Holidays Unwrapped - Gift Ideas

To create family memories and traditions:

1. Put together a picture album showing the various generations of your family. Don't forget to label each picture. It's easy to have multiple copies made so that everyone can have an album.

2. Give your children or grandchildren a dish or cup and saucer or something that belonged to a family member and include the story about the person who first enjoyed the item.

3. Often family mementos can be found in the kitchen. Give a kitchen item that belonged to a family member and include a family recipe with it.

4. Do a family history and include pictures if you have them.

5. Write your story or stories about various aspects of your life. Give everyone a copy. This can be done on paper or on an audio tape or do a video.

6. Write a story about your holiday memories to share with your family.

7. Compile a family recipe book.

To share values and experiences about money:

8. Spend time playing a game about money (such as Monopoly, The Game of Life, or Money Dominoes) with children.

9. Share a book about finances. See possibilities on next page.

10. Give a piggy bank to encourage savings.

11. Start (or contribute to) a savings account or 529 plan account for money towards college.

12. Give a magazine subscription related to money such as Money, Consumer Reports, Smart Money or Kiplinger's.

13. Give items to start a home filing system (file, folders, and labels).

14. Give a gift certificate for a basic financial plan from a fee-only financial planner.

Book ideas:

Many wonderful books exist that you can share with family and friends. The books listed here are examples, and are not an endorsement by University of Illinois Extension.

For young children:

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams, Greenwillow Books, NY, 1982.

Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst, Aladdin Paperbacks, NY, 1988.

Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn, Lee & Low Books, Inc., NY, 1995.

For youth:

Lunch Money by Andrew Clements, Aladdin Paperbacks, NY, 2005.

The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, Pfeifer-Hamilton Publishers, MN, 2000.

Book stores and libraries have many stories about families sharing traditions from other generations. Here are some examples:

This Is The Bird by George Shannon, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1997.

Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco, Philomel Books, NY, 2002.

The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco, Aladdin Paperbacks, NY, 1996.

Nine Spoons—A Chanukah Story by Marci Stillerman, Hachai Publishing, 1998.

For adults:

Get a Financial Life – Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner, Simon & Schuster, NY, 2000.

On My Own Two Feet by Manish Thakor and Sharon Kedar, Adams Media, MA, 2007.

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