Christmas Presents for Daycare Children

[momma2girls]

HI!
I have been doing daycare for over 6 yrs. now, and I was wondering if everyone purchased presents for daycare children?
I have every yr. that I have done daycare.
I usually spend about $10-$15.00 for each one.
SOme parents I don't even receive a thank you or nothing. Those parents, I didn't receive even a card from(which really urked me)
THen some parents will buy $1.00 candle(it's well worth the thought at least)
THen some purchase gifts and gift cards for me(what a great idea)
Just wondering if you's buy gifts, how much, and what do you receive back?
I know even a little card, to let you know you are appreciated would be great!!

[Unregistered]

Buy some neat toys they can play with at your daycare.
I'm getting a play tent with tunnels. A bit of an investment, but I know they will enjoy it, and it won't get left in the car, or tossed underneath a bed, or torn up due to lack of supervision.
If you feel bad not sending them home with something, buy some books from a scholastic book order and send those home, but save the rest of your money for something they will use all the time. At your house. That's probably where they spend a majority of their waking hours anyway.

[melissa ann]

Last year, I gave everyone a 3 pack of playdough, the girls got a doll and the boys got tractors.
The one family, I recieved nothing. At the time, they were the worse family to deal with.
The other family gave 2 books to each of the kids in the care, and I got a tin can of chocolate covered pretzels. Yumm! It even came from Hershey (we live about 30 mins away from Hershey) so it was the best choc covered preztels ever.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do this year.

[momofsix]

I always get something for the kids, about $15.00 worth. Some families more appreciative than others, as always.
I usually get something from each of them, but it can vary from a $50 dollar gift card to a box of candy. Whatever it is, I appreciate the thought, and some take the time to write out really nice cards--very thoughtful.
I was thinking about doing the same thing for them all this year--maybe each a book or something, but then, that takes some of the fun out of it too. Not sure yet!

[seashell]

I give each child a book and matching stuffed animal from Kohls. It cost's 10 for the set and they are very nice! A portion of the sale also benefits local children's charities so that makes it even better.

/some parents give nice gifts, others that crapy candy in a coffee cup that they sell at the dollar store. I don't expect gifts. It's nice to feel appreciated, but it's not part of the job description.

[mac60]

I have always given my group a Christmas present, usually $10 to $12 per child. Last year it was nice pajamas from JC Penneys for about $10 each during one of their sales. I have a dilema this year. My husband lost his job 6 weeks ago, and his inicome is now cut in half due to our state having such crappy unemployment, I don't know if we can make it on my income and his unemployment, let alone buy for Christmas gifts this year. I am really upset over this and not sure what to do. I told my own familiy and friends, Christmas is very slim this year, I am not sure what to do with my dc families.

[cafemocha]

Christmas presents go to WWW.STAR-BRITE.COM

For my daycare children I purchased hand puppets@ $3.00 each from Star-Brite Learning Program www.star-brite.com

They also have animal visors @ $2.00 each, Story Books with PC games @ $5.00 each.

I am on a tight budget..... the puppet are plush and cute.... great value for my money.

[tymaboy]

I always buy the kids Christmas & BDay gifts. I dont care if I get a gift back, although I like it when I do cuz it shows me that they appreciate me. Last year my one family gave me a card w/a gift card plus she made fudge. At that time she did not know that fudge is my downfall (LOVE IT) so for me its the simple things that make me happy.

At Easter the same family gave me a gift card - totaly did not expect that. My other families also gave me a card with chocolate & a plant for my BDay.

[momofsix]

I have always given my group a Christmas present, usually $10 to $12 per child. Last year it was nice pajamas from JC Penneys for about $10 each during one of their sales. I have a dilema this year. My husband lost his job 6 weeks ago, and his inicome is now cut in half due to our state having such crappy unemployment, I don't know if we can make it on my income and his unemployment, let alone buy for Christmas gifts this year. I am really upset over this and not sure what to do. I told my own familiy and friends, Christmas is very slim this year, I am not sure what to do with my dc families.

I would not stress about Christmas with daycare kids. Either get them something small like a hot wheel or something, or just skip the gifts all together. It's stressful enough when times are tight at the Holidays, and your dc families should not be expecting anything from you at all (except maybe to give YOU a raise!)

[tinytotzdaycare]

goodie Bags

Each year I spend about $15 per child on a book and a gift.

This year we decided to do goody gift bags. I got the bags last year after christmas as well as some holiday novelty items on clearance as well..santa straws, erasers, mini notebooks...you get the point. SUPER CHEAP AFTER CHRISTMAS!!

I will also be incuding a My little Pony& Barbie for the girls this year and a dirtbike w/rider & Hot Wheel Car for the boys. (all my kiddos are 2-5) I also got these clearanced out after Christmas last year for $1 My little Pony and $2 per dirtbike!

Total they will be getting $30each worth of toys BUT I only paid $15each!!!

I also give each of my "families" a nice holiday card with a coupon for $20 off their childcare!! On each coupon I specify the date to be used so that not everyone uses them at the same time..they dont know this but its my little trick!! LOL!

We have a big holiday party Dec 23rd. Each child brings a treat to share and I make some goodies too! We all open our gifts and some parents choose to bring gifts for all the kiddos and some do not..their choice.

AS for MY GIFTS::::

I always got asked what I want this year??? About 4 years ago I started the gift tree, I put out a 3ft tree with paper mittens made by the kiddos..each one has something that we can use for the daycare on it...EVERY parent takes as least one mitten and on the day of the party they bring in the wrapped gift for the daycare..the kiddos open them!!
What items do I put on them??
**crayons, construction paper, glue sticks, toilet paper, paper towels, markers, outdoor sand toys (we use them in the winter with snow too), then I usually put a few toy items under $5 that may have gotten broken or are wornout. Just pick random items that you need or will use.


I do have a few parents that will grab from the tree and still begin "ME & HUBBY" a giftcard!!

I always personally give thank you cards to everyone for treats they bring to share, gifts, and such. This way they know I appreciate it too!


I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!!!!!!

[GretasLittleFriends]

These are some great ideas!! This is my first Christmas having daycare children. I've been kicking around doing something. I did little Halloween grab bags for each of them. We live out in a rural area. I gave them the bag the last day they were here before Halloween, that way we could go out trick-or-treating with our children and not worry about them stopping by and missing out.

I would like to do a little something for each of my daycare kids. I really like the idea of the book/animal from Kohls, as they'd likely get the most use, however, that does add up fast. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. We might do book/animal from dollar stores instead.

[[email protected]]

please dont stress

I would make a wonderful crafty card. Let the parents know that because of the situation that you arent able to buy for as many people this year and dont give it another thought. Your husband didnt give a gift to his employer did he? same actual thing, we are just attached to our dc kids. Bake some cookies, make a craft, the kids will never know the difference.

I have always given my group a Christmas present, usually $10 to $12 per child. Last year it was nice pajamas from JC Penneys for about $10 each during one of their sales. I have a dilema this year. My husband lost his job 6 weeks ago, and his inicome is now cut in half due to our state having such crappy unemployment, I don't know if we can make it on my income and his unemployment, let alone buy for Christmas gifts this year. I am really upset over this and not sure what to do. I told my own familiy and friends, Christmas is very slim this year, I am not sure what to do with my dc families.

[jen]

I always get something for the daycare kids...usually between $15 and $20 per child.

My daycare-parents are all (well, all but one family) very, very generous to our family every year.

[kitkat]

I have always given my group a Christmas present, usually $10 to $12 per child. Last year it was nice pajamas from JC Penneys for about $10 each during one of their sales. I have a dilema this year. My husband lost his job 6 weeks ago, and his inicome is now cut in half due to our state having such crappy unemployment, I don't know if we can make it on my income and his unemployment, let alone buy for Christmas gifts this year. I am really upset over this and not sure what to do. I told my own familiy and friends, Christmas is very slim this year, I am not sure what to do with my dc families.

I usually do about $10/child also. The pj idea is great...can't have enough pjs! The kids ALWAYS love McDonald's gift cards. I know it's not the healthiest, but it is Christmas. My son loves to bake brownies, so we actually asked for brownie mix for Christmas and bday if people asked for ideas. If you know what type of cookie your kids would like, I'd just bake them some and that's their gift. Most kids, not all, get so much stuff at Christmas. Sometimes I think they appreciate the treats more.

[AmandasFCC]

That was my thought, kitkat. I'm going to do gingerbread men for them that they can decorate themselves, and probably just a bag of treats.