Making gifts with grandkids: Wooden boxes

Crafting with the grandkids can help them express themselves, experiment with new materials, or learn a skill. It can feed a special interest, or provide that cape or rocket ship they need for imaginary play. And as adult crafters know, a great pleasure of crafting is gifting what you create. For kids, it’s a complicated message to give away something they are proud of, but it’s so worthwhile to cultivate their ability to do it.

The skill of giving 

Partly the giving skill is developmental. About 18 months ago, the then-four-year-old grandkids and I found a quilted heart outside, left as a loving gesture by someone connected with I Found A Quilted Heart. At the time, I wrote, “…one of the reasons I made the hearts with the grandkids was the hope that we could leave them outside, as the anonymous quilters do, maybe with a little tag saying ‘This is for you.’ And the grandkids and I could talk about why. But…kids are, developmentally, kids! And the grandkids flatly refused to release our handmade hearts, instead bringing them home. I figured there was no point in forcing it—the idea of making something and then leaving it, never knowing whether it will bring joy or just end up trampled, is pretty abstract for preschoolers. Especially for preschoolers who love quilted hearts.”

Even now that they are a bit older, I expect the attachment to something they have created would be stronger than their grasp of making a stranger’s day. But they have matured enough to be excited about making gifts for special people. So for Father’s Day, I set the grandkids up to make decorated wooden boxes for their Dads.

Why this gift?  

This project gets bonus points because:

• The end result is actually useful for stashing clutter.

•  It’s inexpensive. The boxes cost about $5 (link below), and the decorating supplies were things we had lying around the house. (Even if you have to buy the decorating supplies, you can keep the cost low.)

•  While the boxes were new, they were not plastic (yay). And we were able to otherwise use recycled or pre-purchased (packrat) materials.

•  It leaves room for choice of decorating styles and preferences, from freestyle to polished (for the latter, see a couple links below). 

•  It’s easy, which lets the child get the satisfaction of planning and executing the project.

•  It’s adaptable to different ages, preschool through adult.

Supplies, essential and optional

• Plain, undecorated wooden boxes with latches.

• Glue gun, glue

• Scissors 

• Decorating supplies—up to you! Possibilities include:

Objects to glue to the box. We happened to have a bag of old costume jewelry that inspired the kids (the boxes became “treasure chests”). Other fun options would be fabric scraps, ribbons, yarn, or buttons.

Decoupage supplies. We tried it, it's fun! We used paper napkins left over from parties of old (hence the Halloween theme on one box and watermelons on another). You'll also need a paint brush and Mod Podge.

Some selection of coloring/drawing/writing materials, such as paints and brushes, markers, crayons, or colored pencils. The latter three are nice because they are easy for the kids to handle. Paint would be wonderful in vividness and potential for a finished look, but takes more care/skill than our grandkids were ready for. Depending on the paint, you might also need some form of varnish or gloss to protect the finish. 

Basic how-to

• Set out the materials.

• Decide what the kids need help with for safety reasons—the glue gun being the main issue post-toddlerhood. 

• Think in advance about how much freedom vs. control the kids will find fulfilling as they give the gift: Does the child want it to be polished looking? Some would, and might need some help! Does the child want it to be their idea and their work as much as possible? Some would, and would prefer your hands off! (Our grandkids vary on this point, some wanting more help than others.)

• Start cutting, gluing, and coloring. And/or follow a more precise video, like those at the links above.  

• Decide with the child how and when the gift should be given. For the boxes, we decided on surprise, so the kids left the boxes at Grandma and Grandpa’s, and we brought them to the Dads at a Father’s Day picnic. 

Our grandkids were clearly proud to give the gifts. And the Dads were happy, too! Lovely in itself, and a little exercise toward harder giving—like a heart for a stranger.