A Few Thoughts for Christmas Gifts

by Karen
(Victoria, BC)

Here is a suggestion to grandparents with a lot of grandkids around - the cookbooks that I used to make with my primary students, where they dictate recipes like "How to Make Cereal" (Step 1 - Get a chair. Step 2 - Get the cereal out of the cupboard. etc.), were always a big hit.

Grandparents can quote word-for-word recipes from younger children, and with older kids (8+), copy out their favourite recipe or dig through recipe books together to find good holiday treats. G.P.'s can also include some of their own favourite holiday memories or traditions, and then a quick trip to Staples for mass-photocopying and binding, and voila! there's a homemade present the grandkids can give to their parents.

For more personal touches, give the kids two sheets of cardstock paper to decorate the front and back pages of the recipe book. Any grandparent who is computer literate enough to find this site probably has some basic keyboarding skills and can type up the recipes. With little kids, I stick a border around the recipe and let them decorate the border with bold markers before photocopying.

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Wait - one more thing GP's can do with GK's around the holidays - homemade tree ornaments made of equal parts apple sauce, flour, and cinnamon. The cinnamon part gets a little pricey but the ornaments smell AMAZING, and the dough can be rolled and re-rolled over and over again (like playdough with a purpose).

Do favourite cut-outs and remember to stick a straw through the top to put ribbon or yarn through later. These just need to air dry for a day or two, or can go into an oven at a very low temperature for a few hours... Fun stuff to do with little kids!