Collecting Christmas Ornaments for Kids

Collecting Christmas ornaments for your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews can be quite an adventure! There a few basic ideas to keep in mind when making your choices.

• Age appropriate
• Memorable event
• Storage

Age Appropriate: Baby's First Christmas ornaments are plentiful and come in a variety materials and price ranges for every budget. Christmas ornaments made nice keepsake gifts to package with "disposable" baby shower gifts which are so popular. New mothers love getting diapers, wipes, lotions, formula - all those necessary items for the little one. Coupling a basket of "disposables" with a specially selected keepsake Christmas ornament makes that baby gift even more special.

Keep in mind that Christmas ornaments are not toys, even though many are designed after toys and resemble toys. Materials are a consideration also. Obviously glass is breakable, so in the early years you may want to gift some ornaments made of resin, plastic, Claydough, wood, felt and fabrics. When choosing glass ornaments, stay with reputable companies that make it well known that their paints and glitters are lead free. Inge-Glas of Germany and Merck Family's Old World Christmas are two examples.

Memorable Event: Beautiful Christmas trees are in fact - beautiful. All kids love brightly decorated trees with candy canes, lights and balls but the best Christmas tree memories will be those associated with special ornaments. In the toddler years, you may want to collect ornaments to keep memories alive of favorite toys, songs, books, food, etc. Ornaments representing storybook classics and nursery rhymes are easily found.

Special times such zoo visits, birthday parties, haircuts, loss of first tooth, vacations - are great times to choose ornaments. When children are very young, you may have to take the ornament and remind them where the special ornament came from or the "remember when...." event. But don't worry....they'll get it quick enough. It won't be anytime before they will be pointing out "their" special ornament and the tales will begin to flow. School brings on another host of wonderful opportunities! First day, first bus ride, classroom, teacher, backpack, lunchbox and so on. More memorable events include recitals, sports, dance, gymnastics, karate, band, Sunday school and church functions, movies, makeup, music, cars, trucks..even dental visits and checkups!

Holidays and celebrations are a perfect time to give ornaments. Even when small children may not have the capacity to appreciate the ornament gift, you can couple it with a toy, book or whatever the gift so they will have some "now" and the keepsake ornament as a remembrance for later. Halloween is a wonderful time for ornament giving. Matching an ornament to the costume or memory from a Halloween party is great.

And lets not forget pets! Ornaments are a great way to keep the memory alive of the precious pet that has .....well...been flushed......some of them anyway.

Storage: Basics of care and ornament storage is another article. This article addresses children and ornament storage. Each child needs their own special box, one that will last several years. Shopping for this box, or creating it can be a wonderful excursion or rainy day project. All you need is a good sturdy box, one with dividers would be great, but just improvise as you have too. Paper plates work well as dividers.

Some say cardboard, some say plastic - if you're not storing a priceless ornament collection - I say whatever is convenient - as long as its stored in a controlled temperature setting. No basements or attics. The top of a closet is great. While you want easy access to the box so you can add to it all year long, you don't want this to be a plaything. Ornaments are to be gently held, admired, then safely stored away until you decorate the tree. Plain boxes can be painted and decorated. Small wooden chests are also great for children's treasures especially as they get older.

If you ever need help in coming up with an ornament for a particular occasion or situation, just drop us a note - we'll be glad to help! And remember.....when your child grows up and goes away....he/she will want to take their ornament collection with them!  So you might want to consider buying two - one to keep for yourself and one to give!

Need an ornament idea! Ask us!