Small, heartfelt gifts can make the biggest impact. This idea was inspired by hearing about a daycare that displays family photos for each child at their facility. Children are able to walk up to the photos at any point and see a comforting reminder of home.
Help your child take your love with you by printing out a family photo and placing it inside a photo keychain. This can be easily clipped to a backpack, duffel bag, or even some reusable water bottles. The printed picture can be a great source of comfort at school, or for children who split time between parents.
Backpack Tag or Photo Keychain
When it comes to gift ideas for kids, it’s easy to get swept up in the latest toys, games, or gadgets. But let’s be honest. How often do those toys end up forgotten at the bottom of the toy bin after just a few days? Children can become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of gifts and general excitement they feel during Christmas and birthdays. That’s why intentional, meaningful gifts can make such a powerful difference.
One of the most powerful yet overlooked gift ideas for kids is the gift of photos. Seeing themselves and their loved ones in print helps children build confidence, feel secure, and develop a strong sense of belonging. These simple, low-stimulation gifts encourage calm reflection and create keepsakes they’ll cherish for years.
A Yearly Memory Book
Show your child how proud you are of their progress by documenting what they did this year. Include school portraits, art projects, and special milestones. You can even scan their artwork to show how much you value their creativity and effort. We’ve seen parents do this for the calendar year (2025), or by year in school (3rd grade).
Whether it’s a pocket page scrapbook, photo flip book, or a photo case with printed photos, you can easily add short notes about what made each moment special. This can become an annual tradition to help children see how much they’ve accomplished, and to witness you celebrating their personal growth.
“Our Family” Photo Games
Turn printed photos into a fun, interactive learning activity that shows your child how many people love and care about them. Write names on the backs of small prints, and let your child guess who’s who before flipping them over. For easy storage, we love this sustainable idea of reusing a gum case!
For a more “quiet time” appropriate activity, you can also create an “I Am Loved” book. Each page can show a photo of a person in your family, with their name. Consider it to be bonus points if the photo is of the family member with the child! This can especially help smaller children learn the names and faces of the family members they may not see so often, and help build that connection.
Travel & Adventure Book
You’ve already spent time and money creating family memories. Why let the photos sit on your phone? Make a “Happy Memories” photo book from your last trip, like Disneyland or a beach vacation. Use softcover photo books that kids can keep in their rooms and flip through whenever they want. It’s a tangible way for them to remember all the fun you’ve shared.
Complete a “baby book”
“Baby book” scrapbooks are resurging in popularity for a reason! Children of any age love to see their earliest moments captured and documented. It doesn’t matter how old they are now – getting it done now and including the memories you can currently recall, is better than nothing.
This type of book isn’t just for newborns. For adopted children or any children currently in your care, creating a book celebrating how they became part of your family is deeply meaningful. It communicates, “You are important, and we were so excited for you to be here.”
Personalized Storybooks
Turn your child into the hero of their own personalized storybook! You don’t need to worry about dragging out the story to hit a specific page count- our wire bound photo books can have as few as 10 pages. Whether you use your graphic design skills to create pages on Canva, hand illustrate, or commission an artist on Etsy, children will love opening up a book where they are the protagonist.
For those children who are a little younger, we love the idea of making an ABC photo book. Think “A is for apple,” with a picture of them holding one. This type of gift invites imagination, literacy, and self-recognition.
The Secret Ingredient: Intention
Once all the excitement of unwrapping gifts fades, take a few quiet moments with your child to explain the meaning behind these special presents. Tell them how loved they are and what you hope they’ll feel when they look at these photos. This extra layer of intention turns a simple gift into something unforgettable.
Families who regularly look through printed photos together often feel more connected. As you share stories, laugh over memories, and praise your child’s efforts, you’re reinforcing your child’s sense of identity and self-worth. This family ritual helps to form a positive self-narrative that says, “I am loved. I belong.”