Ask children to come up with sentimental gift ideas that they are able to provide for the people receiving their gifts. A few examples include helping with house work, giving a hug, providing a compliment or sharing their favorite memory with that person. These ideas are then written on index cards which can be rolled horizontally to create a "scroll." Children may then decorate brown paper bags with markers, crayons, stickers or glitter (you may even choose to do seasonal bags for holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day). Tie ribbon around the scrolls and place them in the brown paper bag. Secure the bag with ribbon. Then, ask the child to give the gift away to someone he cares about.
Mix one cup of water with one cup of Epsom salt in a small cup. Allow children to take turns painting the mixture on a large blue sheet of construction paper. As the paper dries, it will give a "snow" and "ice" effect. Next, allow students to create snowmen pictures on white paper. They may decorate their snowmen with markers and crayons. Cut out the snowmen and staple them to the "snowy" construction paper. Place cotton balls on the bulletin board to resemble snowballs.
Glue a small photo of the child in the center of a plastic disposable plate. Provide students with glitter glue, colored craft glue and markers to decorate around the photo. Use felt and ribbon to create a border, along with other inexpensive items like shaped noodles, foam shapes, stickers and yarn. After decorating the plate, the piece should be set aside to dry. Punch a hole in the top center of the plate and add a bent paper clip with a loop on the end so that it may be hanged. Magnets with adhesive on the back are an alternative to yarn.
Pour envelopes of drink mix into separate cups (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple). Set aside two separate cups of water and a few paper towels. Have students paint with the drink mix by dipping the paint brush in the water and then into the colored powder of their choice. Before choosing a new color, children should rinse their brushes and wipe them on a paper towel. After the picture dries, not only will it be a work of art, but it will smell fruity, too. Because drink mix often stains clothes, provide children with aprons or inform parents that they should send their child in clothes that they don't mind getting stained.