Christmas, for many families, is for the kids. There is nothing quite like that electric excitement on Christmas morning, when children of all ages head downstairs to see how many presents Santa has brought them for the year.
But that’s the thing – gift giving can get tricky if you are unsure how many Christmas presents a child should receive.
- How many big gifts should you offer a child?
- What might be considered spoiling them?
- and how many presents is considered too few?
The answer lies with your own personal circumstances – there is no ‘right’ answer!
The best thing to do this holiday season is to encourage your children to be grateful – and to set expectations with a Christmas budget.
Providing you and your kids are open and respectful with each other, the gifts you give this year really shouldn’t matter in terms of numbers.
How Many Gifts Do You Get per Child?
The number of gifts an average child gets per Christmas season is always going to vary.
In fact, is there really such a thing as an average amount?
The number of gifts you give a younger child may differ to that of an older child, for example.
Adolescents and teenagers may be happy with vouchers, gift cards, or one big gift.
Younger children may appreciate a host of toys – three gifts or more may be a safe number, for example.
However, you should also consider whether you are buying for one kid, or for several.
If you have three kids to wrap for on Christmas Eve, it may so happen that each child gets an equal amount to avoid headaches for Mom and Dad.
For a one child family, it may be that they receive more compared to multi-sibling families – but is that necessarily fair?
It all boils down to spending money, too.
Three presents for one child may have a value of $100, while another family may reserve the same amount across four or five gifts elsewhere.
Ultimately, you need to budget carefully, and most importantly of all, it makes sense to be open and honest with your kids.
What Rules Can you Put in Place When Buying Christmas Gifts for Children?
Teaching children about respectful gift giving, as well as budgeting, is crucial if you want to keep a healthy spirit throughout the holiday season.
It may not always be so simple, but rather than leave your child expecting millions of gifts from Santa this Christmas, set expectations carefully.
Ask your child honestly what they would like for Christmas, and consider setting a limit to how many they receive.
“You can have X number of gifts off your list this year,” for example.
It’s also worth making less of a deal of the number of presents under the Christmas tree.
It is not always easy to instil feelings of gratitude in younger children at this time of year, but providing your children receive healthy guidance on perspective, you should be able to enjoy a merry Christmas without any tears on the big day.
If you have two or three children, sharing rules are must-dos.
Try and encourage all family members to focus more on the freedom and experience of Christmas, rather than the value of presents.
If your children are easily influenced by their friends and peers, this is likely to be tricky.
However, all your children will want – at any age – is to be listened to!
Spend some time helping younger children write their lists.
Spend smaller amounts of money on gifts from Santa, and more on those from family members.
The sooner you encourage your kids to write gift lists with you, the sooner they will stick to open, honest expectations year after year.
Naturally, this may get difficult as your kids grow up, however, if you’ve taught your children the value of money – and that present numbers and dollar amount aren’t everything – they will hopefully continue growing with this sentiment into adulthood.
What can be really tricky leading up to Christmas Eve is managing what your kids receive from people beyond their parents (and we don’t just mean Santa).
If one family member (we’re looking at you, Grandma) decides to ‘spoil’ the kids one given year, this might upset the applecart.
So, be sure to try and have open conversations with other relatives.
Approach them gently and establish that you are keen to stick to a budget for Christmas gifts, and that you want to ensure your brood gets what they want – within reason!
The last thing you will want is Granny and Grandpa showing up with ten times the Christmas presents you’re giving to the kids over the holidays.
It sets a dangerous precedent!
Finally, you could also consider wrapping and putting your presents for the kids under the Christmas tree early, so they know what to expect in advance.
Then, you can save little trinkets and goodies for them otherwise to fill in stockings from Santa – keeping that element of the holiday a little more of a surprise.
It is, of course, entirely your choice!
How Many Toys Should a Kid Get for Christmas?
There’s no average number nor any kind of correct answer to this question. Everyone’s Christmas experiences are slightly different.
A healthy number is likely to be at least three gifts per child – and again, it really depends on how may children you are parents too, as well as your budget.
- How many presents or gifts did you receive as a child?
- Do you have any traditions from previous years that you would like to carry forward?
- What do other children receive elsewhere in your extended family?
These are all different measures you need to be careful with.
What’s more, we are certainly not suggesting that you should raise your own kids in any particular way, shape or form!
The fun of Christmas doesn’t have to revolve around presents and gifts, but of course, for younger people, it is a huge part of the deal – and we all know that giving and opening gifts on the big day can get pretty crazy!
It’s a good idea to plan ahead as much as you can, and if you are worrying about how many toys your kid should get this year, be sure to include them.
When it comes to toys and other fun stuff, keep in mind that younger children may get overwhelmed with so much to play with and do!
That’s why it may actually be worth spending time diversifying their gifts.
That doesn’t mean aiming for the same thing every year, either.
You could choose some snazzy clothes, something practical, and of course a couple of toys – make things a little bit more interesting for them.
Summary
Let’s be clear. The gifts you give to your children and your family should never base on an average amount or what other people do.
However, it is always healthy to consider giving your children a sense of perspective when it comes to the gift side of the season.
This may be a little tricky to balance if they have friends or other kids close by with lots of stuff – but there is plenty of joy to be had in the season at large, not just in the commercialism.
So, if you do want to get your kids into the Christmas spirit and don’t want to always be looking up gift numbers and must-dos, start them as early as possible.
Your son, your daughter, even your grandkids, all can benefit from a healthy perspective, and what’s more, just remember to talk to them – and to listen, too!
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