If you are going to wrap a present, it can be something in your home which is just as fun and can be
given to the recipient soon after so the concept of gift giving becomes more clear. You can do this
randomly throughout the week and even wrap one for your child. You may not get through the whole
activity the first time but, with multiple opportunities, the task should become easier and fun.
After you read through the example of wrapping a present think of how to communicate with your
child during giving, receiving and openning a present.
You can start out the activity by asking some of these questions “Let’s wrap a present. What
are we going to wrap? We are going to wrap a present for dad. It’s a shirt. What is it? Who is the
shirt for?” Next it might be a good idea to talk about supplies “OK we need to get some paper,
scissors, tape and a box? What do we need?” See what your child remembers from that list. “Ok,
let’s get the scissors first. Where are the scissors? Look they are in the drawer. Open the drawer
and take out the scissors. “You can do this with all the supplies or just one depending on time and
attention. Once you have the supplies you can use this as an opportunity to target vocabulary by
either saying “what’s this?” or “Show me” with the supplies. Next you could say “Ok, wrap the
present” and you will most likely get a puzzled look if it’s the first time you are doing this. You can
then say “Oh, do you need help? you can say ‘I want help’ and then proceed with “Put the shirt in the
box” but have the box be too small and say “Uh oh! The shirt is big and the box is small. We need a
big box. Where is a big box? Look! it’s under the table” and then have your child get the box. “OK
now we have to put the shirt in the box and put the top on. Where is the top? Is it on the floor?
No. Is it on the table? No. Is it on the chair? Yes! Can you get the top and put it on the box. Hey!
Where did the shirt go? It’s in the box.” Next show your child the wrapping paper and say “What’s
this?” See if he/she can recall the name of it from when you introduced it in the beginning. If not,
it’s another opportunity to practice. Unrolling the paper and cutting it can be a project in itself. You
can have your child unroll a little paper and talk about how long or short the paper is. Encourage at
least a couple snips with scissors even if your doing most of the work. Then say “OK lets wrap” and
wrap the present but do not use tape. It will fall apart and you can use this as another teaching
moment. “Uh oh! What happened? The paper fell off. Oh we need tape to hold the paper” The tape
is often very motivating but can be a little tricky. Show your child how to use the dispensor a few
times then let him/her try on their own. If they can do it great! They’ll be entertained for a while
and be proud of their accomplishment. If not tear the pieces off and let your child put tape on the
box. Don’t forget the tag. You can say things like “What’s this? Who’s name goes on it? Where
do you want to put the tag? When you are done wrapping it you can say “Look what you made? Is it
big or small, hard or soft? What shape is it? What’s in it? Who are we giving it to? Let’s go give
it to_”. Remember to talk about what you’re doing and ask questions.