Christmas Presents - It's a kids world

They say Christmas is about the kids. And I have to say that buying gifts for them can be tremendous fun. But at the same time with the stress of the holiday period, it can be very tricky. It's hard to keep up with fads, what's in, what's not.


My First Christmas

For babies, Beatrix Potter teething rings, Baby Einstein DVDs (educational DVDs set to classical music that will keep them amused), Rockabye Baby CDs (versions of U2 and other pop artists - samples and downloads are available on amazon at Rockabye-Baby-Lullaby-Renditions-U2 from £9.99/ $13.99) are excellent.If you have the time, make a photo book and add captions. You can make it bed time reading by creating a narrative around your favourite shots. Blurb are know for their quality (Blurb photobooks from £8.95) but there are cheaper sites around. Be aware that they can take time for them to process so you may have to forget about online which is much cheaper and go into a photo store if you want to get it done for Christmas. You can  GAP do a range of clothing and on sale are very affordable. Disney have a range of soft toys and the traditional characters will always be favourites.

Kid's Fun
As a child, the gifts that I remember are the board games because we had so much fun playing them with friends, siblings and cousins. You could also get them started on hobbies like cooking, stamp collecting, art and sewing kits, which will keep them busy for hours.

Young kids love stickers and stationary. Pop-corn, cookies and biscuits which you can make together are also a great way of spending Christmas together. If you are a parent, it's also important to share your interests with them. If you enjoy reading, buy them books. What did you enjoy as a kid? Sharing your memories with them and bonding over your gift can be important developmentally for them. So if you enjoyed playing with a doll's house, then think about whether they might like it too. If you like cooking, then you could buy them a pretty scrap book and get them to start their own collection of recipes.

Something fun you could do with them are concerts - their favourite artists, or if they are a fan of the television show Glee, they are touring in 2011.Black Eyed Peas are big at the moment and will probably touring again since they've just released a new album. Check out these pics from their concert in London 2010.

Wanna be Adults
For teenagers or near teenagers, respect them as wanna be adults. It really gives them a thrill. Watches, jewelry, magazine subscriptions are all very grown up. There are of course all the latest gadgets - netbooks, computer games, phones etc, but remember, once you go down this path, it is a downward spiral of escalating costs!

The Gift of Giving
Don't forget about those less fortunate. Last year I set myself a budget of £50 and went shopping for a charity which collects gifts for East London kids. Think about doing something like this with friends or your kids. Remember that there are a lot of people who won't have a merry Christmas and your gift might be the only thing they'll get on the 25th.

Happy shopping xoxo