budget Friendly but Awesome Gifts for a Large Group of Kids!

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      If you've read this blog for very long, you will know that I am the music leader for the primary kids at my church.  I love that job and have been doing it for a long time now.  I adore the children and love making singing fun for them, plus helping them to feel the Spirit while they learn and sing the messages of the songs.  So, at Christmas time, I love to give them a little gift as a way to express my love for them.  Of course, the problem is that there are a lot of them and I don't have a lot of money to spend.  So my gifts are usually handmade and from the heart.  
       You may have had similar experiences trying to come up with a group gift idea for a classroom of kids at school or church or a team or club.  Of course, you can always give candy or food of some kind, but I always like to make it a little more special and enjoy adding a special twist to really give that holiday vibe!   
      Today I'm sharing 5  cute ideas that are budget friendly, yet awesome gifts that I think any group of kids will love! 

1- We'll start with what I gave this year:  Dipped Oreos and Christmas Pencils.  I have a few kids in my group who have special dietary needs.  Some are gluten free and some are dairy free.  When it comes to food, I am very careful.  I check with their parents before I include any ingredients or purchase any food items for them.  Oreo Cookies, the gluten free version are vegan and dairy free as well!  They work great for my Primary kids, they taste great whether the kids have allergies or not and I use them a lot.  You can also find a version like Oreos at Sprouts that is very allergy friendly, but the Oreos are less expensive.  I decided to dip them in white chocolate, but I had to find a allergy free version.  Enjoy Life has a white chocolate chip that is free of 14 different allergies, including gluten and dairy, and it tastes great! They also have semi-sweet chocolate.  The link is for Amazon, but I found them cheaper at Sprouts. 
      After I purchased the cookies, chocolate and I already had sanding sugar, I melted the chocolate, dipped the cookies and sprinkled on the sugar.  After they were dry, I slipped them into these little bags.  I already had the bags, but you can find them here.  Putting cookies in a bag elevates them from ordinary to special!  Then, I taped on some Christmas Pencils that I found at DollarTree and also tied them with some red ribbon!  Simply a cookie and a pencil, but the kids were so happy to get them! 

2.  Freeze Dried Candy:  The Primary Presidency also gave our children a gift.  One of them has a freeze dryer and she freeze dried Nerd Gummies and they bagged them up into special bags with a sweet message on them.  If you have access to a freeze dryer, this gift of freeze dried candies is a big hit!  If you don't, you can find freeze dried candy on Amazon! They look so festive and taste fabulous!
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3.  Play Doh Minis:  That set of Play-Doh, pictured above also comes with those cute cookie cutters!  There are 24 in a pack for $25 dollars.  If you get them without the cutters, you can get a bulk pack or 42 for $17!  That is a great deal!   I've seen these elevated as gifts with little tags that say "Wishing you a Doh-lightful Christmas!"  You could easily design that on Canva and print them off on cardstock.  What a terrific non-food gift! 

4.  Candy Cane Chocolate Hearts:  On the blog Playdates to Parties, She tells how to make these adorable heats with candy canes and chocolate.  She also includes a printable to go with them.  I fell in love with these as soon as I saw them!  I wish I had seen them before I did the other gift that I gave this year, but I'm tucking this idea away for next year! I'm glad I found the Enjoy Life Chocolate that I will be able to use in the middle of the hearts! 
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5.  Cinnamon Bear Popcorn Balls:  Back in 2020, Lindsey posted this recipe for Cinnamon Bear Popcorn Balls that I think kids will love! They would be an inexpensive and delicious gift wrapped in cellophane and tied with a pretty bow.  Once again, the Enjoy Life Chocolate could take the place of the Funfetti Chocolate Chips.  Also, be sure that popcorn is not an issue with any of the children.  
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     Maddy reminded me that checking party aisles at stores for party favors like fidget toys, tiny puzzle games and so forth is always a great option and then all you have to do is amp up your presentation to make the gift a little extra. 
     If you give a fidget toy, you might want to combine it with the fidget chocolate treats that we blogged about here!  (Bonus Idea Here!)
 No matter what, the kids will love your gift!  If you do come up with any awesome ideas that you would like to share, we would love to hear them.  Please drop us a comment! 
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