Three Unique and Sentimental Gifts That Children Appreciate

If there’s anything we’ve learned about in 2020, it’s thinking outside the box. When you can’t have your traditional cake and pizza at a bounce house birthday party with friends or the big annual holiday party with your relatives, you often have to think of other ways to make birthdays, milestones, and holidays a little more special, such as unique and sentimental gifts.

Here are some tried and true personalized gifts that children (including mine) have loved and appreciated.

The best part is these gifts is they have proved to still give the same WOW factor as the newest Paw Patrol or LOL doll:

 

#1 – Photo Books

My son has a few photo books that I’ve made him through the years. He loves bringing out the book and looking at old pictures of himself, family, and friends. Pictures include milestones, holidays, vacations, etc. and it brings back so many wonderful memories. As easy as photo books seem, they can be time-consuming and can get very pricey if you add extra pages and features.

I have found Chatbooks and Costco to be my favorites. Chatbooks has trendy covers and themes and you can upload photos directly from your social media accounts. Meanwhile, Costco gets the job done, and best of all – FREE Shipping (if you do in-store pick up).

 

#2 – Personalized Story Books

Both my kids have storybooks that were given to them when they were babies. The books have their names listed as the main character. My kids think it’s the coolest thing and it’s often their favorite book for me to read them. The personalized story books that my kids have are from Nordstroms and their names are even embedded in some of the illustrations.

 

#3 – Videos

I made a short one minute video for my 80-year-old aunt a few months ago and it included birthday greetings from family members with a collage of photos. My son thought it was the best video and he loved rewatching himself. For his birthday this year, several plans were canceled including a cabin trip (which was to be in lieu of a party). So Plan B was a video. I had remembered how much he loved my aunt’s video so I asked family, neighbors, friends, and even his teacher to send me quick birthday wishes.

I made a 1-minute video on using InShot, a video app on my iPhone, and added a few photos and snippets from everyone’s greetings. I showed it to him on his birthday morning and reminded him that although we couldn’t have the big party, he had so many people that loved him and it was evident in the video. He felt some much love and his face had so much joy when we were watching.

As parents, it’s sometimes easy to run to Target or go online and order a big toy or the newest gadget for our kids. But some of the best gifts are priceless and even at young ages like three and five, they truly appreciate these timeless, sentimental gifts that come from our hearts.

They sometimes take a little more time and effort but they are gifts that our children will be able to cherish for years to come.