Buying jewelry for kids is quite different from buying a piece for yourself or any adult. Jewelry is a meaningful gift for your kids because it could be an heirloom piece that they will take with them until they are old. They can even pass it on to their own kids and grandkids.
However, there are a lot of factors that play into buying jewelry for kids. You have to make sure it’s age-appropriate, as well as it is made of non-allergic materials and is comfortable for them to wear.
Stud Earrings
This piece of jewelry is like a rite of passage for baby girls. The point of stud earrings is that babies cannot accidentally pull them out from their ears. As they grow older, you can teach them how to take it off and clean them. It’s a good start to teach them how to be responsible for their things. There are many different designs of stud earrings. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, although choose cute shapes such as hearts, flowers, and butterflies. You can even choose a pair with gemstones or their birthstones.
Rings
As the kids grow, you can start experimenting with other types of jewelry. You can give them rings as they would most likely notice you wearing one. Rings come with cute designs. They can either have their birthstones or you can have their names engraved on them. Some parents give their high school kids silicone promise rings to symbolize some form of commitment made between them. Sometimes, this commitment has something to do with their involvement in love relationships. Other times, it’s about finishing their studies with flying colors.
Bracelet
Most parents give their babies a bracelet as a first fine-jewelry gift. They usually have their names and birthdates engraved on the inside of the bracelet. It’s a great first piece of jewelry because babies cannot take it off easily. But as they grow old, you can transition to giving them charm bracelets where they can add charms for every milestone, interest, and place they visited. Over time, they’ll have a bracelet full of special charms that will remind them of wonderful memories.
Once they meet friends, you’ll probably notice them sporting friendship bracelets. In the 1990s, these came in the form of multicolor threads that kids knot together. Teens back then loved making these bracelets for their friends. At summer camps, they exchange such friendship bracelets with other kids who they will most likely not see for some time because of distance.
Watch
Kids in kindergarten can already have their own watch. This will help them tell the time, as well as keep them on time for their activities. It’s functional and kids love having the same accessory as their parents. Modern kiddie watches are now equipped with a tracking device. For younger kids, the watch can send a warning if they go farther from the radius set in the watch. For older kids, you can open an app and track where the watch is. It can even tell you if it’s still on your kids’ wrist.
Safety and Comfort
Some kids have allergies to certain metals, especially when they sweat. This is true for adults, too. To be on the safe side, you need to stick to real metals such as gold. Some jewelers also sell hypoallergenic jewelry, which is ideal for babies and kids with sensitive skin.
For safety reasons, try not to give little kids a necklace. They can pull on it and accidentally hurt themselves. Once they are older and understand how to wear jewelry, then you can think about buying a necklace with a pendant. Also, kids are a little rowdy, so make sure that they will still be comfortable while wearing the jewelry you bought for them.
When you have older kids, give them specific instructions about how to take care of their jewelry. They should also know on which occasions they should and should not wear these pieces. Reserve fragile and expensive jewelry for special occasions while you can make them wear casual jewelry every day.
Jewelry is a great gift for children because it will only increase in value. They can even have them redesigned and resized in the future, so they can wear them even as they leave for college and go to work. Many of these will hold significant and sentimental value to your kids that they will even want to pass it on to their kids and grandkids when the time is right.