Free printable of the 5 Gift Rule Christmas (Want Need Wear Read) plus a special family tradition for your kids to to put as #6 on the wish list this year. Plus, if you need any finding quality items that aren’t junk or quick to break, this ultimate gift guide of 200+ quality gifts will be your best friend this holiday season.
And don’t forget to snag your Kid’s 99-Page Holiday Activity Kit, complete with Elf on the Shelf Notes & Letter Boards, Letter to Santa, Activity Sheets, Countdown to Christmas, Christmas Scavenger Hunts & I Spy Games, and much more to last all season!
The 5 Gift Rule Christmas (Want Need Wear Read) Plus a Special Family Tradition to Add to Your Wish List
A few years ago, my husband and I sat together on the couch after we’d put the kids to bed on Christmas and both said something to the effect of, “they got way too many presents this year.”
Instead of appreciating each gift and feeling the excitement of unwrapping presents, they had set a record for ripping through all the gifts under the tree in record time – hardly even paying attention, or saying so much as a ‘thank you’ for what they’d received.
While I love Christmas, the feeling that my kids didn’t appreciate the gifts hand-picked and paid for with hard earned money, made us both realize something had to change.
So, the next year we cut the number of gifts they received in half and asked grandparents and family to only buy one gift per child, not 3 or 4 like they’d had previously.
At first the kids counted the number of gifts under the tree and grumbled about the lower number.
And grandparents didn’t much like the idea either, but I was happy to not have any more junk, breakable toys or add to the pile of toys that make noise (which we’ve since phased out completely and boy is it so much more peaceful!)
But then, we began sprinkling in more meaningful experiences and family traditions into the month of December, like siblings shopping for sibling gifts and doing thoughtful acts of kindness for our neighbors, and before long, the gifts didn’t hold as much power over anyone in the house.
The final result after doing this the past 5 years?
Our kids look forward to the meaningful experiences of giving and doing nice acts of kindness for others, more than they do the gifts they receive.
This is also really relative with the increasing costs of everything and trying to cut back around the holidays. While I understand cutting back can be met with a few grumbles, check out this article to help you navigate cutting back this holiday season and how to talk to your children about their expectations, materialism and finding true meaning int the holidays.
Each year, they get excited talking all of our christmas family traditions and have become more creative when it comes to thinking up new ideas of how we can share in the spirit of christmas with others.
That’s not to say we have stopped giving gifts all together….
We still want to have presents under the tree and watch as the kids race down the stairs on Christmas morning to open them, but the difference is there are only a handful there these days. Not a mountain of boxes.
We started the 5 gift rule for Christmas right after we had our change of heart about overloading them with presents, but we added in a special #6 gift a few years ago and think you’ll like it too.
It fits right into the true meaning of Christmas and quirky became a family favorite.
Since we’re all about connecting as a family and creating our own family traditions, #6 is a gift for the entire family.
Here’s what our 5 gift rule (want need wear read) plus the bonus #6 looks like (you can download your 5 Gift Rule Christmas Wish List Printable at the bottom of the article)
Related: Ultimate Guide: 200+ Practical Non Toy Gifts for Kids That Aren’t Junk, 50 Unique Kid Stocking Stuffers. No Candy. No Toothbrush. No Junk. and Intentional Christmas for Kids: Keeping It Simple (& Humble)
A New Wish List Item & Family Christmas Tradition
The sixth item on the newly revised ch wish list is “Something For My Family.”
Having a connected and loving family means spending quality time together without devices or agendas. What better way to do this than to ask your children how they would like to connect with you whether it’s a trip to the movies together, a drive to the beach, day at the children’s museum or fishing trip in the spring.
Last year Trenton asked for a new game and guess what? At least once a week we play a few games of UNO together as a family before bedtime and have a blast. (Board games are a fun way to connect and great way to get away from using devices.)
Juliette put on her wish list that she wanted us to go ice skating together. While I’m clearly not coordinated on the ice, it was still fun and we had a blast ice skating together.
Taylor, my youngest daughter wanted to go to dinner together at a restaurant. Pretty simple, but it got us out of the house together, and spending time talking and having fun.
Sometimes as adults, we get so caught up in planning all the details of what we’re going to do and when, that we forget to ask our kids what they’d like to do.
This is one of my favorite parts of our new 5 Gift Rule Christmas – adding on a sixth rule where each of my children shares what would be meaningful to them for our family to do together.
Related: 26 Unique Family Christmas Traditions To Make the Holidays Magical for Kids & Adults and 6 Sibling Christmas Traditions
Get Your 5 (Now 6) Gift Rule Christmas (Want Need Wear Read) Printable
I hope you enjoy this wish list printable I created. The old version was so popular, I decided to create a new, fresh version of the 5 Gift Rule Christmas for this year.
What You’ll Get:
- 8 1/2 x 11” Letter Sized PDF Document
- 2-Pages (the first is a sample for your kids and the second is blank)
- Print as many copies as you need
- Fill wishes and start new family traditions!
Download: 5 Gift Christmas & Bonus #6 Wish List Printable
Even More Christmas, Holiday & Wish List Resources:
- Ultimate Guide: 200+ Practical Non Toy Gifts for Kids That Aren’t Junk
- Cutting Back on Holidays: Make it a Christmas without a Pile of Presents
- 7 Meaningful Christmas Morning Traditions for Cherished Family Memories
- Best Board Games for Kids and Families to Play Together
- 50 Unique Kid Stocking Stuffers. No Candy. No Toothbrush. No Junk.
- NEW Elf on the Shelf “Caught You Being Good” Notes
- 35 Funny & Easy Elf on the Shelf Ideas
- 26 Unique Family Christmas Traditions To Make the Holidays Magical for Kids & Adults
- 6 Sibling Christmas Traditions: For Kids to Delight in the Excitement of the Holidays Together
