DIY Santa Share Sack | Help Kids Learn to Give and Receive
DIY Santa Share Sack | Help Kids Learn to Give and Receive
Updated with Embroidered Stocking Cuff December 2021
PLEASE NOTE | The following project requires participants to believe in Santa and all the magic that the season brings: time with family, naming blessings, giving, receiving with gratitude, and let's not forget the festive nibbles!
If your little elves find themselves wanting in the 'Santa Myth' department or are on the cusp of this milestone, read them The Polar Express to help them remember the joy of faith.
Tis Better To...
I confess to surreptitiously gathering, nay confiscating my kiddos' unused toys and making a trip to the donation station a couple of times a year. It helps with my anxiety over too much 'stuff' and I think works to ease some of my 'embarrassment of riches' that I think many of us deal with. I'm grateful for all that we have. And honestly, I know my kids are too.
Maybe not in the existential way that I am, but I know they appreciate what they have. So with that little share above, I'm constantly looking for ways to encourage and teach the kids about sharing and giving, even when it's hard.
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Santa's Sharing Sack
The holidays make it a little easier because everyone around them is talking about giving and receiving, mainly receiving, but their school and our church do a great job of talking up the giving too.
This year I felt it time to set a holiday tradition into motion that will make it easy every year to think about others and share all that we do have when it comes to the toy box.
I'm calling it my Santa Share Sack and it's the fastest and simplest way I know to inject a little festivity into the act of giving for early grade school, even toddler, kiddos.
Ask your kids to collect a couple or a few gently used toys to place in the Santa Share Sack on Christmas Eve. When Santa comes he'll enjoy a cookie or two, deliver your goodies and take the goodies that you have generously shared with him from the Santa Share Sack.
He'll take your old, but nice toys back to the North Pole where he'll refurbish them, buff them up, repackage them and share them with another little kiddo.
Here's what you need to make your own Santa Share Sack
- 1 yard felt fabric (I combined some green scraps I had which explains the horizontal center seam. Thrifty!)
- 1 yard pom pom
- 2.5 yards 2" wide ribbon
- Coordinating thread
- Sewing machine
- Stick pins
- Large safety pin to thread ribbon
- Scissors
Here's what you'll do to make your own Santa Share Sack
- Start by folding your felt in half and cutting to size. My finished bag is 22"wide by 28"high. It's big enough to hold lots of nice medium-sized and smaller toys and books.
- Pin your pom pom heart to the front of your bag.
- Now sew the pom pom heart to the front.
- Turn the bag right sides together and begin sewing at the bottom of the bag where your fold begins.
- Sew the bottom then up the open side finishing your seam 4.5" before the end of the felt (this is where you'll sew the channel for your ribbon.)
- Fold the top of the felt bag down 2" to the inside of the bag. You'll sew this seam and your finished edge will be on the inside of the bag.
- Clip your safety pin to the end of your ribbon and thread through the channel you just created.
- Cut your ribbon to your desired shape and finish the ends with a lighter (careful!) or clear nail polish.
- Turn your bag right side out et voila! C'est tout!
Now begin the exciting, but potentially delicate discussion with your little elves about filling the Santa Share Sack with toys for other little elves to enjoy.
Good luck and Merry Christmas!!
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HELLO THERE!
Today is a gift. Let's put a bow on it!
Find creative and sustainable ways to make family life a delight! Sharing modern etiquette that kids will enjoy.
💕 jennifer
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