Gift Idea for Dads: Joke Jar

We have Father’s Day coming up in the UK in a few weeks time, so I thought I would share a great DIY gift idea that kids can easily make themselves (this would obviously also make a great gift for mums who like jokes). Oskar actually made this for his dad last Christmas, so we are not giving away any spoilers, but it would be a perfect gift for Father’s Day too.

It’s really simple, all you need is:

  • a large empty jar
  • some coloured tape
  • some ribbon (optional)
  • some paper
  • a pair of scissors
  • and a pen

First of all, thoroughly clean the jar and lid, and soak in water to remove the label. We used an old pickle jar, which was a nice generous size (though despite a thorough clean it still has a faint aroma of pickled gherkins, lol).

Next, decorate your jar with the coloured tape, maybe some ribbon. Oskar also wanted to tie on a feather, from our craft supplies. Anything to make it look colourful and less like an old pickle jar!

Then all you have to do it cut the paper in to smaller pieces, and write a joke on each piece. To avoid giving away the punchline, fold up the bottom third, then write the first half of the joke at the top and the punchline under the folded up part. It took Oskar a while to write out all the jokes – I think he did about 30 in total – as hand writing is not his strong point, so he spread it out over a week or so writing a couple at a time.  If your kid is the same you will want to get started in plenty of time before the jar is needed.

Finally, fill your jar up with jokes, and you’re done! When he handed his gift to his dad at Christmas, he explained that whenever he was feeling sad or having a rubbish day at work, daddy could pick a joke from the jar to read and cheer him up. Awww.

Pin For Later

Comments: 11

  • reply
    23 May 2019

    I love this idea, it’s so cute! Fathers day doesn’t need to be expensive and homemade gifts are my favourite!

  • reply
    23 May 2019

    What a cute idea! I also have an Oscar who loves jokes and I’ll definitely suggest this for Father’s Day. He also doesn’t love handwriting, so this might be a motivating way to get a bit more practice in :)

  • reply
    23 May 2019

    This is a very sweet idea. My husband would love something like this from our lot, a lovely DIY gift.

  • reply
    23 May 2019

    Such a lovely idea :-). we did something similar for fathers day one year but filled it with mini adventures to choose from that the children filled the jar with

  • reply
    24 May 2019

    This is such a cute idea and I love that it’s homemade!

  • reply
    24 May 2019

    Awwww this is such a lovely idea and would work so well for any of the family. Giggles in a jar :-)

  • reply
    25 May 2019

    Oh what a wonderful idea to do for Dads. You can’t go wrong with a Dad Joke!

  • reply
    25 May 2019

    My husband would love this, hes always telling them jokes!

  • reply

    Melanie williams

    26 May 2019

    Such a simple idea, but I really love this. Always good to have some giggles for sure xx

Post a Reply to Anoushka cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.