Homemade Gifts for Birth Families
Unique Christmas Presents Adoptive Families Can Make
Christmas presents given to an adopted child's birth family can become special treasures and keepsakes. From artwork to music, there is a personal gift for everyone.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year to celebrate all family connections and show the people we care about that they are special. Birth families are quite often thought of during special occasions by adoptive families and sometimes gifts are exchanged. What can make the holiday season even more memorable is to make personal gifts that will be treasured forever.
Homemade Gifts from Little Hands
All family members appreciate gifts that are made by a child. Something as simple as a picture drawn by the child can be a treasured memento for the birth family. Here are two more simple gifts that children can make for members of their birth family:
A Hug – tape four or five sheets of white paper end to end making a length of narrow paper that spans from the child’s fingertips when their arms are stretched out. Have the child lie down on top of the paper with arms in a “T” shape from the body and fingers spread. Trace both of the child’s arms and hands, and then draw two lines joining the child’s arms together to create the hug. Let the child decorate the hug and help the child print his or her name on the hug with the date.
Hand and Foot Print Angel – trace both of the child’s hands on yellow or gold coloured construction paper and cut the shapes out. Trace one of the child’s feet onto white coloured construction paper and cut it out as well. Glue the two hand prints with thumbs up onto the back of the heel part of the foot shape to create wings on the angel body. Cut out a picture of just the child’s head to glue on between the two handprint wings. Write the date on the back of the angel and then Mactac both sides of the angel to prevent it from being bent.
Homemade Gifts from the Heart
Gifts given from the adoptive family to the birth family do not need to be elaborate in nature, but they should still include something of the child. Consider how wonderful it would be to receive one of these gifts:
Compiled Music CD – ideas for a music CD for members of the birth family could be lullabies sung to the child, music unique to the heritage of the adoptive or birth family, songs with the word Mom, Dad or Child in it, or perhaps music from a shared experience, such as a favourite movie. If the adopted child likes to sing, record him or her singing some favourite songs or reading from a book.
Scrapbook – instead of sending photos and letters periodically to the birth family offer to make more elaborate scrapbook pages that can tell more detailed stories about the child. Initially send a scrapbook containing a couple pages as a gift and then send a couple more pages every few months.
Home Video – movies of the adopted child playing outside, reading a book, saying a speech, performing in a play or trying something for the first time would be a very special gift to receive. If travel distance or circumstances are such that visits between birth and adoptive families are not possible, videos of the child may help keep the connection going.
Many of these gift ideas would also be nice to make for extended families and for foster parents. There is nothing like a homemade gift to say "I'm thinking of you" and Christmas is the perfect time of year to share warm memories and special gifts.
