4 surprise gift ideas your children should receive this Christmas
Many of you, or most of you, have already bought the Christmas surprise gifts for the little ones in the house. New technologies and the growth of online shopping have made it possible to organise and plan buying the gifts from their much-wished-for letter to Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men.
At some point you may have wondered, what and how many gifts should my children receive at Christmas? Which ones will make them happiest? Which ones will help them most in their cognitive and intellectual development? Which ones will they get tired of later? Today I want to help you answer these questions. Four years ago my friend María, who is a psychologist, gave me some guidance on this topic, and the result has been a complete success in the case of my daughters.
My daughters and I both write our wish lists to Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men. We don’t usually watch conventional TV or YouTube channels, so they’re not very influenced by the TV adverts of toy brands. We live in a village of 3,500 inhabitants, and although we go to the city quite often at weekends, it’s to go to the cinema, the theatre or play in the Turia riverbed in Valencia, in other words, we don’t visit big toy shops before Christmas either.
What we do have as a tradition is consulting a physical toy catalogue, which I sometimes order from the village hardware store and which my husband sometimes brings me from the big city. We spend a whole week looking at the catalogue and studying the types of toys they would like to receive. They cut them out and sort them by the ones they like most, and in the end we write the letter with 4 or 5 toys, of which Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men will bring only 3.
I always make sure there are three types of toys:
- 1 toy that they love, whether they play with it a lot or a little: I ask them which toy from the whole list would make them most excited, and I tell them to circle it so that Santa Claus or the Three Wise Men don’t forget it. Surprisingly, on many occasions this toy makes them very excited at first, but then they quickly get tired of it. It’s not a rule, but I’ve already seen it happen a few times.
- 1 game that develops their creativity: we always look for craft games and stop to analyse them – making bracelets, bead figures, LEGO, glitter drawings, painting or designing dresses… games they can use on their own without needing an adult and that help them create and develop their infinite imagination. My daughters love this kind of game and they always ask for one.
- 1 game to enjoy as a family: the best gift we can give our children, not only at Christmas but throughout our lives, is our TIME. A limited resource that we value too little, or at least we’re hardly aware of its importance and scarcity on certain occasions. Enjoying family time is essential for the proper emotional development of our children. So in my letter I always ask for a game to play as a family with my little ones and my husband, and the truth is it’s a huge success hahaha. Afterwards they want to play with me every Christmas.
Besides, no matter what they ask for in the letter, there is always an extra surprise gift from Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men to make sure they have it at Christmas and we can enjoy it in their free time. Here they are below:
1. A storybook
Those of you who already know me from social media know that one of my passions is reading, an activity I didn’t like much as a little girl because I read very slowly and didn’t pay much attention to the words. Now reading is one of my favourite hobbies and I’m crazy about storybooks. At Christmas I organise an afternoon with the girls: we go to our favourite bookshop, buy a storybook and a novel to enjoy during the holidays and treat ourselves to a hot chocolate with churros. For us it’s a magical afternoon that has become a tradition, and we love it.
I use that girls’ outing to find out what their favourite storybooks are, and then give them one of those stories they couldn’t buy at the bookshop at Christmas. At Christmas we have more time to read calmly, and surprisingly, those storybooks or books that Santa Claus brings as a surprise travel with us on our Christmas trips. This year, Ñac Ñac the book-eating monster will come to our house for Christmas, as sure as the Christmas turkey.
2. An individual logic game
Two years ago I discovered this kind of game and they surprised the whole family, because we all ended up hooked, trying to move up to the next level. I mean multi-level challenge or strategy games that people from 6 to 99 years old can play. Let me give you some examples: Three Little Pigs game, Anti-Virus (that’s the one I bought for them and they loved it), Parking Puzzle… they’re from the Smart Games brand, and I can assure you they can keep you entertained for hours while also developing your problem-solving skills.
3. A cuddly toy
That I design and sell plush toys is no coincidence; I’ve loved plush toys since I was a little girl, and to this day I still adore them. Seeing my daughters cuddled up to a plush toy, whether it’s from my brand or not, I love it; they awaken so much tenderness… Sometimes I think about how lucky those big cuddly toys are to receive the affection and care of the little ones in the house.
I don’t mind giving them plush toys because they never end up lying abandoned in the toy drawer. My daughters have been the teachers, doctors, mums and friends of every plush toy we have at home. And whenever they go through the plush section of the catalogue, they always circle one. This year it’s a cute little kitten in a soft little pouch that will come as a surprise at Christmas, because even though she didn’t put it on her list, she circled it in the catalogue, and that’s enough for me to know it will be her faithful travel companion these holidays, together with the storybook “Ñac Ñac the Monster”.
4. A costume
Giving a costume is giving a world full of imagination, an endless adventure that you know how it begins but not how it ends. I love costumes; I think they’re a very lovely Christmas gift because it’s a time of year with lots of free time when little ones can let their imagination fly without limits.
I always used to receive a costume at Christmas; I perfectly remember a fairy costume in blue with golden glitter stars. I was crazy about it! I played for hours and hours on end, imagining I was a forest fairy; I remember it had a beautiful star-shaped wand… I have a photo, I’ll show it on social media hahaha. The truth is they don’t make such pretty costumes anymore.
In short, a costume is a lovely gift that they will surely use for the rest of the year; I wouldn’t rule it out as a surprise gift if your little ones haven’t included it in their letters.
I really wanted to write this article, since it’s perfect for these dates when we buy too many gifts and stop to think very little about their usefulness and entertainment value. It’s not good for a child to receive too many gifts; I think 3 or 4 good, well-thought-out toys are better, as was done in the old days, than 8 or 10 that will end up lying around the house. A big hug to everyone!