When did your kids start giving presents?

[CheerfulMuddler]

When I was a kid, I gave a present to my mum, my granny and grandad and my brother every year. Going shopping for them was one of the exciting things about Christmas.

My DS is two, and I can just imagine the look of horror on my DH's face if I say I want to buy five more presents this year 'from' DS (mum, dad, three grandparents). He already thinks Christmas is too much money and faff, buying things for people who already have everything they want. But I want DS to have the same pleasure of giving that I had.

How old were your kids when they started giving their own presents, and who did they give to?

I count children giving their own presents as them making or buying the presents themselves. If you are buying things for them to give, it's meaningless. My DCs made sweets for people from pre-school age. They now buy a few presents out of their own money, and have done that since late primary.

Can you get him to make something? It doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Maybe make some salt dough, get some cutters and get him to make 'decorations' that you then bake (and paint if you want or put dye in the dough if you don't)?

At that age I wouldn't expect a smelly candle or a scarf from him as a gift tbh

My 3 kids just give each other and me and DH presents.
When they were small (under 5) I just took them to £ shop and then they could choose anything without worrying about the cost.
Now they are aged 6-10 they get £20 (£5 per present) loaded on to thier pocket money cards and they then think of a present and either order it online or we take them to buy it.

Mine have always given either crafts or baking and I agree with you OP that giving is a huge part of the pleasure of Christmas.

If crafts aren't a realistic option, then let him loose in Poundland with five pound coins to choose gifts. Even if you're technically paying for it the time and thought he puts into choosing something wonderfully inappropriate still counts for something.

DS started buying them at primary school when the PTA would run an after school xmas shop one afternoon for the children. It was a lovely thing as you sent them in with a few pound coins & they would buy two or three little things. They loved they 'we've got you a present and its a surprise', though excitement meant they often told you the surprise .

My kids will start giving when they can pay for them. All presents we give are from all of us as a family. My sil insists on giving us two gifts each, one from her and one from her kids. She's always done it. One of her kids is now 23, working and capable of buying his own family gifts yet she still gives us gifts from him.

Oh no, I wouldn't pick something for him to 'give'. This is why I was wondering how old you thought was old enough.

I was wondering about him making something, but there's obviously a limit to what you can do with a two year old. I might buy him some Christmas stickers and get him to decorate little boxes. He loves stickers. Or biscuits ...

Stickers are great and you can do lots with them : decorate a Yankee style candle jar, or personalise a hard back notebook or diary, make book marks...
If you peel off the negative just leaving the stickers on the sheet it's easier for little hands to manage.

Bookmarks are a nice idea! Not too difficult either. Hmm.

My DS was 4.5 last Christmas. I intended to take him to a cheap shop & let him choose presents for DH & DD but never managed to get round to it! Will aim to plan better this year!!
Generally we have given homemade gifts to GPs, often Christmas decorations. We have done them in a pottery painting place in the past & also bought wooden shapes which we painted at home (cheaper option!)
There is a chocolate bar which sounds like his name so since he was a baby we have bought those as token gifts for GPs etc & it has become a bit of a ‘thing’.
However we now have DD too & she is not named after a chocolate bar!!

Last year I bought plain canvas bags which I intended them to decorate for the GPs but we ran out of steam after doing the teacher ones!!- so GPs will be getting these this if we can organise ourselves better

My DC buy Christmas presents for each other, DH and me, and have since probably aged 2 or 3 - they tended to choose chocolate or biscuits a lot in the early years, but now they come up with some very thoughtful things.

They tend to buy something separate for grandparents for birthdays, but not Christmas (though they would definitely help to choose and wrap the Christmas present from us all).

My eldest has done it since she was a baby . Nanny gets a photo Calender , grandad gets some beer and a chocolate orange . They choose each other a gift as well .

Last year my dd was four she chose a present for her baby brother in the toy shop, will do that again this year. Last week we were shopping in primark and she saw a t shirt Dh would like so I brought that and some socks. I think it's great that she thinks of others and she has good ideas! As your Ds is younger then maybe more token home made gifts is a better idea. I think it is a good habit to get into and next year he will be old enough to understand more

Mine give to each other and to me and dh (dh takes them shopping for a gift for me, and I take them to get his). Gifts to other family members are from the four of us.