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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Easter Gifts
lovemykidstoo 05:40 PM 04-03-2017
Does anyone do anything for a small gift for the kids for Easter? I always do small Christmas gifts for the kids, a little heart with like 4 candies in it for Valentines day, Halloween little treat bags and a little something for their birthday. I feel like it's getting a bit much gifts for everything. Not to sound bad, but the parents do get me a little something for Christmas, but nothing else, even though they know when my birthday is. That does make me kinda feel bad. I get like a $10 gift for the kids each for their birthdays every single year and they're all on my FB, so they know when my birthday is and not even a card.
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CityGarden 05:53 PM 04-03-2017
I give the children books for Christmas (scholastic $1 or free books earned) and a small valentine.....

Other than that we may have a special snack or a nice craft. I do a special think for Mother's Day and Father's Day where we make a nice keepsake type craft and invite them to longer a bit at drop off.
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lovemykidstoo 05:57 PM 04-03-2017
Originally Posted by CityGarden:
I give the children books for Christmas (scholastic $1 or free books earned) and a small valentine.....

Other than that we may have a special snack or a nice craft. I do a special think for Mother's Day and Father's Day where we make a nice keepsake type craft and invite them to longer a bit at drop off.
How does the Scholastic work? Do you have to buy alot of books to earn free ones?
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midaycare 06:09 PM 04-03-2017
Easter is my favorite holiday, so I do gifts. I buy $4 beanie babies from a charity (Easter Seals, maybe? It's from DH's work every year).

Then I buy one stuffed animal on clearance from Valentine's Day and have a "guess the amount of rice/jellybeans/whatever" game. Winner gets the prize.

Then we color Easter eggs. We use all natural food dyes - this is really fun and the colors are amazing! So the eggs are a type of "gift", I guess.

Then an Easter egg hunt. Cheap chocolates and tiny things like stickers.
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Josiegirl 02:35 AM 04-04-2017
I spend too much. I'm trying to cut back but it's not easy to do once you've set a precedent.
Last year for Easter I went shopping at the Dollar Tree, ended up buying each child cute buckets and then stuff to fill. I even did a couple older siblings, 1 that went through my dc, and 1 that did not. Dollar Tree is great but if you buy a lot it can still be costly. So this year, I bought cute pastel cookie cutters there and am going to make playdoh for all my current dcks, except the baby, not sure there yet. Not even sure I want to do Easter eggs with them. To me, that's part of what I did as a parent.
Christmas: I always include a book as part of the gift. One year it was a book and floor puzzle, another book/pj's and another book/Disney blanket.
Birthdays it varies on child's interest but am now doing around 20 bucks. With cupcakes and balloons just to decorate.
Valentine's Day this year I gave them a Valentine's book and some homemade cookies in a Valentine's bag.
I am trying to cut back because it's getting to be too darn much money that I need to put towards my own family and household bills.
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Unregistered 05:08 AM 04-04-2017
No, not for Easter. I buy clearance toys for the next year's Christmas gifts.

I have a birthday box filled with $ Tree stuff. They get to pick from that box and they are so thrilled! A big decision!

I give a little treat like Annie's gummy bunnies and a few stickers at Halloween and Valentines Day. I'm cheap when it comes to gifts.

Our local thrift store has Beanie Babies at times for 50 cents! That's a great idea! Thanks! I may begin collecting them and the kids could pick one!
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EntropyControlSpecialist 05:32 AM 04-04-2017
No. The only gifts they receive from me are a $1.00 book gift at Christmas (bought from Scholastic with my points if I have enough) and a $1.00 gift for their birthday (some things are bought from Dollar Tree like a puzzle or they might have been clearance toys from Walmart for $1.00).

It's more than enough. They get plenty of very expensive, fancy gifts at home for every holiday.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 05:33 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by Josiegirl:
I spend too much. I'm trying to cut back but it's not easy to do once you've set a precedent.
Last year for Easter I went shopping at the Dollar Tree, ended up buying each child cute buckets and then stuff to fill. I even did a couple older siblings, 1 that went through my dc, and 1 that did not. Dollar Tree is great but if you buy a lot it can still be costly. So this year, I bought cute pastel cookie cutters there and am going to make playdoh for all my current dcks, except the baby, not sure there yet. Not even sure I want to do Easter eggs with them. To me, that's part of what I did as a parent.
Christmas: I always include a book as part of the gift. One year it was a book and floor puzzle, another book/pj's and another book/Disney blanket.
Birthdays it varies on child's interest but am now doing around 20 bucks. With cupcakes and balloons just to decorate.
Valentine's Day this year I gave them a Valentine's book and some homemade cookies in a Valentine's bag.
I am trying to cut back because it's getting to be too darn much money that I need to put towards my own family and household bills.
Ask your parents to supply you with pre-filled eggs.
I have each parent bring in 12+ eggs for each child.
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lovemykidstoo 05:37 AM 04-04-2017
This sounds really bad lol, but for those that buy gifts for the kids on their birthdays, do the parents ever recognize your birthday? None of mine ever have and like I said, they know when it is, they're all on my FB and can see when it is. Even a $5 bouquet of flowers would mean so much. It's not the cost of the gift but that ole appreciation factor. To make it clear, I don't give the kids gifts so I can get a gift, that's not what I mean. I guess maybe I don't know how to explain it lol
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midaycare 05:48 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
This sounds really bad lol, but for those that buy gifts for the kids on their birthdays, do the parents ever recognize your birthday? None of mine ever have and like I said, they know when it is, they're all on my FB and can see when it is. Even a $5 bouquet of flowers would mean so much. It's not the cost of the gift but that ole appreciation factor. To make it clear, I don't give the kids gifts so I can get a gift, that's not what I mean. I guess maybe I don't know how to explain it lol
I stopped gifts at all but 2 holiday parties. I chose Halloween and Easter. No Christmas gifts anymore, no bday gifts anymore. I have some generous parents, and dcps who will leave with a "see ya around" on the last day. The first time that happened I was devastated.
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Blackcat31 05:58 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
How does the Scholastic work? Do you have to buy alot of books to earn free ones?
Scholastic is great! You earn points for every dollar you spend and you don't have to buy a lot to earn! Many of the months are double and sometimes triple points and there is always bonus points so it seems they are giving them away!

As for Easter egg coloring/egg hunts/gifts/trinkets/treats.....I used to go all out and do the whole egg hunt and have individual baskets for all the kids but I don't know, I started going smaller and smaller over the last few years.....

The kids I've had over the last few years are so used to getting stuff (they are rewarded for everything and celebrate everything ) that its not worth doing anymore.

I used to do it because they all got so excited but about 3 years ago I had a little guy tell me I was the 3rd egg hunt he'd been on and we were celebrating almost a week before the actual holiday so I decided then and there that I was done.

Now I sometimes give a small candy gift in an Easter themed treat bag but basically I take Good Friday AND Easter Monday off and call it good.

Works for me!
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LysesKids 06:00 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by midaycare:
I stopped gifts at all but 2 holiday parties. I chose Halloween and Easter. No Christmas gifts anymore, no bday gifts anymore. I have some generous parents, and dcps who will leave with a "see ya around" on the last day. The first time that happened I was devastated.
I only do Winter Holiday gifts (A special heirloom type book); they are given out @ the Holiday open house in December which is my one big to do yearly - most parents give me small gifts too...

I also do a small birthday party for first birthdays with a cake and then there is Mardi Gras; the parents think it's so cute that the babes get beads & mini masks & I share my King cake. Of course I play music that goes with the theme all day lol. The rest of the Holidays I don't bother with except for playing appropriate music
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lovemykidstoo 06:02 AM 04-04-2017
I agree with other posts that say that it's just like it's expected and the kids just have their hand out all the time. One dck asked me on his birthday, where' s my present? I wanted to throw it away. How rude and yea i know it's a kid, but nothing is a surprise or a big deal anymore. That's sad.

How do you sign up for Scholastic? Do you do it as a teacher?
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Blackcat31 06:07 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:

How do you sign up for Scholastic? Do you do it as a teacher?

SCHOLASTIC

readingclub@scholastic.com

1-800-724-6527


Personally, I'd call them. Tell them you are a teacher in a home based child care and you want book club catalogs for the following

Honeybee
Inchworm
Firefly
SeeSaw
Early Childhood
Kindergarten

Those are all birth to Kindy. They do have ones for older kids which you can ask about when you call if you have older kids but since I don't, I don't know what those catalogs are called.

You can place an order from any catalog you want for up to 3 months after....they come monthly. You can place an order as small as $1 or as large as you want. Shipping is usually free but it might be minimal if you order under $25....I can't remember for sure.

But it's a great program and one I have been part of for years!!! You just can't beat their $1, $2 and $3 books as well as their 50-75% off sale at the end of each school year!
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lovemykidstoo 06:21 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:

SCHOLASTIC

readingclub@scholastic.com

1-800-724-6527


Personally, I'd call them. Tell them you are a teacher in a home based child care and you want book club catalogs for the following

Honeybee
Inchworm
Firefly
SeeSaw
Early Childhood
Kindergarten

Those are all birth to Kindy. They do have ones for older kids which you can ask about when you call if you have older kids but since I don't, I don't know what those catalogs are called.

You can place an order from any catalog you want for up to 3 months after....they come monthly. You can place an order as small as $1 or as large as you want. Shipping is usually free but it might be minimal if you order under $25....I can't remember for sure.

But it's a great program and one I have been part of for years!!! You just can't beat their $1, $2 and $3 books as well as their 50-75% off sale at the end of each school year!
Awesome thanks!
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daycarediva 06:57 AM 04-04-2017
Scholastic book bought with points, playdoh, stickers. $2/child.
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lovemykidstoo 08:41 AM 04-04-2017
I just signed up for Scholastic! So how do I get the catalogs? The woman said I could get them online but I don't see it. Also, if you send a link or a book to a parent, how do you have them order it so you get points?
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daycarediva 09:44 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
I just signed up for Scholastic! So how do I get the catalogs? The woman said I could get them online but I don't see it. Also, if you send a link or a book to a parent, how do you have them order it so you get points?
You should have an online classroom order code to give to parents.

Are you logged in as a teacher on your account now? Go to book clubs, then your home page, to get your code. Parents register as a parent, then put in that code. It automatically adds the books to YOUR cart (but paid for), so that you place the order and get points.

I ALWAYS order the $1 books. We give them out for every event.
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Blackcat31 09:53 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
I just signed up for Scholastic! So how do I get the catalogs? The woman said I could get them online but I don't see it. Also, if you send a link or a book to a parent, how do you have them order it so you get points?
Catalog requests https://clubs.scholastic.com/acrHome

Parent on-line ordering http://www.scholastic.com/parents/re...b-how-to-order


I usually just have parents write me a check or give me cash when they bring their order in to the classroom. That way, I can add to a class order to earn extra bonus points or order additional copies of a book etc... I don't know.

It probably is easier to have parents order themselves on line but for me, its easier to keep them all in one order and do it myself. At least for me it's been better to do it that way.
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Ariana 09:56 AM 04-04-2017
I only do Christmas gift and something small for birthdays. I don't really get into peoples religious beliefs and to me Easter is a much more religious holiday than Christmas so I don't participate on the daycare level eventhough I am a Christian.
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lovemykidstoo 10:07 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
You should have an online classroom order code to give to parents.

Are you logged in as a teacher on your account now? Go to book clubs, then your home page, to get your code. Parents register as a parent, then put in that code. It automatically adds the books to YOUR cart (but paid for), so that you place the order and get points.

I ALWAYS order the $1 books. We give them out for every event.
I just found my code. I have to learn where to navigate for things. Where are the $1 books?
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lovemykidstoo 10:08 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Catalog requests https://clubs.scholastic.com/acrHome

Parent on-line ordering http://www.scholastic.com/parents/re...b-how-to-order


I usually just have parents write me a check or give me cash when they bring their order in to the classroom. That way, I can add to a class order to earn extra bonus points or order additional copies of a book etc... I don't know.

It probably is easier to have parents order themselves on line but for me, its easier to keep them all in one order and do it myself. At least for me it's been better to do it that way.
Thanks!
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Josiegirl 10:53 AM 04-04-2017
How do you get parents to order from Scholastic? I remember many years ago I tried it. I thought it was such a COOL idea and come on, books for a buck?? Ya can't go wrong, right?? Not one parent ordered even 1 measly book for their child. BUT the kids were always buying Happy Meals. Stuff their middle, not their mind, right?
I ended up spending anywhere between 30-40 bucks a month on books for dc. I had to quit; it was costing me too much.
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Blackcat31 10:59 AM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by Josiegirl:
How do you get parents to order from Scholastic? I remember many years ago I tried it. I thought it was such a COOL idea and come on, books for a buck?? Ya can't go wrong, right?? Not one parent ordered even 1 measly book for their child. BUT the kids were always buying Happy Meals. Stuff their middle, not their mind, right?
I ended up spending anywhere between 30-40 bucks a month on books for dc. I had to quit; it was costing me too much.
Same thing was happening here......

I had one or two families that regularly ordered books, I made a HUGE deal about how much fun it was to wait for and get the books in the mail..... We'd read them right away too! I posted photos of them on my parent page and of course, parents don't want their child left out of anything shared with the "public".

Of course, I would caption the pic with something witty like

"SUPER excited that Jenna's parents recognize and value the importance of early literacy! Just look at the excited look on her face!!"

Of course, the following month ALL the kids ordered!

Now I have only 1 or 2 families that don't participate.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 12:57 PM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Same thing was happening here......

I had one or two families that regularly ordered books, I made a HUGE deal about how much fun it was to wait for and get the books in the mail..... We'd read them right away too! I posted photos of them on my parent page and of course, parents don't want their child left out of anything shared with the "public".

Of course, I would caption the pic with something witty like

"SUPER excited that Jenna's parents recognize and value the importance of early literacy! Just look at the excited look on her face!!"

Of course, the following month ALL the kids ordered!

Now I have only 1 or 2 families that don't participate.
I need to do this.

18 kids. Zero to two children order each month. Seriously.
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Blackcat31 01:13 PM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
I need to do this.

18 kids. Zero to two children order each month. Seriously.
It's just pathetic that Facebook-type shaming is the only motivator parents have now days....

I don't know, I kind of thought the excitement and happiness of their child getting to pick out and order a book to eagerly wait for said book and possibly get that book read out loud at home to them would be the motivator...


....but what do I know.
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lovemykidstoo 01:33 PM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
It's just pathetic that Facebook-type shaming is the only motivator parents have now days....

I don't know, I kind of thought the excitement and happiness of their child getting to pick out and order a book to eagerly wait for said book and possibly get that book read out loud at home to them would be the motivator...


....but what do I know.
Exactly but almost all of my daycare kids have Ipads and play games constantly. And we wonder why they can't talk until their 4. ugh
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AmyKidsCo 01:34 PM 04-04-2017
I don't do Easter, but I do Christmas, Valentine's and Halloween. IDK why I skip Easter, although I am closed Good Friday & Easter Monday, but I'm closed Christmas too so that's not it. I just never have...
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LostMyMarbles 01:55 PM 04-04-2017
Love the book club idea...
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Josiegirl 02:45 PM 04-04-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
It's just pathetic that Facebook-type shaming is the only motivator parents have now days....

I don't know, I kind of thought the excitement and happiness of their child getting to pick out and order a book to eagerly wait for said book and possibly get that book read out loud at home to them would be the motivator...


....but what do I know.
Yeh, nobody wants to look bad on FB
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Jupadia 05:17 AM 04-05-2017
I'm giving the kids each a set of bunny ears, sheet of stickers, a craft and a chocolate treat in a bag from the dollop store. I did something similar for Halloween and valintines day. At Christmas I do a under $10 gift for each kid. Birthdays I just do cupcakes and then my kids get invited to the birthday party (cause their the same age still as the DK kids) so I'll give a nice gift then and spend a bit more since it comes from both my kids and me.
My parents are great when it was my kids birthday they gave gifts even to the youngest which we only had family to for his party. They also all brought a gift at Christmas for my boys and me. Last year for my birthday 2 of 3 brought me a gift cards so that was nice as well.
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daycarediva 08:10 AM 04-05-2017
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
I need to do this.

18 kids. Zero to two children order each month. Seriously.
LOL BC~ I did the same! I also go on and ON about how I JUST HAD TO order a second copy of a book in L's book order because we all LOVED his choice.

ANYTHING that supports early literacy is fair game.

I have a parent who is the director of our local library. He NEVER orders (well, duh) BUT he ALWAYS 'tips' me an additional $25/month for books for dc.
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dreamer 04:54 AM 04-06-2017
Originally Posted by :
I have a birthday box filled with $ Tree stuff. They get to pick from that box and they are so thrilled! A big decision!
I adore this idea!

I think for Easter / Valentines / Halloween, we will do a special craft and play related games. I might give them a little something on Valentine's Day, but otherwise, nope.

I'll get them each something cheap for Christmas, or just bake them cookies if the parents aren't appreciating gifts.
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Tags:easter - baskets, easter ideas, gift, gifting, gifts from parents
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