn't diminish affection, and handmade gifts are a heartfelt way to express it.

There's a wealth of simple, affectionate gifts that your children will enjoy crafting, guaranteed to brighten the day of grandparents, friends, and extended family. Indulge in these eleven creative homemade gift ideas that you can surprise someone with. Leave these tokens of affection on your loved one's truck, doorstep, or backpack to surprise and give joy, ensuring that the bonds of love continue to grow and flourish.

Whichever you choose, these homemade gifts are sure to elicit smiles and feel like a warm embrace.

Rainbow Bracelets

If your children delight in adding a splash of color to your windows with vibrant rainbow paintings, they'll be thrilled to craft colorful beaded rainbow bracelets. These make charming presents that friends and family will cherish.

Here's what you'll need: sturdy string or yarn and an assortment of colored beads, spanning the hues of the rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. With careful concentration and a flourish of creativity, guide your kids to string the beads in the order of the rainbow's colors, creating a pattern that mirrors the beauty found in the sky. Once they've threaded enough beads to circle a wrist, help them tie a secure knot to complete their handcrafted bracelet.

This engaging activity not only channels their artistic side but also provides an excellent opportunity for skill-building as they practice fine motor control and pattern recognition. Plus, the final product is a heartfelt, handmade token of friendship and love—a special accessory that any recipient would be delighted to wear.

Colourful Bath Bombs

In a time of so much uncertainty, a bath bomb to help family and friends relax and unwind is the perfect gift, and so easy for kids to make. Check out the super simple tutorial below to see how you can make them at home!

Framed Family Handprint

There's nothing a grandparent would cherish more than a beautiful set of colourful handprints that they can keep for years to come.  

All you need is a piece of white paper, some paint, and a photo frame. Pick a colour of paint for yourself and each of your kids, cover your hand in it, and gently take turns pressing them onto the paper - side by side.

You can then carefully write each of your names underneath the prints, allow everything to dry, and frame it.

Painted Mugs

Everyone loves a cup of tea or coffee, so why not let your kids go wild decorating some mugs?

If you can't find any plain white mugs in the supermarket, you can order a set of six mini ones online! Your kids will have so much fun painting their own designs and patterns onto them, and once they're done they'll really make for a great gift.

Tasty Treats

Sometimes the best homemade gifts are ones that go straight into your tummy.

There are so many different ideas for treats to make, so think carefully about what your family and friends love the most - whether that be cookies, cupcakes, pastries, or something else. You can take a look at our recommended step by step baking recipes here for some inspo!

Decorated Photo Frames

Your family may not have seen your faces in a while, so what could be better than a personalised photo frame with a picture of your little ones inside?

Don't have any photo frames to spare? Not to worry - there are plenty that you can order online from Amazon or eBay for very low prices. You and the kids can then decorate your frames with whatever you like. If you're stuck for ideas, why not try painting, glitter, seashells, pom-poms, beads, or even dried pasta?

Felt Flowers

A bouquet of flowers that will never die? This homemade gift is so easy to make and kids will have so much fun doing it.

To do this you'll need some coloured felt sheets, some mini pom-poms, and some wooden skewers. Begin by sketching out several different flower shapes on the felt and cutting these out.

Glue a pom-pom onto the middle of each one, and then gently pierce the felt from the bottom with a skewer stick - you'll need a blob of glue on the tip of the stick to hold these in place. Allow these to dry - and you've got a beautiful set of flowers.

Personalised Bead Necklaces

Easy to do and a great gift to give, kids can make these beaded necklaces for all of their friends and family members.

Much like the bracelets that we suggested earlier on in this list, you'll need some thick string and beads - but this time why not include some lettered beads? The kids will have so much fun spelling out friends and family members names - and it'll make for such a special gift.

Watercolour Painting

Simple, special and easy for even the littlest of kids to do - these homemade paintings will put a smile on anyone's faces and make for a great gift.

All you'll need to do is either sketch out or print off a template for your little ones to paint (we'd recommend flowers, hearts, stars, or animals) and using a set of watercolour paints - design your very own special piece of art.

You could even get the kids to write their own sweet message at the bottom of the painting before you drop it off as a gift!

Bath Salts

Bath salts not only help to reduce stress, but they also help with your sleep and soften your skin - a great gift for friends and family. They're also pretty simple to make!

All you'll need is some Epsom salt, food colouring (colour of your choice), and essential oil (scent of your choice). Place your Epsom salt into a large mixing bowl, add a drop of food colouring, and give it a good mix.

Do the same with your essential oil - and there you have it! You can divide the mixture into jars - all ready to give as a gift.

Homemade Chocolates

Treat your loved ones to these gourmet homemade chocolate boxes.

This may sound difficult, but it's actually something that kids can make almost entirely alone. All you'll need is a chocolate mould (or an ice cube tray), some melted milk, white, or dark chocolate (or all three!)

and either some nuts, dried fruit, or whatever else you'd like to put inside your chocolates.

Place your fillings inside each of the slots on the mould or tray, and then gently pour melted chocolate on top. Allow these to completely set in the fridge, pop them out of their moulds - and wow at your creation.

(Tip: If you wanted to go one step further, you could even make and decorate your own chocolate boxes just to make the gift that little bit more special!)