One of our kids’ favorite parts of Christmas morning is their sibling Christmas gift exchange! Since we have a lot of kids, each child gets a present for one other – this makes it so there aren’t a million gifts, … Read More
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I tend to get cold really easily so I wanted to make sure I stayed plenty comfortable while visiting European Christmas markets in December. We were planning on a route that included Basel, Switzerland; Colmar & Strasbourg, France; and Baden-Baden, … Read More
I love this time of year. Our family celebrates Christmas, and before that Diwali, and I love the festivity and joy that is present during this season. One of the biggest things I hope to teach my kids is to … Read More
Each year, I love sharing what we’re actually giving our kids for Christmas. It’s always my most popular gift guide, which I understand because I love seeing what real people are actually gifting, not just sharing in theory. Here’s what … Read More
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One of our kids’ favorite parts of Christmas morning is their sibling Christmas gift exchange! Since we have a lot of kids, each child gets a present for one other – this makes it so there aren’t a million gifts, and also they can choose something a little nicer when not doing so many.
While I know lots of people who love having their kids make sibling gifts, I haven’t ever felt like I have the craftiness or mental/physical bandwidth in December to make this happen, so purchasing one gift works well for us! Our kids really love thinking through what will be special and fun for their chosen sibling.
We always do the sibling gifts first, when excitement and enthusiasm are at their peak, and to let those sweet gifts and kind hearts shine. They’re always so proud and happy to give, and really gracious and grateful receivers. It’s the sweetest.
This whole thing is relatively simple – we just toss names in a hat and choose. We don’t keep the recipient secret after choosing – it would be complicated and fail pretty quickly, haha. But they’re great about keeping the actual gifts a surprise!
We usually set a budget of about $20-25 per gift, and our kids use money they’ve earned or has been allocated to them through our family economy system. (We provide the funds for any kids too young to have their own money, though they don’t usually participate until they’re about 3 years old.)
One parent usually discusses a bit with them to see what they’re thinking and provide any support with ordering or finding items. They usually have some great ideas of what their sibling will enjoy or has been wanting, and we also help them think through interests if they need some additional ideas.
Here’s more about how we manage the process of sibling gifts in a large family!
Here’s what our kids chose for their sibling Christmas gifts this year!
