Plain magnets and stickers – an easy and cheap material list!
To solve the issue of what my son could give to his classmates for Christmas, we decided on a card and a small, simple Christmas gift for everyone rather than trying to choose who to give a personal present to.
Christmas gift magnets
I found some magnets and Christmas stickers so our gift idea was found!
Foam stickers give a better result than flat stickers, I think. They are bigger and will look better on the fridge!
If you manage to get stickers and magnets exactly the same size, then all you have to do is stick on the stickers! However, the odds are you won’t be quite so lucky.
Creating Christmas magnets
If the sticker is bigger than the magnet, you can just take off the backing paper and attach the magnet. It will look great from the front and back but (and this is a big but!) the exposed glue surface will attract dirt and dust and soon will become messy.
The red surface of the left Christmas magnet is sticky and will soon be messy – the Christmas tree will stay nicer.
The sticky surface will also make it difficult to put the Christmas magnet into an envelope or gift wrapping. This simple gift would not be simple to remove from the wrapping either!
I traced around the magnet on the back of the sticker and then scored the outline. I actually prepared a pile of them before my son got involved, but older children could possibly score the paper themselves.
Trace around a magnet with the blade of a craft knife or pair of scissors
It was then easy for my son to peel off just that bit of backing paper and attach the magnet, leaving the rest of the backing paper in place.
Peeling off the relevant bit of backing paper and attaching the magnet was managed by four and six year olds.
That’s it – no drying time or finishing touches needed! And because they are small and light, it’s easy to just pop them into an envelope with a Christmas card and you’re done. In half a day, my son had a gift and card done for all his classmates (and writing the cards was definitely the most time consuming task!)
My son proudly laid out his completed Christmas magnet gifts
This is a wonderful idea! My daughter and I have been trying to figure out what the perfect gift for her class would be! I have lots of foam stickers from my scrapbooking days! She will love these!
Have fun with your daughter Martisa, and I hope her classmates enjoy the results, too.
Hey Martisa!
If you came to class and taught them how to make these they’d love you guys! I still have one of these from my Kindergarten teacher. The old fashioned feel makes it an ultimate classic; and its always a perfect addition to the Christmas tree. Make sure to conceive an impression with these 🙂
Yes, teachers would probably appreciate someone offering an idea and help on implementing it at this time of year!
That’s great you still have a gift from your kinder teacher, Cutter 🙂 Little things like this can become treasured items for people – it takes so little but can mean so much.
I do something similar to this with hot glue, crazy glue, and regular glue; basically a lot of glue. However, I don’t use foam stickers. Instead I usually use foam cutouts or other materials and glue them like I’ve gone nuts over crazy glue; it’s generally fun and the kids I watch like to get messy. As long as they use the non-toxic glue and the younger ones leave the hot-glue to me then we have lots of fun with it.
Fun is the name of the game sorrowscal 🙂
What is crazy glue? Is it just glue with glitter in it? We call that glitter glue, lol.
No. Crazy glue is a glue that dries quickly and works in a similar way to superglue, only it works on more surfaces and usually keeps things together longer in my experience.
Oh, ok. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
These Christmas magnets really are a great project! We have been looking for some easy crafts for our kids to do at church. We will definitely have to try this idea out! Thanks for sharing!
It is easy enough to do with a group of kids as they won’t need a lot of individual help and can get gong fairly quickly – cutting section out of backing paper may be trickier for some kids though.
She loved the idea and can’t wait to get started! She already picked out the stickers she wants to use!
Fantastic Martisa 🙂
What a nice idea – I am sure your son’s friends will love them. My kids have now decided to make loom bracelets again this year for their friends. They love to exchange little gifts with their friends. I prefer they give (and receive) something that’s handmade.
I agree Susie – a hand made gift is so special. My kids are making their classmate and grandparent gifts this year.
A handmade gift is a timeless gift that can become an heirloom. Its simplicity makes it a genuinely pure gift and a perfect one too. Handmade gifts teach your children the importance of putting their heart into something! I love the idea of homemade gifts without a doubt.
My father and his wife have recently become foster parents and I think I might do this with the kids, to get them into the spirit of christmas. Maybe not for gifts, we usually bake cookies for that in my family, but it seems like a fun bonding experience, since I haven’t had that much contact with the new little ones. Thank you for the idea!
That sounds like a lovely way to welcome those kids into your family, DatGiz – I hope you all have a lot of fun with these.
That’s no problem. To be honest, there is very little difference between the two glues except for that. I just like to be extra prepared. I have terrible luck when it comes to glue drying to quickly or things not staying together.
I guess we have the advantage of hotter days to help glue dry quicker at this time of year 🙂 I often use clothes pegs or rubber bands to hold things together while they dry, too.
clothes pegs and rubber bands? I haven’t tried the clothes pegs option but I’ll give it a go next time I need to do some extreme glue-related work.
A clothes peg can hold the things/bits together while the glue dries. The only catch is sticking the peg to the items if you aren’t careful and have glue leaking out of the join! It obviously only works for small things – you may be able to get some clamps for other gluing projects.
This is a wonderful and easy idea! I almost my kids were in elementary school again so we could make them. This would be great for girl scouts, also; I was also a Daisy Leader.
Something to store away until you are with kids in some capacity, perhaps? Well done on helping many children as a Daisy Leader, C 🙂
Wow! this is a really impressive idea for the children.They will be thrilled, especially if they are involved in the making of these. These could even be personalized for each person you choose to give them to.
After making these ones, my son put a lot of thought into which one was to be given to which of his classmates. They weren’t quite personalised as he made them, but he did choose what he thought people would like.
Hello from your fan in Mexico (Am I the only one??? We don’t have white Christmases here either) You’re a funny, smart, crafty woman, and I’ll keep reading your blog plus like you in facebook, so I don’t miss a thing.
Also I’ll be trying to do some of the stuff in your tutorials they’re just wonderful!!! I just hope I haven’t left it too late for finding materials like the foam shapes… but I guess I could make my own shapes, too.
This is a really neat idea. I think it’s important for children to learn to give and this is a nice way to do it especially at Christmas when it can be so much about receiving. I remember when I used to take care of my niece and nephew quite a bit. During December, I would have them pick a simple craft project then they would make the items for their parents and their aunts and uncles. Everyone enjoyed getting them and it makes the child feel special.
I agree FamilyTreeClimber – it is important for children to learn how to give especially at Christmas when they are given so much. And more than that, they do feel special when someone enjoys what they have put effort into.
Thank you very much for the advice an information! I will definitely try this, though I hope I don’t accidentally glue myself to the clothes peg by accident in some way or another.
Unless you’re using super glue, you should be able to detach yourself from the peg fairly easily, Sorrowscal 🙂
That is great idea. I love making crafts, and doing it with kids is even better. It makes them feel so good to be able to make something themselves. When giving a gift children should know that it’s more about what went into it, then about a price tag.
So great job, there are so many cute crafts for each holiday that kids can make and share.
Yes, I like teaching them it’s the thought and effort that matter, not the price tag or size of the gift 🙂
Smart and unique Christmas gift alert! This is something I would want to receive on Christmas day. Really cleaver! It is simple yet adorable for little kids. Seriously even moms will love this on their refrigerators. Thank you so much for the Christmas gift idea, its not too late to give something for Christmas day.
Hi Stella, I’m glad you liked this idea. It is simple but also practical so people can use and enjoy it 🙂 And yes there’s still time to make these before Christmas Day!
Great idea, going to try making these on Xmas eve with the kids. I hope that this will teach them the effort that goes into making their gifts and not to take everything for granted, though I doubt that they will actually do that!
I hope you have fun making them together, jcc 🙂
I think it will help them learn about the effort that goes into things – not enough to have them suddenly grateful for everything, lol, but lots of those little lessons do add up and sink in.
I will try and remember not to use super glue when I’m in the midst of using the peg-trick you mentioned.
I like this, the ideas here are some great ones and i see where we can involve students in this sort of activity to make gifts for their loved ones. This is one way of showing them that sometimes it is not all about the cost of the item but the thought that is there behind it.
I do like children making things for others (and I think teachers/carers doing it so parents are given a gift so children understand gratitude towards family as well) and realising the thought is what matters.
I like this idea. It is very good to teach kids the art of sharing and caring at a very age:)
I think it is critical to teach children sharing and caring when they’re young – it’d be much harder to teach it later I think.
These look great. I am going to try this next year. My kids really like to do crafts. This will be an easy and mess free way to make magnets for the Holidays.
It was a great activity – mess free and easy enough for my son to do and yet a practical gift to be given. Have fun trying it with your kids, Kcareconnections.
I really love this idea! My daughter loves magnets and I’ll definitely be making magnets with her. This would be perfect for birthdays and other holidays as well. I know what we’ll be making for Christmas presents this year. Thank you for the wonderful idea!
Glad you liked the idea Callen, and I hope you have fun making some with your daughter this year 🙂