Every year, we set a budget and we work with that budget for our children. I set aside money every paycheck throughout the year and start buying when July comes around. This year we had to do it a bit differently because of our move. Our things were going to be shipped in August, and of course it can take months before we receive it at our new destination. So we decided against starting to buy in July to avoid from us missing the items by Christmas time. I don’t foresee us not having our items by then, but I didn’t want to chance it either.
I thought since I’m not buying, I would start working on a solid list for each of the girls. I add and edit the list as the year goes on, and I also share the list with family as a guide to their buying. If they buy from it, they let me know and I mark it as purchased.
I love to see what other people buy for their children or what their ideas are, so I though I would share our children’s lists as well. This one is going to be for our 5 year old. She is a girl, and she loves the arts. That’s probably what we will focus on this year.
Each year, they do get clothes, shoes, and books as well. But this is just a small list of the “extras” that we may get for her or that she has requested on her own.
- An art easel. Arianna has been asking for an easel for about a year now. I kept putting it off because I felt it needed a lot of attention when she played with it, and I couldn’t always supply that. I also wanted to make sure she was better with cleanup and had a better understanding of why we don’t color or paint on anything other than paper. (She has had her fair share of wall and furniture coloring.) I feel she is finally to the point where she can take care of it, but it will also teach her responsibility. I wanted an easel that could hold her chalk, colors, and paint, but was also simple. Wooden was preferred. Here is the one I have found that fits all of this.
2. To go with her easel, I figured I would add her on some supplies for it. The baskets underneath would be a great help to keep her items organized and away from the others that are too young to play unsupervised. I found this set from Melissa and Doug that includes the things I believe she will most use. The set includes 4 bottles of paint, 4 cups for the paint that also are spill-proof, 4 paint brushes, a paper roll, chalk, a chalk eraser, and some dry erase markers. You can find the set here.
3. Arianna is starting to learn to trace and use stencils. She really loves to draw, so I bought her a step-by-step drawing book by Usborne. Unfortunately, she just isn’t there yet with it. She loses her patience too quickly. So after doing some research, I learned about these tracing setups. They are so cute. This one is by Memtes. It inclues the lamp and projection, 8 markers, 6 slide show reels, 1 paintbrush, magnetic letters and numbers, and a painting art book. It says that it is for ages 3+. You can find it here.
4. I found a few new things that are artsy that I never even realized existed. Arianna is really at an awkward stage where she wants so badly to draw, but she still needs some assistance. Or if it doesn’t come out exactly how she imagined, then she gets frustrated with it. I thought (along with the tracing) that this scratch book would be a great addition to her collection. She loves to color and loves to draw, and this looks like it brings both of those into play. The book is a Scratch and Sketch book. There are different themes, but I have saved this mermaid one on her wish list.
5. Last but not least, these Dab and Dot systems seem to be a hit with the young ones. I think this would even be appropriate for Eva (3) at her age and development now. I see them all the time as a popular trending item on Zulily, and they sell so fast. There are a few different brands that do this similar set up – Crayola and Doodle Hog. It’s like markers and stamps in one! I found a cute SuperGirl one that I have saved to her wishlist because we all know she loves Superheroes and Villains!
BONUS ITEM!!
Even though she does love the arts, she also loves to build things. Legos are becoming something she regularly plays with. I also almost always found her playing with gears and the bristle pieces during school playtime. These awesome gears by The Learning Resources is on her wishlist as well!
What’s on your children’s Christmas wish list?
"Inspire Desire" 