Gift Suggestions for Baptism, Christening and Communion
Baptismal and Christening gifts
Baptism and Christening gifts tend to be similar. This is because very often, the baby’s Baptism and Christening come within a few months of each other. Although the time between the two events may just as well be a few years.
Young infants
For infants you might give little baby dresses. Or little snap suits and other apparel that the baby can wear at home. If you are the baby’s sponsor at Baptism you could send an advanced gift consisting of a Baptism suite for boys or a gown for girls. In some places, gender distinction will only be appropriate for older infants. Infants of a few weeks old usually all wear Baptism gowns.
Give the infant something that he/she can used later on to keep the baby pictures. This could be a picture album or a picture frame.
Baby rattles made of plastic or silver and engraved or embossed with Baptism and Christening motifs are said to be excellent ways of driving away bad influence and attracting benevolent forces to the baby.
You might also want to gift the baby with a wrist strap to which tiny tinkling bells have been attached. These have the same effect as the rattles.
Children
Older children could be given bracelets and necklaces. Don’t give jewelry to young babies as they might just end up swallowing a stone or scratching themselves on the metal.
In choosing jewelry, you have a wide assortment of bracelets and necklaces strung with bright and colorful crystals. There are, of course, those pieces of silver jewelry that you can hang pendants or bangles on.
Besides being embellishments on the jewelry, pendants and bangles may serve functional purposes too. The name and home address of the child may be engraved or embossed on them. These will then serve as identification tags of a sort. People will know how to contact the child’s parents in case that becomes necessary.
Identification jewelry are very charming to wear even after the child has grown into an adult. They can always become good conversation topics.
For those children who are able to read already, illustrated and simplified versions of Biblical stores are some other great things to give for Baptism and Christening. Along the same vein, you can purchase illustrated lives of the saints.
Presents for older children on Baptism, Christening and Communion
For the an older child of the child’s First Holy Communion, you might want to gift him or her with a string of rosary beads. You can find a beautiful and varied assortment of rosary beads on the web. They come in different sizes, colors and materials. The nicest rosary beads could be strung with fragrant sandalwood or bright little crystals.
A prayer book is always appropriate to give as a Communion gift. This could be a simple compilation of beautiful prayers or a collection of inspiring thoughts.
Handkerchiefs, children’s table napkins, clothes and the like may also be given for Baptisms.
Baptism, Christening and Communion deserve celebration
The landmark nature of Baptism, Christening and Communion for the child should be made apparent to him/her by celebrating those three occasions. They are very important events in the spiritual life of the child. However, you don’t have to have something even slightly extravagant. A table with snacks surrounding a modest sized cake will bring the point home.