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Can’t afford Chanukah gifts for the kids 😢
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amother
Aconite


 

Post Yesterday at 8:33 pm
amother Indigo wrote:
That’s rough with teens
Please tell them before Chanukah that you won’t be getting them the things on their list, in whatever kind way you can think of.
I can’t get gifts this year either but my kids are under 8 and don’t expect much.

When my kids were under 8, I got them stuff at the dollar tree. They were perfectly happy with that.
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amother
Charcoal


 

Post Yesterday at 8:34 pm
- Any kids like like to read? You can get good condition used books.
- Girls into jewlery? You'd be surprised what you can find (fakes obviously) on Amazon for 10-15 bucks. I promise you I have gotten so many compliments on a few dainty necklaces.
- Spa type stuff? Bath bombs/shower steamers.
- Some science or stem projects- there's all sorts of things out there. From mini robot to build your own speakers .Basically lots.
- paint kits/diy paint night for a crafty child? Mosaic photo frames? So cute. Also diy pendant jewlery.
-puzzles like tangrams, advanced rubic cubes etc /some card and board games.

I agree the best is when you have an experience you can all enjoy together. Maybe they want to collectively get something. Or a few kids/ so instead of 10 bucks there's 20 for them to decide on something they can share?


Hatzlacha
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amother
Dandelion


 

Post Yesterday at 8:36 pm
Op in the future don't do gifts. I say our family doesn't we give the children and teens an amount of money they could spend it on something small that they want or add it to their saving to buy something big. I also started my own family traditions that doesn't involve spending money. The economy is bad I have a feeling everyone is cutting down this year. All non Jewish and Jewish store pit board games on sale. Board games could be so affordable.
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amother
Freesia


 

Post Yesterday at 8:38 pm
amother OP wrote:
Am I the only one? I’m feeling so bad about it. My kids are going to be so sad 😭

I feel your pain I'm in the same situation in my opinion this has to stop we brought this on ourselves unfortunately Crying
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amother
  Indigo


 

Post Yesterday at 8:39 pm
amother Aconite wrote:
When my kids were under 8, I got them stuff at the dollar tree. They were perfectly happy with that.


I don’t have the extra $15 either
We have just enough for rent, electricity, phone bills, tuition and basic basic food.
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amother
  Grape  


 

Post Yesterday at 8:42 pm
someone mentioned a shared gift. what about soemthing for their room if they share a room? something major and exciting like swing below. not as cheap as five below but possibly in your budget? I don’t know ur budget and I also dont know if you have anyone you know that would know how to install it and can do for you free of charge. if you will have to hire a handyman then obvs forget about it. could b im way off base but I’ll post anyway in case it’s soemthing doable for you that the kids would enjoy. def very exciting for teens. you can find a bunch of versions of such items. idea is an indoor swing for their bedroom to share

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081.....ss_tl
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momma 17




 
 
    
 

Post Yesterday at 8:46 pm
I know this won't help for this year but I usually buy my kids chanukah presents during Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
I spent around $80 total for 3 kids.
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amother
Watermelon


 

Post Yesterday at 8:47 pm
We don’t do Chanukah gifts, we do a Chanukah day trip.
Im not saying that’s more affordable for you, my point is Chanukah gifts, especially selected/ listed by the kids, does not have to be a thing in your family if that doesn’t work for you. It’s all together very x-mas-y.
Will they be getting any money or gifts from grandparents or relatives? Maybe they’ll be ok with that.
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amother
  OP  


 

Post Yesterday at 8:47 pm
amother Grape wrote:
ok here is a third idea. not sure how your kids would enjoy so you decide.

make a scavenger hunt for them to find their gift. I always warn my kids tht it isn’t a major gift more just like a prize but they don’t care bec it is such a blast for them. we do it after chanukah candles.
I will do a separate hunt with totally diff clues for each kid and all of them end at the same place. the rule is when u are up to ur last clue u have to wait for everyone else to all solve the last together and find the prize .

I will do either word clues where they have to solve what im saying to know where to go. you can also print pictures of things in ur house very zoomed up that they have to figure out what it is to know where to go. if you have younger kids tht would b jealous and want to b involved y can make a hunt for them too by either printing easy pics if they cannot read and obviously not too zoomed up or it’ll b hard you can also make easy word clues for younger kids or another idea u take an item and they need to go where that item goes. so u give them a diaper and they need to go to where you keep diapers and by the diapers put a snack bag there and they will realize it doesn’t go there and continue to the snack bags drawer and will find a banana. and then they go where the bananas are kept etc etc. and they clean up as they go.

at the final location can just b a small prize. if it’s teens soemthing every age appreciates and my daughter was actually asking me for is wtvr fidget the kids are into now. and those are usually pretty cheap. I know my daughter been asking me for needoh cuz supposedly thts the very best squish thing which I didn’t buy cuz I don’t think is necessary. there is another thing the kids are big into now called maybe impossible cone and there is another pretty new one my 14 year old just asked me for I can’t rem the name but if ur interested I can find out. also just a bag of chocolate coins is exciting you can do that at the end instead of a prize. and then you can all sit down to a game of dreidel! my kids favorite night of chanukah is the night we do the scavenger hunt and it literally costs no money especially if you just do a chanukah treat at the end which I very often do. young and old enjoy it in my house. kids wait for it all year long. just a suggestion….


and I saw lots of ppl mentioned privileges. I did tht one year but jazzed it up in that we made a chinese auction of privileges and made a whole to do about it. kids had a blast. you can also play a game first to earn tickets for the auction. Chanukah can b loads of fun without spending a lot. no need to spend a ton of money you don’t have just make whole lot of family fun memories. I know it’s not the same as what they wanted but if you don’t usually do this kind of stuff they may actually appreciate it as a whole new excitement.

good luck!


Those r such cute ideas!!! Thank u!
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amother
Candycane


 

Post Yesterday at 8:49 pm
amother Grape wrote:
ok here is a third idea. not sure how your kids would enjoy so you decide.

make a scavenger hunt for them to find their gift. I always warn my kids tht it isn’t a major gift more just like a prize but they don’t care bec it is such a blast for them. we do it after chanukah candles.
I will do a separate hunt with totally diff clues for each kid and all of them end at the same place. the rule is when u are up to ur last clue u have to wait for everyone else to all solve the last together and find the prize .

I will do either word clues where they have to solve what im saying to know where to go. you can also print pictures of things in ur house very zoomed up that they have to figure out what it is to know where to go. if you have younger kids tht would b jealous and want to b involved y can make a hunt for them too by either printing easy pics if they cannot read and obviously not too zoomed up or it’ll b hard you can also make easy word clues for younger kids or another idea u take an item and they need to go where that item goes. so u give them a diaper and they need to go to where you keep diapers and by the diapers put a snack bag there and they will realize it doesn’t go there and continue to the snack bags drawer and will find a banana. and then they go where the bananas are kept etc etc. and they clean up as they go.

at the final location can just b a small prize. if it’s teens soemthing every age appreciates and my daughter was actually asking me for is wtvr fidget the kids are into now. and those are usually pretty cheap. I know my daughter been asking me for needoh cuz supposedly thts the very best squish thing which I didn’t buy cuz I don’t think is necessary. there is another thing the kids are big into now called maybe impossible cone and there is another pretty new one my 14 year old just asked me for I can’t rem the name but if ur interested I can find out. also just a bag of chocolate coins is exciting you can do that at the end instead of a prize. and then you can all sit down to a game of dreidel! my kids favorite night of chanukah is the night we do the scavenger hunt and it literally costs no money especially if you just do a chanukah treat at the end which I very often do. young and old enjoy it in my house. kids wait for it all year long. just a suggestion….


and I saw lots of ppl mentioned privileges. I did tht one year but jazzed it up in that we made a chinese auction of privileges and made a whole to do about it. kids had a blast. you can also play a game first to earn tickets for the auction. Chanukah can b loads of fun without spending a lot. no need to spend a ton of money you don’t have just make whole lot of family fun memories. I know it’s not the same as what they wanted but if you don’t usually do this kind of stuff they may actually appreciate it as a whole new excitement.

good luck!


Can you help me out with scavenger hunt clues? I wanted to do this this yr but I'm not feeling very creative Wink
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amother
  OP  


 

Post Yesterday at 8:52 pm
Thank u all so much for such great ideas! Hopefully I’ll figure something out from all of this.
The hardest part is that some of the things on the lists that they made r things that they really “need” which I’ve been pushing off because we can’t afford it
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amother
Coral


 

Post Yesterday at 8:53 pm
amother Grape wrote:
ok here is a third idea. not sure how your kids would enjoy so you decide.

make a scavenger hunt for them to find their gift. I always warn my kids tht it isn’t a major gift more just like a prize but they don’t care bec it is such a blast for them. we do it after chanukah candles.
I will do a separate hunt with totally diff clues for each kid and all of them end at the same place. the rule is when u are up to ur last clue u have to wait for everyone else to all solve the last together and find the prize .

I will do either word clues where they have to solve what im saying to know where to go. you can also print pictures of things in ur house very zoomed up that they have to figure out what it is to know where to go. if you have younger kids tht would b jealous and want to b involved y can make a hunt for them too by either printing easy pics if they cannot read and obviously not too zoomed up or it’ll b hard you can also make easy word clues for younger kids or another idea u take an item and they need to go where that item goes. so u give them a diaper and they need to go to where you keep diapers and by the diapers put a snack bag there and they will realize it doesn’t go there and continue to the snack bags drawer and will find a banana. and then they go where the bananas are kept etc etc. and they clean up as they go.

at the final location can just b a small prize. if it’s teens soemthing every age appreciates and my daughter was actually asking me for is wtvr fidget the kids are into now. and those are usually pretty cheap. I know my daughter been asking me for needoh cuz supposedly thts the very best squish thing which I didn’t buy cuz I don’t think is necessary. there is another thing the kids are big into now called maybe impossible cone and there is another pretty new one my 14 year old just asked me for I can’t rem the name but if ur interested I can find out. also just a bag of chocolate coins is exciting you can do that at the end instead of a prize. and then you can all sit down to a game of dreidel! my kids favorite night of chanukah is the night we do the scavenger hunt and it literally costs no money especially if you just do a chanukah treat at the end which I very often do. young and old enjoy it in my house. kids wait for it all year long. just a suggestion….


and I saw lots of ppl mentioned privileges. I did tht one year but jazzed it up in that we made a chinese auction of privileges and made a whole to do about it. kids had a blast. you can also play a game first to earn tickets for the auction. Chanukah can b loads of fun without spending a lot. no need to spend a ton of money you don’t have just make whole lot of family fun memories. I know it’s not the same as what they wanted but if you don’t usually do this kind of stuff they may actually appreciate it as a whole new excitement.

good luck!


You're so creative!! I love the Chinese auction idea! What kind of privileges do you offer?
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amother
  Grape  


 

Post Yesterday at 9:00 pm
amother OP wrote:
Those r such cute ideas!!! Thank u!


my pleasure. I rly try to make chanukha about family experiences/togetherness. so a fun family activity every night. can be making latkes and donuts too but EVErYONE has to be involved. I put my teen in charge of stuff soemtimes and she loves it! some nights we have family chanukah parties so those night we skip. but chanukah rly rly is not about gifts and like someone else mentioned just start making family traditions and replace it with that and chanukha will be something fun to look forward to and not necessarily about what gift did you get. anything your kids will find “nerdy” you can make into fun. like the little chanukha treats in a scavenger hunt or privileges auction or wtvr. good luck and I hope this is your family’s best chanukah yet! and don’t forget to turn on the chanukah music when you are doing your activity to get everyone into the spirit. enjoy!
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mommy3b2c




 
 
    
 

Post Yesterday at 9:01 pm
amother OP wrote:
Thank u all so much for such great ideas! Hopefully I’ll figure something out from all of this.
The hardest part is that some of the things on the lists that they made r things that they really “need” which I’ve been pushing off because we can’t afford it


Can you list some or the things ? Maybe I can help you out .
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amother
Midnight


 

Post Yesterday at 9:05 pm
Can you get one thing on the list of things they need? Even a cheaper version… the goal is to show them that you know them and what they love. Doesn’t need to be expensive.
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amother
  Grape  


 

Post Yesterday at 9:05 pm
amother Coral wrote:
You're so creative!! I love the Chinese auction idea! What kind of privileges do you offer?


I rly don’t remember but here are some ideas:

later bedtime
mom makes ur favorite dinner
if your kids have chores let them skip a night
mom takes u out for a slurpee
pick a shabbos meal don’t have to help clear the table
pick a shabbos meal don’t have to help serve
trip to the library to pick out books
sleepover at grandparents for shabbos (obvs check with the grandparents)
dad takes you out for pizza one motzei shabbos
pick the dessert for shabbos
if your teens fight over the phone can do that you get a certain block of time that’s all yours

I have to keep thinking but the ideas are endless. depends on how your family operates and does things what your kids will appreciate.


for younger kids obviously the ideas will b diff. I was gearing towards the teens
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amother
Skyblue


 

Post Yesterday at 9:06 pm
Five below has a chocolate fondue set my kids love. Add baking chocolate, marshmallows & jack & Jill cookies & wrap for a nice presentation & a fun night.

They also have a decent selection of board games. Toys 4 u had big boggle very reduced if you don't have it yet.
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amother
  Grape  


 

Post Yesterday at 9:07 pm
amother Candycane wrote:
Can you help me out with scavenger hunt clues? I wanted to do this this yr but I'm not feeling very creative Wink


lol. I’ll b honest last couple years I got lazy and just did the hunt where you put a different thing in each location and geared to my younger ones. this year I hope to make separate hunts for everyone so my older kids more included. but I rly gotta get my act together cuz it’s almost chanukha. I cant make your clues because I lead them to specific places in my house for example the magna tile bucket or the dollhouse or a pillow they have on their bed or a picture they have hanging on their wall etc . I don’t know what’s in your house.
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amother
  OP  


 

Post Yesterday at 9:11 pm
amother Grape wrote:
I rly don’t remember but here are some ideas:

later bedtime
mom makes ur favorite dinner
if your kids have chores let them skip a night
mom takes u out for a slurpee
pick a shabbos meal don’t have to help clear the table
pick a shabbos meal don’t have to help serve
trip to the library to pick out books
sleepover at grandparents for shabbos (obvs check with the grandparents)
dad takes you out for pizza one motzei shabbos
pick the dessert for shabbos
if your teens fight over the phone can do that you get a certain block of time that’s all yours

I have to keep thinking but the ideas are endless. depends on how your family operates and does things what your kids will appreciate.


for younger kids obviously the ideas will b diff. I was gearing towards the teens


Wow! U really have such great ideas!
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amother
Chocolate  


 

Post Yesterday at 9:14 pm
This is a super cute jewlery box, my teen chose it. It can be used as a regular jewlery box or a practical travel one. $6.99

https://www.amazon.com/Travel-.....ss_tl
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