When it comes to holiday shopping, what do you get for the kid who has everything? I’m exaggerating, of course, but sometimes it feels like my girls have more gifts than Toys R Us. While we swap out old stuff twice a year to make room for birthday and Christmas gifts, it still seems like the stuff multiplies overnight. I don’t remember being this spoiled as a kid, but then my mother reminds me of the infamous Toy Closet, a bottomless pit of toys, dolls, board games and books that was forever busting its seams. Talk about history repeating itself!… This year, we’re on a special lookout for non-traditional gifts that are easy on space and that encourage kids to use their imagination, instead of an iPad (yes, we’re still at that tender age). Earlier this month, we reported on KiwiCrate, a subscription-based service that supplies kids with all the tools needed to make themed projects. We loved the fact that it’s a gift that keeps on giving, month after month (or however long you choose to sign up for it), and that it’s an ideal boredom buster for a child who’s had one too many tea parties. Well, lucky for us (and our readers), we’ve found yet another all-in-one mail-order craft service that provides plenty of activity for willing participants. Like KiwiCrate, the BabbaBox is a monthly crafts and educational projects kit for ages 3-6 that is as engaging as it is entertaining. Centered around four key components (create, explore, story tell and digital), each package in the series contains all the ingredients to tap into your kid’s creative juices. We got our hands on this month’s Gratitude box, a perfect one for the holiday season when the “gimmees” threat to outweigh the “giving.” My 7-year-old dove “write” into the thank you card-making kit. Taking what can be an otherwise tiresome task and adding some spice to it, this was no ordinary fill-in-the-blanks card assortment. Quality stock note cards in the likeness of a tree beckoned my daughter to decorate them with the included colorful leaf stickers, each one indicating what she was thankful for this year. Other cards in the mix, including a fold-out one that spells out “THANKS,” offer an alternative to the discriminating artist. This particular craft kept her occupied for quite some time, and required minimal supervision from me (how often can you say that when it comes to your kid’s projects?). And that was just one part: the BabbaBox also contained a design-your-own-trivet and serving tray, both of which make personal additions to any holiday table; a story about giving thanks for things we normally take for granted in the outside world; and–my daughter’s favorite–a disposable camera for snapping photos of family and friends to later craft into a gratitude journal. As a mom, I was impressed by BabbaBox’s presentation and its well-conceived ideas for a number of related projects. For the parent or grandparent looking for something a little different this holiday season, this is one box that begs to be teared into and offers an easy answer to “What are we going to do today?”
In a Nutshell: For the not-so-crafty mom comes a crowd-pleasing product that lets kids roll up their sleeves and get to work. Great for an indoor play day or a day home from school.
Tags: BabbaBox, holiday gifts for kids, kids' crafts, mail-order gifts for kids
