Father's day is steadily approaching. If you are looking for gift options, and want to take part in creative activities with your kids, then you are in luck. We have created a list of different personalized gifts to create with your children to give to their fathers on this special day.
1. Finger knitted (hat)
For this first gift, we've included a link to an amazing book about finger knitting projects perfect for children. Below is an example step by step guide written by Vickie Howell on how to make a Finger knitted beanie hat.
Starting off
Step one: Yarn-wrap around four fingers- 4 stitches.
Step two: Finger knit for about 13 1/2 (4m)
Step Three: Fasten off, leaving a generous tail
Assemble Beanie
Step one: Make a 20 (51cm) circle with the end of piece; use tapestry needle to yarn to sew into place. you now have a hat brim.
Step 2: wrap the piece in spiraling formation, taking care to measure every round to ensure circumference stays the same, using mattress stitch to sew rounds together until the tube measures 11 (28cm) from brim edge. if you have extra finger knitting left, unravel and refasten off. I f you come up short, use the tail to finger the needed amount.
step 3: Fasten off, leaving at a generous tail.
Close Beanie
Step one: Thread a tapestry needle with yarn tail and stitch top-center points of front and back together; pinch the side edges to the same center point and stitch. The top of the hat will now be in a star formation.
Step two: Continue to pinch the opposite edges and stitch them together until top of the hat is completely closed.
Step three: Fasten off; feed the tail through top of the hat to the inside.
Make the pom-pom
Step 1: Using a 3 (7.5cm) piece of cardboard, wrap the yarn around cardboard about 50 times.
Step 2: Slip wraps off cardboard and tie a piece of yarn tightly around the center of the wraps, leaving a tail.
Step 3: Cut both ends of the wraps and fluff pom-pom. Trim to even it out.
Step four: Thread tail through tapestry needle and sew pom-pom to top of the beanie.
Step 5: weave in ends
2. Personalized D.I.Y cards
For this gift, have the children decide how they will decorate their cards. Give them options and materials such as paint, construction paper, crayons and markers or even various household and craft items. We suggest using a construction paper or card stock base for the card. You can ask them questions such as what types of things do they think their dad would like. Some suggestions include their dad's favorite sport, a family portrait, or their dad's favorite hobbies. They can also come up with ways to display the ideas on the card. For instance, if their dad likes to hike, suggest making paper mountains for the card. By exploring different decorative ideas, the children or exploring creative expression, while also practicing their motor skills, such as cutting and gluing. When they are finished their cards, you can even suggest having them try to write out a personal letter to their dad and signing it.
3. salt dough clay hand print with note
This is another fun gift with a personal touch. If you don't want to use salt dough to make the hand print, you can use air drying clay.
Things you will need:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup water
- 4 cups salt
-food coloring
- bowl
- measuring cups
Start by having the children measure out the all of the dry ingredients into one bowl, except for the salt. In another cup, measure your water and have them pick out the colors they want the clay to be. As a tip, you can suggest mixing and matching colors, and add the food coloring to the water. Put as many or as little drops of food coloring for intense colors. After the children mix the food coloring into the water, have them mix the water into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Next, add the salt and let the children knead the mixture until its' consistency resembles playdoh. Roll the dough into any shape that the kids desire. Afterwards, have the children slowly press their hand in the middle of the dough. If they want, you can also shape the dough around their hand, and cut of the excess. Finally, let the dough dry and harden. If you want, before the dough hardens, have the children punch a hole near the bottom corner with a straw. With this, you can thread yarn or a ribbon in the clay and attach their personal note. Let the children come up with what they want to say for the father, and date and sign it at the bottom. Your clay hand print is complete, and personalized.
4. favorite sport (decorated)
- clay baseball, construction paper football, clay golf club and ball
If you're looking for gift ideas for a sports fan we have a couple of creative ones. For these gifts you will need either paint, clay, or construction paper and glue or tape. For the clay baseball , golf club and ball, look up reference pictures with children. Let them divide the clay and roll out and divide the clay for each shape. You can ask them if they want to make other easy sports equipment. In addition to this, you can also ask them what shapes do they think the equipment resembles. They can combine each shape until they're satisfied with the overall design. As a bonus, use small erasers or the tips of a pen or pencil to create the grooves of the golf club and balls. Let the clay dry and then paint. For the construction paper football, take brown construction paper, and have the children draw out the shape. Let them cut the shape out, then cut white strips of paper for the stripes. They can draw out the name and symbol for their father's favorite sports team. With that, their creations are complete.
5. tool box
-Here is a link to a build it yourself toolbox kit. This kit is super easy to follow, and your child can have fun designing their very own toolbox for dad.
6. D.I.Y. T-shirt
This is a great gift that your children can get creative with. Have your children design their own special t-shirt for their dad. We have included a link to a t-shirt transfer paper kit that you can purchase.
-Start by deciding how you want to design the shirt. Your children can either go on paint, google images, or visit Avery.com/print to make your designs.
- On the Avery website, you will be asked to enter the template number, which you can find at the top right corner of your Avery box. Here you can look up pictures and designs, as well as templates. You can also look up their blank templates and insert your designs.
-If your children are using google or paint, they will need to save their creations into a word document, then go to the website, and upload them into a blank template.
- Next load up your printer with the fabric transfer paper. Make sure your printer and the fabric paper match. For example, the one we used requires an inkjet printer.
- Choose landscape or portrait upload your work and print it onto the fabric paper.
-Another important tip, make sure you pay attention to the type of fabric paper you purchase. Depending on the package, you will need a white or light colored t shirt. You also have the option of darker colored shirts if you want light colored designs.