When I was in elementary school, I remember every December we’d have the opportunity to bring money with us to school and visit a special holiday kids shopping area, where we could secretly pick out gifts for our family members. I loved it and looked forward to it every year!
Last year, we decided to implement a similar concept by taking the kids to the Dollar Tree and letting them pick out a gift for each family member. The kids loved it. The teacher in me loved the idea of encouraging them to think of others and pay attention to what others enjoyed and liked, but the anti-materialistic me was bothered by the ‘stuff’ aspect—many things we received weren’t used for long if at all.
This year, we saw that Ten Thousand Village in Ephrata was featuring a Holiday Shopping Village for children—where children get to do their own secret shopping for family and friends—tended by friendly and helpful elves.
How does the Shopping Village work?
You set the budget and a gift recipient list, and their elf team helps your child make appropriate gift selections in a special shopping area designed just for them (complete with a little door sized just perfectly for young shoppers).
>>>> Check out my Instagram stories for a live walk-thru with my kids! <<<<
Inside, your children will find tables marked for people they are shopping for like Mom and Grandma, Dad and Grandpa, Brother and Sister—there’s even a special $5 and under table.
What price ranges are the items?
The cost of the items range from about $2-$18, with the average being in the $5-12 range. Ten Thousand Villages recommend you estimate about $10 per person they are shopping for—but I will add that they can easily find several unique items for less than that, if you are shopping on a strict budget.
To give you an idea:
- Bags of coffee about $8.
- Bags of cashews about $8.
- Ornaments about $3-8.
- Soaps about $8.
- Ceramic items about $12-18.
- Finger Puppets $4.99.
What types of items are available?
The first thing my daughter asked for when the elf introduced the table areas was—do you have any coffee? That girl knew the quick and easy way to her Dad’s heart! And yes, they do have a food table that includes—coffee, hot chocolate, chocolate bars, nuts and other small food items.
Here are some various items that caught our eye, but there are hundreds more options including hot pads, food items, key chains, mugs, candle holders and kitchen items.
My personal favorites are those push bicycle toys. Little kids LOVE to push them around. (If you can see it, each one has a handle that extends up so a child can push it around while walking.) How cute!
When your kids are done shopping, their choices will come back out with them in bags tied with ribbons. You’ll get a price list to take to the register. You’ll have to wait until Christmas morning to see what they picked! 🙂
Our Final Thoughts
We really enjoyed our time shopping at the Kids Holiday Shopping Village, although we did spend a little more than we thought we would. You see, once I saw how generous their hearts were, and how they were finding items that meant something special to the one they loved—I just couldn’t say no. We decided together that anything they spent over my allotted budget, they could pay me out of their summer earnings from working for grandparents or neighbors.
My advice is to go in with a budget, and let the elves do the work for you, as best as they can. If you’re there it might be harder for your kids to stick to budget. Our kids picked names before they went in and had a secret sibling to shop for at $10 each. In retrospect, I would have also given them a budget of $10 more to choose 2-3 more items for whoever they chose, whether it be mom, dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle or whomever. It gives the children and the elves a little freedom. My daughter immediately found the prefect gift for someone we weren’t looking for, but my 5-year old son was content just to get a gift for the one person he had his mind set on. It all worked out!
Remember that everyone votes with their dollar. These items are fair trade items, made in another country by real people that get paid fair wages. I found the story of how Ten Thousand Villages began very interesting.
One of my favorite quotes from a store associate was “everyone can vote with their dollar.” Even kids can vote with their dollar! And as parents, we can play a part in that by encouraging fair trade shopping during the holidays!
Kids Holiday Shopping Village Details
The Kids Holiday Shopping Village is open normal business hours and Saturdays until 4pm. It’s in the back of the Ephrata store (240 N Reading Rd). I’m sure you’ll see all the hustle and bustle of activity, but just ask at the front desk if you need help finding it. Parking tip >> there is parking behind the store. Its much easier to get in and out if you use the back parking lot! 🙂
FYI: Parents are allowed to go into the village with their children, if they desire to do so.
When your kids are finished (or if you want them to go in one at a time so they don’t see what they choose for another sibling), take the opportunity to walk around the store. They have a special scavenger hunt happening right now—find 12 little vincuna (a half cousin to llamas and alpacas) scattered throughout the store. Head over to the Bunyaad Rug Room for details.
