Are You Hosting a Birthday Party for Your Little Angel in 2020? Don't Forget to treat Your Guests with these Return Gifts for Kids of all Ages!

Gifts are an integral part of the Indian tradition just as in any other country. Return gifts originated in the ancient past where they were used to express gratitude to the guests for their presence and to appease them. In the Western world too, European aristocrats and kings & queens normally gave return gifts. From edible favors to precious stones, gold, crystal or porcelain, return gifts varied in sizes and varieties galore. In some cultures newly-wed couple were believed to have been blessed with special powers or good luck charm, so return gifts were their way of passing some along to their guests, while almonds as return gifts represented health, happiness, fertility and wealth.

While considering return gifts may be a thoughtful gesture, it becomes a necessity in most situations. For instance, if you’re celebrating an occasion that’s life changing like a marriage, a baby shower, etc, it becomes a thoughtful way of thanking your guests and sharing your happiness like a memory with them.

Personalizing your special occasions and the collectible in that is exciting and makes it extra special and memorable. And one way of making it so is to make stickers and labels, which are inexpensive and make the celebrations fun. Labels add value to the simples of gifts and whether you hand make these labels or have them printed digitally, you can customize your return gifts with personal party labels that won’t peel off, fade or disintegrate. There are endless design possibilities for innumerable varieties of gifts.

Apart from printing labels you can also consider cutting out silhouettes on plastic placemats and then hand write with permanent pens or use Velcro circles to hold the labels in place, or you can use fabrics and paper on boxes in vibrant colors to label them.

While there are professional services that specialize in gift packaging, it’s not very complicated if you’d like to package the gifts yourself. Good gift packaging definitely makes your gifts look better. Professionally they may cost a lot, so why not try some easy DIY techniques. For instance, minimalist gift packing’s quite a rage these days and all you need is a brown paper to wrap your gifts in with quirky accessories like stamps, spare buttons, newspapers cut in shapes or letters and more! You can also put them in potlis which would work really well with gifts like dry fruits or sweets/chocolates. You can also make use of wooden trays, mason jars for a touch of elegance. Explore spare fabrics lying around the house to wrap gifts with unusual shapes like wine bottles.

Encourage the kids’ creativity by choosing coloring kits or books for them to practice their skills on. There are a number of books available these days that come in different themes for kids. For instance, Mandalas are considered one of the oldest forms of art and comes with designs that are usually circular in form. Choose Mandala Coloring Books for Kids which include attractive patterns for children and are inviting enough to make the kids want to color by choice in pre-designed forms. Not only will these be engaging for them but give them a unique platform to exhibit their creativity, not to mention a memorable return gift.

The Mandala coloring book by Dreamland Publications can be brought in sets as return gifts, priced at Rs. 80 for each book. You can choose to buy them independently or bunch them with colored pens, crayons, paints, etc. They are available on www.amazon.in

Puzzles and Brain Teasers are an excellent way to improve the kids’ memory and problem solving skills as also a fun and exciting way to pass time and learn something new. Opt for a puzzle like Tangram or a rubrik’s cube. The Wooden Tetris Puzzle from www.firstcry.com is good for rainy days and family time with fascinating puzzle to solve. Ideal for kids aged 3-8 years and made of wood, the Tetris Puzzle is excellent for inspiring a child’s intelligence and teaches the kids about spatial relationships, develop their problem solving skills and boost their identify geometric concepts, strengthen their visual memory skills, hand-eye coordination and divergent thinking.

Priced at Rs. 378, the Wooden Tetris Puzzle is a perfect choice for a return gift which will also enhance the communication and emotional connect between the kids and their parents.

In a world that thrives on digital indulgence, having a miniature board game for a return gift can be such a relief! Perfect for kids above the age of 5, board games will not only be fun for the kids but a huge sigh of relief for the parents who’re always looking to save their kids from being glued to technology devices. A classic indoor game, Hasbro Gaming Pictureka is a board game for the entire family and kids aged 6 and up. It includes 9, two-sided game board tiles, 105 cards, dice and a timer with instructions for a maximum of 4 players.

The game challenges the kids to spot things quickly with an unusual picture hunt. Priced at Rs. 710, it is available on www.flipkart.com.

Invest in a unique thought of gifting a funky set of collage photo frames to the kids as return gifts. Packaged in a set of 30 frames made of paper in vibrant colors, with mini wooden clips and string, the frames come stacked flat in space-saving manner. You can choose 5-7 frames as a single return gift for each kid and let them choose to display their pictures, drawings, texts, illustrations or any other patterns of their choice in their own space!

These frames can also be weaved together as storyboards, the options are endless. Ideal for return gifts, these Picture Photo Frames are priced at Rs.529 for each set. They are available at www.amazon.in

Undoubtedly fun, a Kaleidoscope can also serve as a teaching tool for kids by way of identifying different shapes and colors that make them inquisitive and interested in the science behind it. Designed as a perfect gift for any child, a Kaleidoscope encourages ‘out of box’ thinking in a child and if the child is slightly older, you can also opt for DIY Kaleidoscope Kit.

The Funskool Kaleidoscope Deluxe, priced at Rs.349 includes a unique optical illusion kit best for kids aged 5 and up, which can be easily customized and assembled. A DIY kit, it engages the kids creatively by indulging in glass painting and embellishing lenses with beads to create the most unique designs. A beautiful craft that takes the child into a world of magical shapes and colors, the Kaleidoscope operates on the principle of multiple reflection, such that when the eye’s placed at one end of the reflector, the original view from the device on the other side’s multiplied into a symmetrical mosaic pattern. It is available on www.readers.in

Snow Globes make for beautiful gifts that are bound to make all the kids jump in joy. Getting different snow globes will add a sense of uniqueness to the return gifts and make it quite entertaining. Snow globes are safe, fun and ideal as return gifts for kids as young as a year old as well. Typically a snow globe is priced at Rs.75 and can go beyond the 250 cap, depending on its size, designs and brand. For instance, the Sloth Llama Snowglobe with Beads has a Llama character inside the globe and snow beads around it on a mint base. Measuring 80mm x 102mm, each globe is priced at Rs.629. and is available on www.amazon.in

DIY Kits are an excellent way of encouraging the creative skills of a child as also serve as unique gifts for them. There are a variety of DIY kits available in the market these days that vary from DIY learning kits to games to toys to installations. Here’s one that is loved by most.

The ‘Create and Paint Windchime’ kit comes in a set of 25 DIY kits which allow the kids to create their own windchimes from scratch. With a mould, paint and assemble kit, the kids can make a gorgeous windchime in just 3 easy steps. These windchime kits are perfect as return gifts for kids aged 5 and above and include plaster powder, moulds and other relevant accessories and priced at Rs. 4,000 for 25 kits. They are available on www.snooplay.in

Tattoos delight big and little kids equally. If you’re looking for a perfect party favor filling, temporary tattoos are the ideal return gifts to buy. From glow-in-the-dark stickers to thematic tattoos to animals in vibrant colors and different shapes or sizes, tattoos will keep the kids busy and how! These tattoo sheets are waterproof and removable. You can choose from a variety of options available. 50 sheets are priced at Rs.1,424. and available on www.ubuy.co.in

A versatile plaything, clay helps promote a child’s creativity. A clay kit would be a perfect choice for a return gift, where through multiple clay balls, children can not only understand colors, textures and shapes but also work on enhancing their coordination skills. This clay kit from Itsy Bitsy comes with an assortment of 4 colors of water based play dough and can be reused. It becomes hard and made workable by adding water.

The play dough can be bought from www.itsybitsy.in.

Stored in tight-sealed containers, these clay doughs can be combined with an assortment of clay moulds (6 pieces) in different designs. Together these kits are priced at Rs.184 for each set of play dough and moulds together. The clay moulds are available on www.itsybitsy.in

Even as adults we’ve been guilty of squirrelling quirky and delightful stationary items irrespective of whether we’ll ever use them or not! From an assortment of bright colored pens to markers to paint brushes, wooden pencil boxes to pouches to cute notebooks and more, we want them all!

So imagine when you give these and some cute erasers, drawing tools, etc to the kids, just how excited would they be! Buy them individually or collect them as sets, there are a variety of mason jar notebooks, window highlighters, furry diaries, calligraphy pens, eco-friendly folders, and animated pens, all in the range of Rs.50-900 each. Pick the best of the lot and gift away! www.so.city offers a wide range for inspiration.