So the other day, we went to my friend's house to have her take some family photos of us. While we were there, my friend's sister-in-law was wrapping presents. My two kids wanted to help her, and she let them. Things went really well. As I thought about it, I was a bit disappointed with myself that I had never let my kids help with wrapping before!
We had an activity a couple of days later where we had the kids each buy a present for a sibling. I decided this was a perfect time to let them start helping to wrap presents.
SKILLS DEVELOPED
Wrapping presents is great for fine motor skills. You use scissors and tape. You fold paper. You also get some spacial judgement practice as you figure out how much paper to use for a present.
AGE RANGE
I will defer to your judgement on this, but don't be as off as I was. At age 3, Kaitlyn was more than ready to help. But I didn't let McKenna help as a 1.5 year old. So perhaps consider it with a 2 year old, by 3 I think any child can help. There might be some 1 year olds who can help. I think I could see Brayden doing that at one.
Here is Kaitlyn wrapping the present she chose for McKenna. The photo above is the finished product. She did a great job!
My son is 2 and he "helped" me wrap presents this year by tearing off the tape and helping me cut. It really is surprising how quickly they learn things!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! I've had the kids help make wrapping paper, but not wrap. My 4YO definitely has the necessary skills (that he could use practice on). Sometimes I run around like a chicken with my head cut off, decorating gifts for people, putting a salad together for dinner, setting the table, and then realize my older son could do it, and wants to!
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