Do you want to involve your kids in gift wrapping but are worried you’ll be stuck with something awkward and haphazard? Gift wrapping with kids can have great results if you involve them the right way. The dollar store is full of great materials you can use to create fancy looking gift wrap on a budget. We used craft paper as the base for each gift to keep the spotlight on the child’s work (it’s also recyclable) but each of these would look great with any solid colored wrapping paper.

Gift Wrap Idea 1: Glitter Pom-Poms

Project estimate: (enough for 3 medium sized gifts)

• Roll of craft or solid colored wrapping paper, on hand or $1
• Large glitter pom-poms, $1 and up
• Small glitter pom-poms, $1 and up
• White glue, on hand
• Marker, on hand

Total: $2 and up for three gifts

Adult: Wrap the gift with craft or solid colored wrapping paper. Write recipient’s name on package with marker.

Child: Use white glue to adhere glitter pom-poms all over the front of the package.

Gift Wrap Idea 2: Stars

Project estimate: (enough for 3 medium sized gifts)

• 1 Roll of craft or solid colored wrapping paper, on hand or $1
• Foil star stickers, $1
• Contact paper scraps, on hand
• Marker, On hand

Total: $1 and up for three gifts

Adult: Wrap the gift with craft or solid colored wrapping paper. Cut out a large star from contact paper for name tag and write name using marker

Child: Attach star stickers all over package.

Gift Wrap Idea 3 : Foam Glitter Stickers

Project estimate: (enough for 3 medium sized gifts)

• Roll of craft or solid colored wrapping paper, on hand or $1
• Foam glitter stickers, $1
• Marker, on hand

Total: $1 and up for three gifts

Adult: Wrap the gift with craft or solid colored wrapping paper. Write recipient’s and giver’s name on package with marker.

Child: Adhere foam stickers all over package.

Gift Wrap Idea 4: Chunky Glitter

Project estimate: (enough for 3-5 medium sized gifts)

• Roll of craft or solid colored wrapping paper, on hand or $1
• Coarse glitter, $1 and up
• Double-sided tape, on hand or $1
• Marker, on hand

Total: $1 and up for three to five gifts

Adult: Wrap the gift with craft or solid colored wrapping paper. Write recipient’s name on package with marker.

Child: Apply strips of double-sided tape where you would like your first glitter color to stick (in the example photo, we applied tape in a straight line across the front and down two sides. Have an adult help you sprinkle glitter onto the tape, pressing down to adhere. Shake off excess glitter. Apply another strip of tape to use a second color if desired (we did a line parallel to the first one, across the front and down two sides).

Gift Wrap Idea #5: Child Artwork

Project estimate: (enough for several medium sized gifts)

• Roll of craft or solid colored wrapping paper, on hand or $1
• Construction paper, on hand
• Markers, on hand

Total: Free and up for several gifts

Adult: Cut a piece of craft or solid colored wrapping paper to size appropriate for gift

Child: Use markers to draw on the wrapping paper as well as 1 piece of construction paper per gift.

Adult: Use scissors to cut construction paper into strips. Use stapler to arrange strips to make a bow. (there are many tutorials already on the internet for how to do this. We like this one from How About Orange). Use left over construction paper to make a gift tag.

 

I hope I inspired you to involve your kids in wrapping gifts this year! Do you have other great ideas for how to involve your kids in gift wrapping? Feel free to share them in the comments.