101 DIY Gifts for Kids

Want some ideas for homemade, personalized 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! Leave a comment with one of the gifts you have made in the past (or one you hope to make) or feel free to post your gift idea to our facebook wall.

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1. Create a T-Shirt Design kit. Your kids can make wearable art!
2. 52 Reasons I love you – Personalize a deck of cards for your child.
3. Print up a set of silly faces. Add them to craft sticks to bring giggles to your kids faces.
4. Yummy! Make them a Cake-in-a-Jar  – here are some jars to gift the mix in.
5. Whip up a batch of no-cook play dough for a quick gift – these small containers are perfect – whip up a batch and gift.
6. A young tot in your life would love some sweet legging warmers, re-purposed from a sweater.
7. Create an “Outdoor Kitchen” kit so your child can create mud pies to their hearts content!
8. Help Dad keep his coffee hot with a personalized drink cozy.
9. Sew a rag doll for the tot in your life.
10. Do your kids have pretend mini-worlds? Make a set of dollhouse furniture for them to enjoy in their alternate reality.
11. Add some bang to their lives with a set of homemade drums.    Be sure to include a pair of drum sticks.
12. 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”.  
13. Make a set of juggling balls from balloons.   These are great makeshift “hacky-sacks” for an energetic child.
14. Box of assorted cookies (Biscotti always looks fancy!).  These boxes are great to feature cookies.
15. Homemade tree blocks hewn out of the branches from a tree we chopped down.
16. The perfect gift for every boy – a build a fort kit including sheets, bungee cords, clamps, flashlights and more!
17. Looking for something different? Why not make an indoor swing for your kids?
18. Use some scrap wood and create a sword –  help your kiddos “become a pirate“.
19. 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.
20. Homemade soap – add a toy to the soap for a fun kid twist, great stocking stuffer
21. Give your child a homemade necklace or the supplies that they can make a necklace for a friend.
22. Use plastic bottles and colorful duct take to make a marble run to explore gravity.
23. Got a active kiddo? Put a balance board together for them to bounce on.
24. Paper dolls are a blast to create and play with! Add magnets to your paper dolls and a storage tin for extra “fun”
25. Decorate a tote bag using handprints to decorate them – perfect for Grandma (or Mothers Day).
26. This Toddler Clipping Toy was/is one of my tots favorite mom-made gifts.  You can get the buckles online.  
27. Construct your own Jenga game from cutting up sponges. The perk – it’s a great game for quiet-time.
28. Pretend felt food.… and coupons for “cooking classes” led by your child for you to take.
29. Make a light box for a child to explore with. I don’t know how we lived without ours! Love them.
30. Create a set of building discs from recycled cardboard – a simple homemade toy.
31. Gift your young artist some color with a batch or three from our paint recipes (including our scratch-n-sniff paint)
32. Create a coupon book of activities you can do together.
33. Gift Grandpa a one-of-a-kind paperweight, colorful rock art.
34. Create a DIY Goop Kit for the kiddo in your life.
35. Decorate a set of mugs with art work – they are washable!!    
36. Make a set of silly-face tree ornaments or fridge magnets with this easy tutorial using clay.
37. I loved sock monkey‘s when I was a kid! They are on my to-do list this Christmas.
38. Use Velcro, Popsicle sticks and bottle caps to make this building toy.
39. For the musical child in your life, design an instrument from PVC pipes for them to create melody.
40. Transform two coffee cans into stilts with this simple tutorial.
41. Assemble a xylophone from a collection of tin cans. Spray paint them to make them colorful!
42. Assemble a play-doh kit of items to add creative fun in play dough play.
43. For the musical child in your life, design an instrument from PVC pipes for them to create melody.
44. Give a yummy gift, a collection of marshmallow pops. These are great party favors!
45. Every kiddo needs a Mop-Stick Horse! I loved the one I had as a child!
46. Taggies Blanket – these are loved by toddlers and are super simple to make!
47. Assemble a weaving kit for your kids to experience patterns as they work on fine motor skills.
48. Make a collection of bean bags with different colored and textured fabrics – don’t have fabric? Try stuffing balloons with various textures.
49. 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.
50. Transform scraps of wood and branches into a dollhouse furniture set.
51. Design puzzles for them out of Popsicle Sticks.
52. Homemade Crayons. Recycle old crayons to make fun new ones!
53. Your kids can sew this super simple scarf out of fleece.
54. Play Catch with an upcycled toy made from items in your recycle bin.
55. Dress-up clothes – you can never have enough pretend things!
56. Coasters are useful and easy for even young tots to make.   They also look great.
57. A family of Clothespin or peg dolls
58. Homemade Lollipops are tasty and an easy party favor to make for a crowd.
59. Celebrate Christmas with your own nativity set.
60. Your kids will love making a set of colorful blocks for their friends to build with.
61. Make a monster doll (or an outline on a pillowcase) and provide fabric markers for your child to decorate their monster.
62. Create a kit so a child in your life can create their own Bathtub Paint (or give them jars of colorful fun).
63. Movie Kit (DVD or gift certificate for movie rental with popcorn, soda, candy, etc.)
64. Capes – kids love them!
65. Aprons (matching mother daughter ones are always nice). Here is a super simple apron pattern, easy enough for a new-to-sewing child.
66. Sew head bands for a gal in your life with this simple headband tutorial I used in the past..
67. Give them a can of fizzing sidewalk paint.
68. Flower Hair Bow Collection
69. Decorate some cloth napkins for their dinner table.
70. Set of homemade cards
71. Fabric Key Chains
72. 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!
73. Have a tyke obsessed with Dinosaurs? Maybe they would like this felt dinosaur bean bag game (with a volcano – too cool)!
74. For the doll-lover in your life design a bag for their doll – it’s a simple-to-create accessory.
75. Wearable art is always fun! Here is a tutorial on how to paint spin art T-shirts.
76. Create a set of discovery I-Spy Bottles for the tot in your life.
77. 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.
78. Learn to Knit and give a Scarf/Hat set
79. Want a place for all the matchbox cars? Make a felt car mat for them to drive around on!
80. Make a scarf from Fabric with a simple straight-stitch (easy to sew)
81. Sew a Quilt or Blanket for your child.
82. Dehydrated fruit or jerky. Fruit leather is a prized treat over here.
83. Decorate a picture frame for grandma or another relative.
84. Cookie Kit in a jar (or in bags wrapped up in a mixing bowl)
85. Breakfast in a basket – include muffin mix, mugs, coffee, etc.
86. Smores Kit – or you can give them the fixings to bake their own campfire cones.
87. Give Yummy kid-baked Candy (peppermint bark, Peanut brittle, Almond Roca, flavored marshmallows, etc.)
88. A DIY Lego Instruction Book, great for the budding architect in your life.
89. Screen print a T-shirt, tote bag, hat, etc. Don’t want to use paint? Consider embroidery – like this simple heart shirt!
90. Create a set of felt alphabet letters or numbers for the tot in your life – these are really simple to create.
91. Make a handprint keepsake for family members in your life. Great as Christmas Ornaments!
92. Assemble a recipe book for your budding chef. Fill it with lots of simple, kid-friendly recipes (like our edible playdough/noodles recipe)
93. Scrapbook of your family for a distant relative (snapfish lets you make them digitally)
94. 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!!
95. Give the gift of botany. Create a kit for planting herbs (seeds, dirt, pot & spade) or making a terrarium (moss, container, rocks & dirt).
96. 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.
97. 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!
98. Melt a nightlight out of “melty” beads.
99. Coloring wallet for the sketcher or child in your life!
100. Create a bracelet for them from tiny toy pieces, or give a set of friendship bracelets. My girls love to accessorize!
101. Take some pictures and create familiar puzzles from them!
102. Make a doll house out of cardboard boxes destined for the bin! Maybe include interesting pages of paper so they can “redecorate”
103. Snickerdoodle Chex Mix – a great recipe for your child to do, and gift to a neighbor!!
104. 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.
105. Edible Lip Balm – cause with kids you can never have enough chapstick!
106. Help your child keep their pretend dishes picked up with this DIY Pretend Stove/Storage Bin.
107. Give a set of upcycled pencils to your budding student.
108. Make a candle votive holder out of a glass jar and tissue paper – brilliant glow.
109. Feeling industrious? Create a Lego Table that your children will enjoy for years (and years!)
110. Bake your own Dog biscuits for the dog-loving kiddo in your life!
111. Create a work of art with your children’s silhouettes. Love the way this example mixes melted crayon art with paper cut outs.
112. Create a rug out of old clothes and blankets. Here is another variation.
113. Homemade icecream ball with ingredients – what child doesn’t enjoy ice-cream?!?
114. Do-your-own facial kit – perfect for the prima dona gal.
115. Photo Book Mark (maybe add a favorite book to go along with it).
116. Personalize a clipboard with mod-podge and scrapbook paper. Here are some great instructions.
117. Decorate a picture frame and include a photo. Crafty Chic, has great instructions on how to make a scrapbook styled frame.
118. Let your kids go Jackson Pollock and make a canvas painting, use Fabric Markers to decorate a totebag.
119. 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?

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P.S.   Our list originally had only 101 gift ideas… BUT you’ve sent us more ideas and we updated it to reflect your new gift ideas!   Thanks.   Leave comments with your homemade gift and we’ll try to include it as well.