6 Christmas Gift-Giving Ideas for Your Kids
Christmas is such a special time of the year on so many different levels. But one of the best experiences at Christmas is building memories with your kids. For many of us, a part of those memories is watching the kids open gifts on Christmas morning, full of excitement, wonder, and hopefully, much gratitude.
As you prepare to give gifts to your kids, do so in a way that’s enjoyable and that works for your budget! In my opinion, this is best achieved with a plan or strategy. As with any other aspect of your finances, going into things blindly can be detrimental. Christmas shopping without a plan can lead to overspending and debt. And it can end up derailing some of the money goals you’ve been working on. No one wants that!
So, let’s talk 6 gift-giving strategies that can help make giving to your children affordable. After all, when your Christmas is financially stress-free, it’s much easier to fully enjoy it with your kids.
Strategy #1: Three Gifts, Like Jesus
Since Christmas is a celebration of Jesus’ birth, this can be a special way to tie gift-giving back to what we know from Scripture about the events of that time. Each of the 3 magi (wise men) presented Jesus with a gift: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Giving your children 3 gifts to mirror this can add a special sentiment to your gift-giving and help them to understand and appreciate the story of Jesus’ birth.
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Strategy #2: Want, Need, Wear, Read
This strategy involves getting your kids 4 gifts, one from each category: 1) something they want, 2) something they need, 3) something to wear, and 4) something to read. The nice thing about this strategy is that it touches on a little bit of everything. It includes practical gifts. It encourages a love for reading (I’m all about this). And, of course, there’s the excitement for the thing they really, really wanted!
And keep in mind that you can still get fun and creative with the Need, Wear, and Read categories! For example, if your daughter is really into jewelry, get her some as her Wear gift. If your son is really into superheroes, you can get him graphic novel comics as his Read gift. It is possible to get your kids things they’ll genuinely enjoy from each category.
Strategy #3: 1 Big, 2 Medium, 3 Small
At the risk of stating the obvious, this strategy involves getting each child 1 big gift, 2 medium gifts, and 3 small ones. But I wouldn’t necessarily consider gifts to be big, medium, or small based on their actual sizes. You can think of the sizes as more of a reference to how extravagant each gift is, how much your child really wants each thing, how expensive each gift is…or some mix of all of these factors. For example, your daughter could really, REALLY want certain sneakers that you know will be more expensive than her other gifts. Since it’s the gift that will be the biggest deal to her and it’s the gift that will cost you the most, it would count as her “big” gift, even if some of her other gifts are physically larger.
This is a great strategy if you want to keep some sort of lid on your gift spending, but you also really enjoy having your kids be able to open more than 3 or 4 gifts.
Strategy #4: 1 Big, Many Small
If you’d like your kids to be able to open even more than the 6 gifts mentioned above, this strategy could work better for you. You’d buy each child 1 big gift, like with the previous strategy. The difference is there are no medium gifts. Instead, you’d basically be buying one show-stopper gift and as many small gifts as you (and your budget) feel comfortable with.
This can be a fun approach if you strategically leave the big gift as the grand finale on Christmas morning 😉
Strategy #5: Child’s Age x 10
For this strategy, you assign a set gift budget for each child. You determine the budget by multiplying each child’s age by 10. Your 5-year would get a $50 budget. Your 9-year-old would get an $90 budget. Your 13-year-old would get a $130 budget. So on and so forth. Budgeting a specific amount per child can really help you avoid spending more than what you’re comfortable with.
And what’s great about this strategy is that it takes into consideration the fact that gifts tend to get more expensive the older kids get.
Strategy #6: Shop All Year Round
This one is less about your gifting style and more about how you go about getting gifts. Maybe all you really need in order to make your Christmas financially stress-free is to spread out your spending throughout the year. That way, you don’t feel one heavy financial burden come December.
This strategy works best if you put a little money aside each month for Christmas. (For more on how to plan and save for Christmas throughout the year, click here). That way, if you come across things you want to get for your kids in any given month, you can dip into your Christmas savings money to make your purchases.
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Conclusion
It can bring your heart so much joy to give to your kids and watch them excitedly open gifts for Christmas. Hopefully, the strategies above can help you enjoy giving to your children while being mindful of your budget in the process.
A debt-free and financially stress-free Christmas will bring you peace of mind that ends up being a gift to both you and your children. 🎁
Merry Christmas!
Which strategy are you a fan of, and why? Or is there a different strategy you prefer? Share in the comments below!
