Father's Day gifts from kids: toddler and preschool ideas

The best Father's Day gifts from little kids are made by the kids and fit what they can actually do at their age: a toddler's scribble printed onto a mug, side-by-side handprints, a preschooler's drawing of Dad with a caption they dictate, or a coupon book for things they want to do together. Pair the homemade thing with an hour of real time together and you have covered the part that tends to get remembered.

Below are ideas sorted by age, a few books to read with Dad, and things to buy when the week runs out.

What kids can make at each age

The trick is matching the project to the child. The CDC's milestone checklists are a good guide to what to expect: scribbles at 18 months, draws a circle when you show him how at 3, and by 4 the checklist includes drawing a person with three or more body parts and talking about something that happened during the day. So a 1 year old makes marks, a 3 year old makes shapes and stories, and a 4 year old can draw Dad and tell you what he is doing.

Age	They can do	Projects that fit
1 to 2	Scribbles, stamps, presses	Handprints, scribble on a mug, sponge-painted card
3	Circles, tells you what a picture is	"This is Daddy" drawing with a dictated caption, painted rock
4 to 5	Draws people, answers questions, likes helping	Interview page, coupon book, fabric-marker shirt, helping make breakfast

Toddler Father's Day gifts (1 to 2)

At this age the other parent, a grandparent or a daycare teacher does the planning. The toddler's part is one or two minutes.

• Big hand, little hand. Dad's handprint in one color, the toddler's on top in another, the date underneath. It works best as a surprise if you trace Dad's hand on paper while he naps and paint inside the outline.
• A scribble on something he uses. Photograph a good scribble and print it on a mug, a mouse pad or a phone case. Order two to three weeks ahead.
• A video of pointing. Lay out photos of Dad doing different things (cooking, mowing, at work) and film the toddler finding "Daddy". Toddlers who are not talking yet can still play this.
• A board book signed in crayon. See the list below.

Use washable paint and crayons with the AP seal. ACMI recommends looking for its AP Seal on creative products for kids in sixth grade or younger, which means a toxicologist has certified the product is not harmful when used as intended.

Preschool Father's Day gifts (3 to 5)

Preschoolers can do most of the work themselves, which is what makes these good.

• "This is my dad" drawing. Give them a big sheet and ask them to draw Dad doing his favorite thing. Then write their caption exactly as they say it. "Daddy is fixing the car and he is very tall" is better than anything a card company prints.
• The dad interview. Ask ten questions and write the answers down word for word: How old is Daddy? What is his job? What does he cook? What is he scared of? What does he say when he is mad? Frame it, or slip it into a card. Do it every year on the same sheet and you have a growth chart in words.
• A coupon book of their ideas. Let the child pick: "one bike ride", "one time I let you pick the show", "one breakfast I help make". The kid ideas are funnier and more honest than adult ones.
• A shirt they decorate. A plain cotton T-shirt, fabric markers, and a piece of cardboard inside so it does not bleed through. Dads wear these to the hardware store for years.
• Help make breakfast. Preschoolers can wash berries, stir batter and carry napkins. The CDC lists "likes to be a helper" among 4-year milestones, so let them.
• A coloring page of Dad and the kids. Turn a family photo into line art with our guide to turning a photo into a coloring page for free, then let the kids color it in. Make a blank copy too, so Dad can color one with them.

Books to read with Dad

A picture book with an inscription from the kids is a gift that gets used at bedtime. These are about fathers and children and are easy to find in libraries:

• Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
• Daddy Hugs 1 2 3 by Karen Katz, for the youngest
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Have the kids "sign" the inside cover and write the year. If Dad is also the family reader, a recorded book works too: Hallmark sells recordable storybooks where you press a button to record your own voice reading the story, and the kids can do the recording.

Gifts to buy, by type

If you would rather buy something, keep the kids in it.

Idea	Example maker	Kids' part
Mug or tote with their drawing	Snapfish, most photo services	The drawing
Photo book of Dad and the kids	Chatbooks, Shutterfly	Picking the photos, captions in their words
Book of the kids' art	Artkive	A year of drawings
Personalized coloring storybook	Colorkin	They star in it with Dad

Colorkin makes a coloring storybook from your family photos, drafted with AI illustration tools and checked page by page by a person, with Dad in the story alongside the kids. It is $29 as a printable PDF or $59 printed, and it needs a couple of weeks of lead time for the printed version. A homemade version from your own photos costs paper and ink; our guide to making a coloring book from photos walks through it. I made the first one for my own two kids, and they still come back to the pages that show them, which is why I would put the family in whatever you give.

Timing

Homemade gifts need a week at most and can be done the night before. Anything printed needs two to three weeks. If you are coordinating with a daycare or preschool, ask the teacher what the class is making so you do not end up with three handprint cards.

For more ideas, see our gift ideas hub, our Mother's Day gifts from a toddler guide for the week-long plan, and gifts for grandparents from grandkids if Grandpa is on the list too.

Questions parents ask