As I’ve mentioned a few times, Hanukkah begins early this year. I have been concerned about getting gifts for the kids on time! I have come up with a list of ideas, but I need help filling in the blank spots. I hope my readers have suggestions!
First, my Hanukkah disclaimer: I don’t love the commercialization of the holiday and while I think Hanukkah’s importance as a Jewish holiday has been exaggerated due to its proximity to Christmas, I still love getting things for my kids and enjoy finding good deals on gifts for them. As I see good deals and ideas, I snag them if they seem like things my kids would enjoy and I use Hanukkah as an excuse to give them gifts!
What I did is come up with 8 categories of gifts – one for each night – and I will try to fill in those categories for each kid. If this doesn’t work out in the end, I guess I will be ok with that! Here they are:
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Legos. Gabbie is getting the LEGO Friends Dolphin Cruiser which I already purchased from Target. Zachary seems to want the LEGO Creator Treehouse. Simon wants a Lego Train. I am thinking I will get this one – LEGO DUPLO Number Train. My parents are going to be giving me the money for these gifts, so the kids will know that Gramy and Grandpa bought them!
- Books. The library book sale is this week, so I may choose books there, but if not, I am thinking of buying Gabbie All-of-a-Kind Family. I remember enjoying this book when I was her age. For Zachary, I have a book on the way to review called Is God Real or Pretend? and I am hoping it will work as a gift. I am also going to be reviewing a bunch of National Geographic Books and hopefully will give one (or more) to Simon as a gift. I am thinking he would like National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why.
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Games. These will be coming from my brother and sister-in-law. Gabbie will be getting Mastermind for Kids, Zachary will be getting Rush Hour Jr., and Simon will be getting Spot It Junior Animals.
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Clothing. Gabbie has been asking for a robe and slippers, so I purchased those at Target already. Zachary needs a new umbrella, so that is a possibility, as is a winter hat, if I can get myself together to knit him one. Simon just recently got a new winter hat from Flipeez (courtesy of ideavillage – review to come) so I’m not sure what to get him clothes-wise.
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Electronics. This is a fun one! I won a giveaway and got a LeapPad Ultra for Zachary! He is going to be so excited. Of course, he asks me over and over again for all different tablets, but thanks to my awesome win, he’s getting this one! However, this means I need to find something comparable for the other kids! As it turns out, Gabbie has been asking for my old digital camera. I can’t find my memory card for it, which is a problem. At the same time, I wasn’t sure about giving her something we already have in the house as a gift, so when I saw an awesome deal at Staples for the Fujifilm FinePix T400 Digital Camera in red I ordered it. Of course, I still need a memory card for it! And…I don’t know what to get Simon in this category.
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Crafts. I am supposed to be getting the FunLoom bracelet kit to review and have permission to review it after I give it to Gabbie for Hanukkah. Unfortunately, it is not the original Rainbow Loom and I don’t know how easy it will be to use. Hopefully my review will be better than I am expecting! As for the other kids, my sister-in-law sent an Art Set and she said I can use it as a Hanukkah gift, so that will probably go to Zachary. Again, I am not sure what to get for Simon.
- Calendars. Last year I made Gabbie a calendar from Shutterfly and she loved it and has asked for another one for 2014. Zachary also wants one, so I plan to make two! Just need to finish that now! And for Simon, I think I am going to get him an A is for… book featuring him. (BTW, I get this with coupon codes so I just have to pay shipping).
- For the 8th gift, I decided the kids are going to share a set of Magna-Tiles. They all have loved playing with them in school and other places and I finally decided to order them when I had a 25% off coupon. I am hoping they won’t be upset sharing a joint gift! (I may give it to them on the first night actually!)
To summarize – I need suggestions for clothing items for Zachary and Simon, something electronic for Simon, and something crafty for Simon! Any comments about the items above are welcome too, especially on the ones I haven’t bought yet! Also, I’m willing to review products, so please contact me if you are a business owner wanting to get the word out about your item!
And in return, I have a suggestion for you!
Disney is releasing a Disney Classics Box Set on November 12 and you can pre-order it right now. If you have a favorite Disney song, I’m sure it is a part of this set. The first CD contains Modern Disney Classics, including some of my personal favorites – Under The Sea from the Little Mermaid, A Whole New World from Aladdin, Circle of Life from the Lion King – and some of my kids’ favorites – I See The Light from Tangled and We Belong Together from Toy Story 3! The second CD is made up of Disney Theme Park Classics. We love to reminisce about our favorite Disney Park rides and this CD contains the songs from rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s A Small World, Splash Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, Imagination – basically all of our favorites! The third CD is full of Disney Timeless Classics, such as You Can Fly from Peter Pan, When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio, A Spoonful of Sugar from Mary Poppins, and more. Finally, the 4th CD contains Disney Television Classics including the Mickey Mouse Club March, The Ballad of Davy Crockett, the theme songs from The Gummi Bears and Duck Tales, and even the Hot Dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! There are 94 total songs on these discs and the pre-order price is $31.56 (as of the time of writing this!) so that is like 33 cents per song – an awesome deal! Also, the new medley of Disney hits by Peter Hollens and Alex G that is a You Tube sensation is included as a special bonus free download for box set purchasers. It’s very cool – watch it below!
I am participating in a blog post campaign from One2One Network and Walt Disney Records. All opinions are my own!
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