How to prepare for a Plastic Free Christmas!
By the way kids hate wooden toys except wooden trains or those wooden bees we have in New Zealand but there are only so many wooden trains a person can give and the wooden bees are for toddlers!
And for a start we can’t use wrapping paper! Last year all the wrapping paper was made of some kind of plastic that even sticky tape rejected. And sticky tape! We would not use that either. String then and newspapers or decorated butchers paper for wrapping. I am good with that.
I think at least half of this is a discussion with the children about why I am not giving plastic this Christmas. So they get it but not in a way that decreases their joy when they do receive plastic from someone else!! How to phrase that sentence.
I have always been the book giver- safe in the knowledge that later in life all my dears will understand. As long as the books are collected. Because every year I see my books set aside by the parents for later! Maybe I should be giving hope chests or book cases.
Also by making a stand I make all the other givers of plastic wrapped gadgets and plastic toys and plastic made garments, feel judged in a way. Some grandparents get offended very easily especially by their peers. Especially me! Somehow I have made an artform of saying the wrong thing!
Anyway! For us today I would like to make a list of Christmas presents ( other than books book cases and hope chests) that I can wrap and that would travel, for all ages, that will excite all the little people who would rather have a bright pink dolls house made entirely of plastic!
Just drop all your ideas in the comments – riff off each other. I need help. All I am sure of is that I don’t want to continue to contribute to the bags and bags of plastic that go out to the curb the day after Christmas!
Wine for the parents is a wonderful plastic free gift!!
Already I feel a list coming – but I have put the bread in the oven so I have twenty minutes to shower and get ready for work – then when the buzzer goes off I take the lids off – turn the pots and I have another twenty minutes. Usually by the last minute of baking bread I am stood at the door ready to exit with my hot loaves on their cooling trays in the bin ready for travel.
Talk soon c
The Kitchen's Garden 
81 responses to “PLASTIC FREE CHRISTMAS”
As a retired librarian, I tend to give a lot of books, which I know aren’t the thrill of the minute for the kids. But I also give a lot of art supplies. And sweet treats!
I am sure they love the books once the sugar rush is over!
One of the best gifts I gave four of my nieces and nephews was a collection of colored pencils, paste, drawing paper, crayons, colored chalk, sketch pads, safety scissors, etc. I believe they were all 8 and under at the time and they loved it.
Everything! And for each child! Yes that would be wonderful
It may not be glitzy, but it’s a great gift!
Congrats on your decision. These are my main non-plastic gifts for adults at Christmas: An Amayllis bulb in a ceramic pot; a book; a bottle of wine. Inexpensive too.
A wool knit or crochet hat, scarf, or stuffie. Hand made soaps and hemp spa cloths for adults. There are many ideas.
What is a stuffie?
Stuffed shape or animal, but knit or crochet from wool, cotton, or hemp.
A bulb is a lovely idea
The toy company Melissa and Doug has some wonderful wooden toys. The packaging isn’t always plastic free, but it is a place to start.
Diecast cars and planes
If you have an Amish community nearby they sometimes have handcrafted toys and other gifts.
I’m going to think more and will drop back in later!
I love those little cars! Die cast ones last for years!
Melissa and Doug – wonderful toys. And not all wooden. Last Christmas I found a set of metal pots and pans with metal spoons, etc. all hanging on a metal rack for my almost 2-year-old great-granddaughter. I hated the idea of plastic so when I saw the set I grabbed it. I know the “kitchen” she has is plastic, can’t help that. I can’t tell you that the pots and pans are always on the rack, but I can tell you she plays with them a lot and I think they will last a very long time.
How about giving them an experience? A gift certificate or tickets to a place you know they would like, or even a handmade gift certificate promising to do something special with them the next time you see them. It probably won’t be as exciting for them on Christmas Day as the plastic toys, but I bet it would be a lot more memorable for them in the end.
That’s a great idea! Handmade gift certificates!
How about tools, small scale of course but proper ones, for things like gardening, woodworking, cooking, sewing etc…and a book to show them “how to”. As a child I always loved getting art supplies or things for baking, growing, sewing 😁
Sewing!!! That stuck! I still wear my aprons from you
One present I gave my grandson which he really enjoyed is sponsoring an elephant at the Sheldrick Trusk Kenya. They have a wonderful IG feed with stories about the elephants and other animals they adopt and they send you news of ‘your’ elephant. I think it was 50 for a year… Another idea is a subscription to a magazine like National Geographic as they enjoy getting things in the post. Or an online course in something that interests them. All plastic free!
It’s books here as well. My daughter has asked that we do this, which hasn’t settled so well with others in the family. The girls know that I buy used if possible, and I tuck in a sweet treat and perhaps a bit of art supply as well. It has not always been this way, but I have watched in years past as the new toys are relegated to a distant corner within days after arrival. We use cloth bags and share them back and forth for Christmas and birthdays as well. The girls are also learning that as they outgrow books, we pass them on in other ways to children who can use them.
I love the ideas and cloth bags are marvelous!
Art supplies! A microscope! Kapla blocks!
A microscope! Hmm
A hot loaf of homemade bread sounds perfect for this cold morning! I give and have given books to the grands but as two of them now are teens they want gift cards to go shopping although the older boy wants his own tools. I can get behind that! Clothes they outgrow, if not passed down, get sold at resale places and the money goes toward newer clothing. This year the little guy (3yo) is getting clothing that has his favorite cartoon characters on them. From hats down to shoes! Morning miss c… t
I work pt in a children’s science museum (The Asheville Museum of Science) & we have all kinds of experiment kits & science books for children (beginning with Baby’s Firsts). And stuffed animals of our mtn. region. And prisms, gyroscopes, atomic motion models, radiometers, Moh’s hardness scales, minerals, magnets, tops. Some plastic parts may be in the kits, but much is glass & wood. If the children are at all interested in science or you want to lead them that way there are lots of toys & gadgets to give.
Awesome! What great ideas!
It’s a shame about wooden toys, though a friends of mine hand carves wooden spoons – they make great grown up presents. On the plus side, in a few years to come they will probably be delighted by pickles, preserves and even home made bread. Home made sweets without sugar? There’s an amazing Christmas Medieval Market Fair in Vic, Cataluña, where people buy all sorts of food and hand crafted items as Christmas presents.
Once a man gave me two wooden spoons he whittled. I still have them. They are my treasures.
I’ve got one too – it’s very special!
I don’t know how old the kids are and what kind of kids they are, but for ages (and for me STILL), the best present besides books is nice drawing paper and pencils. Creativity is always in. And I remember simply melting when someone gave me a nice drawing pad.
My grandmother used to regift lots of things. She had lovely possessions, and throughout the years they would appear as gifts. She would say, “Will you take special care of this for me?” It was lovely.
Why not think about special hot chocolate mix that you create and pkg in glass jar and accompany with special mug and ‘mug rug’? If your grands could be interested in bread making or cookie making, what about bread and/or cookie mixes that you prepare? I hear there is a resurgence of interest in ‘paint-by-number’ kits, and that might be another idea that could work.
My California children are all
Gluten and Dairy free . This is their mothers choice so sadly I never cook or bake there in case I get it wrong. I long to pass on my breadmaking .
I’m enjoying reading everyone’s suggestions. I have no children to do for at the holiday anymore but these are great ideas I used before. I have ordered flowers online from the local country I am sending too. Finding a florist online in their neighborhood and ordering direct. I’ve sent my son a check to buy a movie pass for his wife as that’s the only downtime she seems to get. For children, I’ve had the time to go to craft fairs and find handmade items they might enjoy. I make most of my gifts now except for books and journals or art supplies. I’m going to check back on this list later today. Love this idea.
Oh craft fairs! How lovely –
I give used books and shop at my favorite antique mall. My family doesn’t NEED anything so this works perfectly. And for children, I always give books. I’ve done the amaryllis in antique/vintage pretty dishes but that doesn’t travel well!
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You are so funny !!! I hear you on the travel problem!