A fabulous Christmas gift that I got the kids were foamies.  Before Christmas, 3 of my friends and I were going browsing at  Michaels  (on a VERY rare Mom's night out), and braingstorming was high among us.  They were having a sale on foamies (1/2 off so less than $4), so we were coming up with all sorts of uses for them.

STORAGE & GIFT IDEA:  Because so many come in the tub, I divided them in small Rubbermade "Take Alongs," Glad/Ziploc plastic containers, and ziploc baggies that I had gotten at the dollar store, and put them in plastic totes with handles on the lids. (You could do the same with shoe boxes, etc.)  I label the tote with what supplies are inside (in this case, "Tyson's Foamies," etc,  and put them on the shelves for the kids in our school area. 

I also only used HALF of the foamies that come in the orginal packaging because as there are so many,  there will be more for additional gifts for their birthdays, etc.

IDEA #1:   For both of the kids, I got "ABC, 123" shapes that had animals in them too.  They can use them in art projects.  Little Guy is 2, so he will enjoy the animals and will start to recognize the letter and number, while 6 y.o. Darling Daughter can use them for "telling" me the answers to math problems and for spelling out words and short sentences.  They will also use these in art work and letters to send to family and friends, since they are flat and will fit in envelopes easily.

IDEA #2:  I also bought large sheets of foamie "paper" and using templates from my scrapbooking supply and the internet, I cut out people, clothes, shapes, frames, leaves, flowers, etc. for the kids to decorate.  MUCH cheaper that buying the precut packages at the store and I have lots of sheets left over for future projects & presents.

IDEA # 3:  For Darling Daughter, I also got her the big foam beads in different shapes so she could use her creativity in creating necklaces, etc.  It helps prepare little ones for needlework and REALLY helps with fine motor coordination.  For Little Guy, I could use them in the future to help him sort shapes and lacing.  For Darling Daughter, we could also use them for math manipulatives.

IDEA #4:  My dear friend who is in charge of our children's ministry and I came up with this one.  Our church uses curriculum from 252 Basics and every month, there is a bible verse and character trait definition to memorize.  She picked up the doorknob hangers, and together we come up with the idea to put a frame on the front with an opening on top to slip in a new card every month containing the verse, etc.  The kids can keep them on the door to their rooms and this will help them memorize their verse and virtues for the month.