CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING IDEAS FOR FAMILIES

Whether it’s parents giving gifts to children or children learning how to give to others, presents are a Christmas tradition that many choose to observe. Here are some gifted ideas from other parents that might work in your family:

Pass the Parcel

Try this fun musical game that kids in the United Kingdom enjoy. Prepare beforehand by wrapping a gift in multiple layers of wrapping paper in various patterns.

Pass the Parcel

To play, children sit on the floor in a circle and pass the gift to the next person while a song plays in the background. An adult stops the music at random intervals. The child who’s left holding the gift unwraps one layer. Then the music continues. The music starts and stops until a child removes the last layer of wrapping paper. That child gets to keep the gift.

Papa Sacks

Before unwrapping Christmas gifts, our family opens brown paper bags we call “Papa Sacks.” They typically contain fruit, peanuts, some candy and a simple gift. The bags remind us how our grandparents and great-grandparents could not afford Christmas gifts during the Great Depression.

Papa Sacks

Most years they received very little, but they still enjoyed and celebrated Christmas. Papa Sacks are a family tradition that reminds us that Christmas is not about expensive presents but about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

St. Nicholas Day

After my son Nicholas was born, we decided to celebrate St. Nicholas Day on Dec. 6. Every year, the kids lay out their shoes before bed. We read the story of Nicholas of Myra, who left gold in the shoes of poor girls. In the morning, our kids wake up to a surprise: gold coins (chocolate!) and a new tree ornament.

St. Nicholas Day

Something else we do is let the kids decide on a way to practice the spirit of giving. Some years our family has volunteered in a soup kitchen. One year, we rang the bell for the Salvation Army in near-freezing temperatures.

St. Nicholas Day

Their favorite activity has been filling shoeboxes with gifts for children in need through Operation Christmas Child. The hope is that perhaps they will change someone’s life through their service.

Making a List

When I go shopping with my children, I let them know, “We’re not getting things for ourselves today.” But I do want to acknowledge their interest in those items. Perhaps one will say, “I love this race car! Can I get it?!”

Making a List

Instead of shrugging it off and telling my son or daughter to put it back, I admire the race car with my child and take a picture so when it comes time for Christmas or birthday gifts, I have a list of ideas. And the act of recognizing the child’s feelings and interests makes him or her feel validated.

Enjoying Small Gifts

My children enjoy their Christmas gifts on Christmas Day, but I also wanted them to appreciate the lip gloss or Matchbox car that was in their stockings instead of overlooking them. So my husband and I came up with the 10 Days of Christmas. On Christmas Day, our children open their larger packages, but only open one stocking gift

Enjoying Small Gifts

The following nine days, they can choose an additional stocking gift after dinner. One rule: No feeling, squeezing or smelling still-wrapped gifts. It worked well. A small present that would have been tossed aside on Christmas Day was sincerely appreciated on day six.

The Gift of Yourself

One Christmas, my family decided to give each other the gift of ourselves. As a family, we talked about each of our strengths and abilities and discussed ideas for how each person could use his or her God — given gifts to be a blessing to others.

The Gift of Yourself

One child read a story to her siblings. Another cleaned a sibling’s room. This ended up being one of our most memorable — and enjoyable — Christmases ever. Each person’s acts of service were a true blessing to each recipient.

A Photo Book for Grandma

Our daughters were adopted at ages 4 and 2. During those beginning months of getting to know each other, I let them wear the outfits they chose, even if I didn’t personally approve of their selections.

A Photo Book for Grandma

They’ve worn princess costumes to the grocery store, swimsuits to general merchandise stores and poufy dresses to the veterinarian. I let them choose what they wanted to wear and then snapped a photo.

A Photo Book for Grandma

The silliest and most un-matching outfits became a photo book that we sent to the grandparents at Christmas. It became our unique way of documenting how the girls were growing and changing.

A Gift From Baby

When our oldest son was a few months old, my wife used finger paints to cover a white shirt with his handprints and footprints. She gave the shirt to me as a gift, along with a card from the two of them.

A Gift From Baby

To this day, we still enjoy pulling out that shirt and card and remembering those first few months after our son was born.

Heartfelt Stocking Stuffers

When the stockings go up, our children grab their pens and colored paper. Our family fills stockings with creative love notes during the days before Christmas. I write acrostics for the kids’ names.

Heartfelt Stocking Stuffers

Big Sis writes silly poems. Daddy writes a special memory he’s had with each child. On Christmas Day, we read our notes to one another.

The Class Stash

Often, what’s on a school supply list doesn’t last until the end of the school year — especially tissues and cleaning wipes. So my family looks for sales and coupons for these items all year. Then we designate a location in our home for the “class stash.”

The Class Stash

My children are in charge of keeping it organized. At Christmas, we wrap the supplies in reusable bags, add handmade cards and present these gifts to my kids’ teachers.

The Family Basket

My children created gift baskets for their teachers that included the following: – A board or card game with a note from the child that explained why our family loves the game. – A cozy fleece blanket. – A few of the teacher’s favorite snack items.

The Family Basket

We put everything in pretty plastic bins that the teachers could use in their classrooms, added tissue paper and included a handwritten note saying that we hoped they would relax and have fun with their families during Christmas break.

Tea Trees

One gift that was a hit at Christmas was a handmade “tea tree. ” Supplies include one cone from a craft store, individually wrapped tea bags and a homemade cardboard star. My children decorated their tree by using glue dots to attach the tea bags to the cone.

Tea Trees

Then they glued a toothpick to the star and pushed it into the top of the tree. It was a beautiful gift people admired and actually used.

Sibling Gift Idea

To teach their daughters about the value of giving gifts, Molly and Brad helped their 9-year-old, Reilly, create a surprise for her younger sister. Reilly often read books to 7-year-old Calley, sometimes subbing for Mom or Dad at bedtime. So the idea of making an audio book for her story-loving sister seemed perfect.

Sibling Gift Idea

After selecting seven stories from among Calley’s favorites, Reilly read them out loud into a recording device, using different voices for each character. Christmas morning, she barely contained her excitement as Calley opened the gift and shrieked with delight.

Three-Gift Rule

Because I enjoyed shopping for my four children, I often went overboard at Christmas. Presents spilled out from under the tree — even before gifts from the grandparents arrived! My husband and I realized we were encouraging our kids to have unrealistic expectations.

Three-Gift Rule

So we implemented the “three-gift rule” (not counting small stocking stuffers) in the spirit of the three gifts from the Magi.

Three-Gift Rule

That first Christmas was difficult. Are my kids missing out? I wondered as friends and relatives shared excitement about all the toys they bought. But I learned to appreciate the simplicity of the idea. It provides a limit and prevents me from buying on impulse. We’re more thoughtful about choosing gifts, and the post-Christmas clutter is manageable.

Three-Gift Rule

Most important, the three-gift rule reminds our family that Christmas is much more than shiny gadgets and sparkly bows. One year, I overheard my daughter telling an incredulous young friend that she only got three presents. “I got more than I could count,” he said.

Three-Gift Rule

I braced for a “No fair!” from my daughter. Instead, she replied, “I think it’s kinda cool. It makes me feel like baby Jesus.” Is there any greater gift I could give my children?

Three-Gift Rule

I braced for a “No fair!” from my daughter. Instead, she replied, “I think it’s kinda cool. It makes me feel like baby Jesus.” Is there any greater gift I could give my children?

Christmas Workshop for Kids

“Do you remember what you got from Jimmy last year for Christmas?” I asked my son DJ. “No, but I made him the rubber-band gun and a target,” he replied. “I made Baby Joanie a mobile with pink butterflies,” his sister Rachel volunteered. Her hands fluttered like the paper butterflies hanging from the wire.

Christmas Workshop for Kids

Every year, I organize a Christmas workshop for each of the children. I Google simple crafts that each child could make with minimal help. Last Christmas, even my 2-year-old, Josh, participated, coloring paper twirlers and putting stickers on barrettes. I also recorded a skit the children performed as a gift for their dad.

Gift Giving and Siblings

My husband and I always thought giving our children the freedom to choose gifts for their siblings was the right approach, but we changed our minds the year our 12-year-old gave his younger brothers matching 98-cent rubber mallets — with price stickers still attached.

Gift Giving and Siblings

The younger boys had spent around $10 each on their big brother and were hurt by his thoughtlessness. Over the years, those mallets have become a family joke and found their way back under the tree more than once. At the time, though, we needed an intervention.

Gift Giving and Siblings

We tasked the boys with learning about each other, specifically focusing on the following categories: favorite activities, dearest possessions and “most important.” We left “most important” open-ended for individual interpretation. It generated some interesting insights.

Gift Giving and Siblings

We then had the boys list their observations and write one paragraph describing what they liked most about that brother. When their projects (and subsequent whining) were done, we thanked the boys and put their “reports” away, thinking we would pull them out as necessary.

Gift Giving and Siblings

There was never a need. The act of getting to know what was important to one another caused a shift from “me-based” buying to “you-based” giving. Learning these things firsthand somehow gave them a desire to please each other with their gifts, and that has made all the difference.

Wrapping With Purpose

With brown paper and craft supplies before us, I ask my girls these questions: – Why do we give and receive presents at Christmas? – Who were the Magi, and what did they bring to the baby King? – How is Jesus the greatest gift the world has ever received?

Wrapping With Purpose

Then we design wrapping paper that visually reflects our answers. Our decorations include pictures, words, phrases and Bible verses. Christmas wrapping paper has become a way to teach my children about giving and a new avenue for my family to spread the Gospel.

The Night Before Christmas . . .

On Christmas Eve, our three children each open one present. The present contains a new pair of pajamas, a Christmas book inscribed with the date, and a handwritten note from both my husband and me.

The Night Before Christmas . . .

In the note we write what we appreciate about that child and the dreams we have for him or her for the upcoming year. Our children look forward to this treasured tradition every Christmas.

The Night Before Christmas . . .

In the note we write what we appreciate about that child and the dreams we have for him or her for the upcoming year. Our children look forward to this treasured tradition every Christmas.

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CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING IDEAS FOR FAMILIES

Read more

CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING IDEAS FOR FAMILIES

Whether it’s parents giving gifts to children or children learning how to give to others, presents are a Christmas tradition that many choose to observe. Here are some gifted ideas from other parents that might work in your family:

Read more

Pass the Parcel

Try this fun musical game that kids in the United Kingdom enjoy. Prepare beforehand by wrapping a gift in multiple layers of wrapping paper in various patterns.

Read more

Pass the Parcel

Read more

Papa Sacks

Before unwrapping Christmas gifts, our family opens brown paper bags we call “Papa Sacks.” They typically contain fruit, peanuts, some candy and a simple gift. The bags remind us how our grandparents and great-grandparents could not afford Christmas gifts during the Great Depression.

Read more

Papa Sacks

Most years they received very little, but they still enjoyed and celebrated Christmas. Papa Sacks are a family tradition that reminds us that Christmas is not about expensive presents but about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Read more

St. Nicholas Day

Read more

St. Nicholas Day

Something else we do is let the kids decide on a way to practice the spirit of giving. Some years our family has volunteered in a soup kitchen. One year, we rang the bell for the Salvation Army in near-freezing temperatures.

Read more

St. Nicholas Day

Their favorite activity has been filling shoeboxes with gifts for children in need through Operation Christmas Child. The hope is that perhaps they will change someone’s life through their service.

Read more

Making a List

When I go shopping with my children, I let them know, “We’re not getting things for ourselves today.” But I do want to acknowledge their interest in those items. Perhaps one will say, “I love this race car! Can I get it?!”

Read more

Making a List

Read more

Enjoying Small Gifts

Read more

Enjoying Small Gifts

The following nine days, they can choose an additional stocking gift after dinner. One rule: No feeling, squeezing or smelling still-wrapped gifts. It worked well. A small present that would have been tossed aside on Christmas Day was sincerely appreciated on day six.

Read more

The Gift of Yourself

One Christmas, my family decided to give each other the gift of ourselves. As a family, we talked about each of our strengths and abilities and discussed ideas for how each person could use his or her God — given gifts to be a blessing to others.

Read more

The Gift of Yourself

One child read a story to her siblings. Another cleaned a sibling’s room. This ended up being one of our most memorable — and enjoyable — Christmases ever. Each person’s acts of service were a true blessing to each recipient.

Read more

A Photo Book for Grandma

Our daughters were adopted at ages 4 and 2. During those beginning months of getting to know each other, I let them wear the outfits they chose, even if I didn’t personally approve of their selections.

Read more

A Photo Book for Grandma

They’ve worn princess costumes to the grocery store, swimsuits to general merchandise stores and poufy dresses to the veterinarian. I let them choose what they wanted to wear and then snapped a photo.

Read more

A Photo Book for Grandma

The silliest and most un-matching outfits became a photo book that we sent to the grandparents at Christmas. It became our unique way of documenting how the girls were growing and changing.

Read more

A Gift From Baby

When our oldest son was a few months old, my wife used finger paints to cover a white shirt with his handprints and footprints. She gave the shirt to me as a gift, along with a card from the two of them.

Read more

A Gift From Baby

To this day, we still enjoy pulling out that shirt and card and remembering those first few months after our son was born.

Read more

Heartfelt Stocking Stuffers

When the stockings go up, our children grab their pens and colored paper. Our family fills stockings with creative love notes during the days before Christmas. I write acrostics for the kids’ names.

Read more

Heartfelt Stocking Stuffers

Big Sis writes silly poems. Daddy writes a special memory he’s had with each child. On Christmas Day, we read our notes to one another.

Read more

The Class Stash

Often, what’s on a school supply list doesn’t last until the end of the school year — especially tissues and cleaning wipes. So my family looks for sales and coupons for these items all year. Then we designate a location in our home for the “class stash.”

Read more

The Class Stash

My children are in charge of keeping it organized. At Christmas, we wrap the supplies in reusable bags, add handmade cards and present these gifts to my kids’ teachers.

Read more

The Family Basket

My children created gift baskets for their teachers that included the following: – A board or card game with a note from the child that explained why our family loves the game. – A cozy fleece blanket. – A few of the teacher’s favorite snack items.

Read more

The Family Basket

We put everything in pretty plastic bins that the teachers could use in their classrooms, added tissue paper and included a handwritten note saying that we hoped they would relax and have fun with their families during Christmas break.

Read more

Tea Trees

One gift that was a hit at Christmas was a handmade “tea tree. ” Supplies include one cone from a craft store, individually wrapped tea bags and a homemade cardboard star. My children decorated their tree by using glue dots to attach the tea bags to the cone.

Read more

Tea Trees

Then they glued a toothpick to the star and pushed it into the top of the tree. It was a beautiful gift people admired and actually used.

Read more

Sibling Gift Idea