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101 DIY Gifts for Kids

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Our list of DIY gifts for kids originally had only 101 gift ideas… BUT you’ve sent us more ideas and we updated it to reflect your new gift ideas! 

Want some ideas for homemade, personalized, DIY gifts? Something from this list should inspire or help you!

Have any ideas that were not listed? Lets see if we can come up with more! 

Oh so many! 101 DIY Gift Ideas for Kids - Kids Activities Blog

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Homemade Gift Ideas

All of these gifts are thoughtful, cute, and a lot of fun. I’m sure who ever receives them will absolutely love them all!

Plus some of these are awesome gifts kids can make for others as well. While receiving gifts is great and makes you feel good, sometimes giving them is equally important if not more important.

tshirt decorating kit

T-Shirt Stencil Kit

 

Create a T-Shirt Design kit. Your kids can make wearable art!

52 Reasons I love You

52 Reasons I love you – Personalize a deck of cards for your child by writing the reasons you love them on each one of them!

Silly Faces

Print up a set of silly faces. Add them to craft sticks to bring giggles to your kids faces.

Cake In A Jar

Yummy! Make them a Cake-in-a-Jar  – here are some jars to gift the mix in.

DIY Leg Warmers

A young tot in your life would love some sweet legging warmers, re-purposed from a sweater.

homemade playdough

Homemade Playdough

Whip up a batch of no-cook play dough for a quick gift – these small containers are perfect – whip up a batch and gift.

Outdoor Kitchen

Create an “Outdoor Kitchen”  so your child can create mud pies to their hearts content!

Personalized Cozy

This one of our DIT gift ideas for kids to make! Help Dad keep his coffee hot with a personalized drink cozy.

Rag Doll

Sew a rag doll for the tot in your life. Make them new clothes, look silly, or make them look like your little one.

DIY Dollhouse Furniture

Do your kids have pretend mini-worlds? Make a set of dollhouse furniture for them to enjoy in their alternate reality.

DIY juggling balls

DIY Juggle Balls

Make a set of juggling balls from balloons. These are great makeshift “hacky-sacks” for an energetic child.

Pretend Kitchen Stove

Inspire your little cook with a storage tub that transforms into a play kitchen stove. Use black and grey acrylic paint to create the stove “rings”.  

Homemade Drums

Add some bang to their lives with a set of homemade drums. Be sure to include a pair of drum sticks.

Box Of Cookies

Box of assorted cookies (Biscotti always looks fancy!). These boxes are great to feature cookies.

Building With Nature

Homemade tree blocks hewn out of the branches from a tree we chopped down.

make a tent

Make A Tent

Make a tent from PVC pipe and old sheets.  If you don’t want to cut all the piping, consider getting a Fort Magic kit.

Fort Kit

The perfect gift for every boy – a build a fort kit including sheets, bungee cords, clamps, flashlights and more!

Indoor Swing

Looking for something different? Why not make an indoor swing for your kids?

Pirate Sword

Use some scrap wood and create a sword – help your kiddos “become a pirate“.

Toy Soap

Homemade soap – add a toy to the soap for a fun kid twist, great stocking stuffer

toy soap

Homemade Necklace

Give your child a homemade necklace or the supplies that they can make a necklace for a friend.

Marble Run

Use plastic bottles and colorful duct take to make a marble run to explore gravity.

Balance Board

Got a active kiddo? Put a balance board together for them to bounce on.

Magnet Paper Dolls

Paper dolls are a blast to create and play with! Add magnets to your paper dolls and a storage tin for extra “fun”

Decorative Tote Bag

Decorate a tote bag using handprints to decorate them – perfect for Grandma (or Mothers Day).

homemade toy

Toddler Clipping Toy

This Toddler Clipping Toy was/is one of my tots favorite mom-made gifts.  You can get the buckles online.  

Sponge Jenga

Construct your own Jenga game from cutting up sponges. The perk – it’s a great game for quiet-time.

Pretend Food

Pretend felt food.… and coupons for “cooking classes” led by your child for you to take.

Light Sensory Bin

Make a light box for a child to explore with. I don’t know how we lived without ours! Love them.

Building Discs

Create a set of building discs from recycled cardboard – a simple homemade toy.

Homemade Paint

Gift your young artist some color with a batch or three from our paint recipes (including our scratch-n-sniff paint)

homemade paint

Free Printable Coupon Book

Create a coupon book of activities you can do together for the holidays. It’s perfect!

DIY Paperweight

This is another homemade gift idea kids can do for others. Gift Grandpa a one-of-a-kind paperweight, colorful rock art.

Silly Putty Recipe

Create a DIY Goop Kit for the kiddo in your life.

Decorated Mugs

Decorate a set of mugs with art work – they are washable!!

Christmas Ornaments

Make a set of Christmas tree ornaments or fridge magnets with this easy tutorial using clay.

homemade christmas ornaments

DIY Sock Monkey

I loved sock monkey‘s when I was a kid! They are on my to-do list this Christmas.

Velcro Building Sticks

Use Velcro, Popsicle sticks and bottle caps to make this building toy.

DIY Instruments

For the musical child in your life, design an instrument from PVC pipes for them to create melody.

Coffee Can Stilts

Transform two coffee cans into stilts with this simple tutorial.

Tin Can Xylophone

Assemble a xylophone from a collection of tin cans. Spray paint them to make them colorful!

playdoh kit

Play-Doh Kit

Assemble a play-doh kit of items to add creative fun in play dough play.

Marshmallow Pops

Give a yummy gift, a collection of marshmallow pops. These are great party favors!

Mop Stick Horse

Every kiddo needs a Mop-Stick Horse! I loved the one I had as a child!

Taggies Blanket

Taggies Blanket – these are loved by toddlers and are super simple to make!

Weaving Kit

Assemble a weaving kit for your kids to experience patterns as they work on fine motor skills.

Homemade Bean Bags

Make a collection of bean bags with different colored and textured fabrics – don’t have fabric? Try stuffing balloons with various textures.

popsicle puzzle

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Design puzzles for them out of Popsicle Sticks. Make them easy, make them hard, and use any colors or images!

Geoboard

Geoboard – simple to make with nails. Add a pack of rubber bands or some yarn. Want to make one appropriate for a toddler? Use buttons on a felt covered board.

DIY Crayons

Homemade Crayons. Recycle old crayons to make fun new ones!

DIY Scarf

Your kids can sew this super simple scarf out of fleece.

Ball And Cup Game

Play Catch with an upcycled toy made from items in your recycle bin.

Dress Up

Dress-up clothes – you can never have enough pretend things!

christmas craft

Christmas Craft For Kids

Coasters are useful and easy for even young tots to make. They also look great.

Personalized Peg Dolls

A family of Clothespin or peg dolls to inspire pretend play!

Homemade Lollipops

Homemade Lollipops are tasty and an easy party favor to make for a crowd.

Christmas Nativity Play

Celebrate Christmas with your own nativity set.

DIY Wooden Blocks

Your kids will love making a set of colorful blocks for their friends to build with.

diy colorful wooden blocks

Monster Dolls

Make a monster doll (or an outline on a pillowcase) and provide fabric markers for your child to decorate their monster.

DIY Bathtub Paints

Create a kit so a child in your life can create their own Bathtub Paint (or give them jars of colorful fun).

Family Movie Kit

Movie Kit (DVD or gift certificate for movie rental with popcorn, soda, candy, etc.)

Capes

Capes – kids love them! And let’s be honest, so do you. I mean who doesn’t! Plus it inspires pretend play too!

Homemade Apron

Aprons (matching mother daughter ones are always nice). Here is a super simple apron pattern, easy enough for a new-to-sewing child.

Headband

Sew head bands for a gal in your life with this simple headband tutorial I used in the past..

fizzy sidewalk paint

Fizzy Sidewalk Paint

Give them a can of fizzing sidewalk paint.

Flower Hair Bows

These Flower Hair Bows  are perfect as a gift for anyone who loves to wear bows in their hair.

DIY Cloth Napkins

Decorate some cloth napkins for their dinner table.

DIY Christmas Cards

This Set of homemade cards is perfect to hand out during the holidays.

Fabric Keychains

These Fabric Key Chains are so much fun to make and make awesome gifts.

I-Spy Bottles

I-Spy Bottles

Create a set of discovery I-Spy Bottles for the tot in your life.

Animal Barrettes

Have a gal?? Why not make her a set of hair clips? You can make them out of buttons, felt animals shapes, flowers and more!

Dinosaur Bean Bag Game

Have a tyke obsessed with Dinosaurs? Maybe they would like this felt dinosaur bean bag game (with a volcano – too cool)!

Doll Bag

For the doll-lover in your life design a bag for their doll – it’s a simple-to-create accessory.

Spin Art T-Shirt

Wearable art is always fun! Here is a tutorial on how to paint spin art T-shirts.

fruit leather

Fruit Leather

Dehydrated fruit or jerky. Fruit leather is a prized treat over here.

Felt Tote Bag

Decorate Tote Bags for a special someone in your life – here is an easy pattern if you want to make a tote bag out of felt.

Knitted Hat

Learn to Knit and give a Scarf/Hat set for your child this winter!

Felt Car Mat

Want a place for all the matchbox cars? Make a felt car mat for them to drive around on!

Kids Quilt

Sew a Quilt or Blanket for your child. use their favorite colors or them it around their favorite characters.

back to school

Picture Frame

Decorate a picture frame for grandma or another relative so they can remember your first day of school since they couldn’t be there.

Rice Bags

Rice bags are great as bean bags, as heat packs (just stick them in the microwave for half a min or so) and are fun for sensory play. Here are some triangle “Chick” rice bags – super simple!!

Cookie Kit

Cookie Kit in a jar (or in bags wrapped up in a mixing bowl)

Smores Bars

Make a smore’s kit or you can give them the fixings to bake their own campfire cones. Or if they’re too little you can make these smores bars for them.

Lego Puzzle Book

A DIY Lego Instruction Book, great for the budding architect in your life.

diy lego

Screen Print T-shirt

Screen print a T-shirt, tote bag, hat, etc. Don’t want to use paint? Consider embroidery – like this simple heart shirt!

Felt ABC’s

Create a set of felt alphabet letters or numbers for the tot in your life – these are really simple to create.

Keepsake Handprint

Make a handprint keepsake for family members in your life. Great as Christmas Ornaments!

Kid’s Cookbook

Assemble a recipe book for your budding chef. Fill it with lots of simple, kid-friendly recipes (like our edible playdough/noodles recipe)

Family Scrapbook

Scrapbook of your family for a distant relative (snapfish lets you make them digitally)

peppermint bark

Peppermint Bark

Give Yummy kid-baked Candy (peppermint bark, Peanut brittle, Almond Roca, flavored marshmallows, etc.)

Botany Kit

Give the gift of botany. Create a kit for planting herbs (seeds, dirt, pot & spade) or making a terrarium (moss, container, rocks & dirt).

Kid’s Journal

Design a mini-book of memories that you share with that person – Here is an example of a journal you can create with or for your child.

Drawing Journal

Create a drawing journal for a child to use to write their own book. Add a flower pen for extra pizazz. This crafty person creates covers from cereal boxes and even the carton of a Dora toy!

Melty Bead Nightlight

Melt a nightlight out of “melty” beads. This is a great melty beads craft that will benefit your little one the most!

melty bead gifts

Rainbow Fluff

Rainbow fluff is a fun craft for the child in your life!

DIY Picture Frame

Decorate a picture frame and include a photo. Crafty Chic, has great instructions on how to make a scrapbook styled frame.

Homemade Puzzle

Take some pictures and create familiar puzzles from them!

Cardboard Doll House

Make a doll house out of cardboard boxes destined for the bin! Maybe include interesting pages of paper so they can “redecorate”

Snickerdoodle Chex Mix Gift

Snickerdoodle Chex Mix – a great recipe for your child to do, and gift to a neighbor!!

diy stove

DIY Stove

Help your child keep their pretend dishes picked up with this DIY Pretend Stove/Storage Bin.

Paper Mache Pinata

This is the perfect party gift! Model a homemade Paper Mache Pinata (here is a simple paper mache recipe), include a Styrofoam bat to complete the gift.

Edible Lip Balm

Edible Lip Balm – cause with kids you can never have enough chapstick!

Personalized Pencils

Give a set of upcycled pencils to your budding student.

Kid Made Candle Holder

Make a candle votive holder out of a glass jar and tissue paper – brilliant glow.

diy lego table

DIY LEGO Table

Feeling industrious? Create a Lego Table that your children will enjoy for years (and years!)

Homemade Dog Biscuits

Bake your own Dog biscuits for the dog-loving kiddo in your life!

Homemade Christmas Gifts

Create a work of art with your children’s silhouettes. Love the way this example mixes melted crayon art with paper cut outs.

Braided Rug

Create a rug out of old clothes and blankets. Here is another variation

Facial Kit

Do-your-own facial kit – perfect for the prima dona gal.

polly pocket bracelet

Polly Pocket Bracelet

Create a bracelet for them from tiny toy pieces, or give a set of friendship bracelets. My girls love to accessorize!

Photo Bookmark

Photo Book Mark (maybe add a favorite book to go along with it).

Beach Tote Bag

Let your kids go Jackson Pollock and make a canvas painting, use Fabric Markers to decorate a totebag.

Personalized Children’s Book

Personalize a Children’s book, use old family photos and replace the heads of the characters. Laminate and enjoy!

Have some other homemade gifts that you’d like to share with the world?

Have gift lists or suggestions for the hardest to buy for? Tell us about them!

Leave a comment with one of the gifts you have made in the past (or one you hope to make).

About Rachel

Rachel is the founder of the blog, One Crazy House.  She is the co-author of 101 Kids Activities that are the Bestest, Funnest Ever! and The 101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments.  She lives in Fort Worth, Texas with her husband and six children.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  7. spagiftbaskets

    Thanks for sharing . This is a great list. I am a sucker for handmade or homemade gifts. This year we homemade all our gifts. Some of the items that we have made are bath frizz, bath salts, soaps and some cookies.I like the Vanilla Extract and Biscotti. These gifts usually looks pretty after you have packed them with ribbons and nice holiday tags.:)

  8. The Prudent Homemaker

    Cute finger puppets! But your link takes me to homemade pesto. I would love to know when you’ve fixed the link so that I can see instructions for the puppets.

    I’m adding my two links for homemade gifts to your list.

  12. Flora

    Thanks for so many ideas! As we have just purchased a house, I will be handcrafing gifts for a while so this will really help.

  14. HP

    Thanks for the incredible list. I will be passing this along to my family and friends. I prefer handcrafted over purchased gifts anytime, even when difficult economic times are not an issue. The time and love invested are priceless.

  16. Pumps Heels

    You came up with so many cool ideas, i ts denifitely try some of them, Most of the time i have nothing to do, after reading this article, i can keep anyone busy herself specailly house wife to themselfs, we can use these ideas for business too.

  22. erin

    so cute but the pin on pinterest is leading everyone to believe that these are gifts kids make for others to give as gifts for cmas. the pic wording is a little confusing!

  23. Erin

    Thanks for this post! Great ideas.
    FYI: The link for the scrapbook covered clip board is faulty… it took me to an inappropriate site.

  24. CJ

    Please don’t change the typo on #16: “Transform two coffee cans into stills with this simple tutorial.” I was giggling, imagining kiddos with a tiny moonshine operation! 😀

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    Nobody has ever solved this problem.I have no choice.He is physically mature.The doctor examined the soldier’s wound carefully.The sun comes up in the east.How long have you been here?How long have you been here?I fear that he drinks too much.What time is it? I learnt that I had passed the test.

  26. Lindsay

    Great ideas, but I think the title is misleading. I came here through Pinterest, and “Kid-made” led me to believe these are gifts that kids could make. Alas, the majority would have to be made BY an adult though they are FOR kids.

  27. Elizabeth M.

    Some great ideas on this list.

    A thought though: let’s try not to limit our kiddos into gendered silos. Girls love forts just as much as boys (#7) and boys can enjoy friendship bracelets and facials just as much as the girls you mentioned (#21 and #96). Let’s let kids be kids who are free to explore the whole world – instead of just the gendered half we adults allow them to.

  30. Lisa

    “kid-made” gifts made me think these were gifts a child could make for someone else, not those to make for a kid. I feel like there could have been better word choices made for this.
    Plus, there is a total lack of gift ideas for this purpose in the blog-o-sphere.

  31. Melissa

    ***#98 Personalize a clipboard with mod-podge and scrapbook paper. Here are some great instructions.***

    The link for here… is definitely not the right link for this! Just a friendly tip… thankfully the kids weren’t in the room!

  32. Shanti

    Thank You Elizabeth!! I am with you on this one! I can’t believe you seem to have been the only one to notice that…how sad that in this new millennium, we are still boxing those free spirits into preconceived notions of what they should or shouldn’t enjoy or be competent with, based entirely on gender. Sadly, this list lis far from alone in practising this habit, which is a shame. Thank you for speaking out, I’m always thinking it and just adjusting the “labels” internally as i read, but how will change ever be effected if we all keep silent? So thank you for being that much needed voice 🙂

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  41. Loni Krieg

    This list is AWESOME! 🙂 Not only can you make these things as gifts for your kids, but the kids would also have fun making this stuff too! Always looking for rainy day activities! Thanks! 🙂

  45. Sandy@ Personalised Gifts for Kids

    I totally love them all! Those you listed are practical and yet effective gift ideas for kids. It will mold them to become artistic yet very appreciative kind. One thing I can say is all of them are so perfect and kids will definitely enjoy doing with you. Of course, there is perfect activities for every occasion.

  47. home made dog treats

    Hey there, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues.
    When I look at your website in Chrome, it looks fine but
    when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
    I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, great blog!

  49. Alecia

    What about rock candy? It’s also a good way to teach about evaporation and crystal formation.

  53. Beth Bishop

    I’ve got two little boys and there are a bunch of things on this list I hadn’t seen (or had forgotten about – like the adorable boxer briefs; I came across them at a time when I thought he’d NEVER be out of diapers, but hooray, that day has arrived!).

  54. Seema Mehta

    Great post by Rachel, it is really amazing that she found lots of DIY techniques and ideas for kids gifting. I will definitely use some of them ideas and I am sure that kids will really find them interesting. Even people who have kid’s stores can also follow these ideas to design some unique gifts.

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