how to handle all the christmas presents
for families with young children
Whether you’re like me and you just love seeing Christmas take over the world as early as late October or you’re one of the folks that grit their teeth at the thought of all the Christmas presents, busy malls and intense Christmas gatherings, it doesn’t matter… you just can’t help but smile at the magic of the season. There’s warmth and color and excitement. It’s a time that brings families together and softens the shivers of the icy weather.
Then, of course, there’s the sparkle in our children’s eyes – a sparkle so intense and thrilling that it makes us truly understand the joy of Christmas. There’s something so special about having toddler-age and school-age kids at Christmas time. They’re still believers and it somehow makes us believe too, even for a little bit. It’s magical.

But there’s always a big question looming in all our minds… how much is too much? I’ll use my family as an example. We have lots of Christmas gatherings with cousins and grandparents and friends. Our kids get a ton of presents you guys. And we have four kids. If each kid gets 3 or 4 toys, that can mean that we have 16 new toys coming into our home all at once. All the Christmas presents can be very overwhelming. Not only do we have to deal with all the clutter and garbage, but even the kids themselves don’t really get to enjoy all these gifts when they get them all at the same time.
I read this fantastic post called 4 Gifts for Christmas, by Happy You Happy Family, very early into the holiday season and it got me thinking. I did some research, asked friends and complied these cool ideas on how to handle the avalanche of toys and gifts you get as a family of little ones.

Garage storage
This is what we do for Christmas and birthdays, so my kids have come to expect and accept it. Upon arrival home, put all the presents into your garage or storage area where only mom and dad have access to them. Every few days, at your discretion, bring one gift inside the house and have all the kids open it together. In our family, if we’re bringing in a toy that came to one particular child, that child opens it and gets a slight advantage in playing time, but everybody shares it.
I find that this approach has several advantages. First of all, it keeps the excitement of opening up new toys going for several weeks. Secondly, all the kids get to enjoy all the presents. And perhaps most importantly, I have a great bribe that I can use to encourage the kids to do their chores or homework or whatever.
pick one
We know a couple of families who have their kids pick one present to keep from among all the gifts they get. The rest of the gifts either get returned, donated or stored to be gifted to someone else. This approach ensures that the kids are picking something they really enjoy and will be thankful for, and also eliminates the feeling of overwhelm that they tend to get from receiving so many presents.
Ask for books
Talk to your family and friends about choosing books instead of toys or clothes for your children’s Christmas gifts. Maybe you can make a rule that a certain fraction of the gifts need to be books. And don’t forget to get the kids excited about the books they receive.
Ask for experiences
Experiences are far more memorable and educational for children. Similarly to the above approach, just mention to your expected gift-givers that you’d rather have your children enjoy a membership to the local aquarium instead of another transformer.
Don’t buy gifts yourself
This is the simplest and possibly the hardest idea: don’t buy gifts for your own kids if you know they’ll receive several from other people.

Maybe I have to confess something here. I’m a sucker for Christmas. And gifts. And my kids getting gifts. (Check out this post I wrote on some fun Christmas Traditions for Families of Toddlers). I have so many great memories of opening up a ton of Christmas presents and loving all of them. Of course, the reality is that I probably didn’t play with all my toys for very long. I, most likely, loved my gifts for a day or two then moved on – just like all kids do. But I don’t want to belittle the fact that sometimes, the very act of receiving a new toy IS an experience for the child, and a memorable one at that.
Now I know what you’re thinking. It’s an experience if it’s one toy, even two, but not ten. And you’re right. Kids lose interest in the toys and start craving the thrill of receiving, which isn’t right – I get it. But I just want us to be reminded that we don’t need to feel like we’re ruining them by letting them open all their gifts. Whatever approach you choose – whether they open everything at once or nothing at all – the magic of Christmas is what you make of it. It’s the feeling of love and belonging and joy and magic. As long as your kids are feeling loved, you’re doing great Mama!
Comment below with what you do to handle the gifts your children receive at Christmas time. What other ideas can you add to the ones listed above?
We’ve struggled with our 4 kids getting too many Christmas gifts for years. We’ve tried to talk with the grandparents about buying less, but eventually, we just decided to let them buy what they wanted so we don’t hurt their feelings. And, ike you said, receiving the new toy is a memorable experience for a child (even if we don’t keep it!). We usually let them play with things for a few days, then decide what to give to the Goodwill.
Yep. Sounds very similar to what happens in my family too. As long as everyone’s as happy and peaceful as possible, everything else will fall into place.
We’ve been trying to keep to the “don’t buy gifts yourself” rule and it seems to be working. Our son gets so many toys from others that he doesn’t need any more from us!
We always struggle with this too. Too many things makes Christmas so overwhelming. We definitely try to give more experience gifts or educational gifts – like subscriptions to boxes that teach about other countries – which last longer than the holidays and teach them something. Great suggestions in this post for ways to handle this!
Great ideas Keri. I’ve heard of those cool subscription boxes! Although, here in Canada, we have very few options. But definitely worth the search.
Great tips. We asked for clothes this year, our kids have way too many toys already! We also cleaned out their toy box to help with new toys coming in.
Great tips on reducing some of the Christmas clutter! I would add creating a public amazon list to share, similar to a registry. I am doing this for my kids this year! I have one big gift I am asking family to contribute to!
What a fantastic idea Tisha! I love that! Thanks for the tip. I’ll be sure to look into that.
Greats ideas! I usually do a pre-Christmas decluttering, so that our home is able to handle all the incoming gifts. We give away anything that they have outgrown or doesn’t meet their interests, or is just plain not played with enough. I love being able to bless young first time parents, as I was blessed in the past by others with things that their child might love. But the key is to always ask!
What a great idea to share the love and bless others. Thanks for the wonderful tip!