Do you wrap toys in the their boxes or take them out first?

[NoNamesLeft234678]

Do you wrap toys in the their boxes or take them out first?

This is exactly what I did too.

Life is too short for frustrated kids on Christmas Day working themselves up because they can’t actually get to the cool toy they’ve just unwrapped.

Yes! If it is something that takes a fair amount of assembly I do, so they don't have to wait while daddy says hold on, it's Christmas fgs

We unbox things that need assembly and put together a few days in advance, learnt that lesson the hard way the year that we discovered 2 main presents (a scooter and a ride on tractor) were missing vital bits in the box on Xmas day 🙈

I think the only thing we pre-assembled was a trampoline (yes xmas eve!)

Mine would have hated it if I'd pre cut the little ties on the boxes or taken it put as that's part of the fun.

As for setting up games consoles - gosh no you don't do that first (unless kids are very little!) That's part of the magic of having it "fresh" is doing that yourself. Setting your settings etc.

Why on earth would anyone unbox it? You'd be making it harder to wrap, and making it impossible for the recipient to return the gift if it was a duplicate/damaged/faulty.

Depends what it is but usually no.

Well if you read the thread you'd know why.

And if it was damaged or faulty you'd know in advance because you've looked at it so then you'd avoid a disappointed child if it was damaged or faulty when they took it out of the box.

We've had much more success with unboxed toys. Those always seem the easier more relaxed Christmases looking back. It's awful realising you're missing a part, wrong battery size or can't find the right allen key after already spending a frustrating hour trying to put things together on Christmas morning.

I wouldn't do it Christmas Eve either, leave plenty of time to return it to the store if it's impossible to assemble or missing a bit. From experience!

It's easier to wrap a box than a weird shape.

Generally assemble beforehand, because I don't want to spend Christmas morning going through the 93 steps of assembling Playmobil or a toy kitchen while my child is waiting for their toy. Watching your parent identify parts K through P and affixing 27 small flower pieces onto 6 different plastic bushes is no one's idea of fun.

Obv there are toys you don't need to do this with.

I often take out to do initial set up/charge/install batteries/etc. but normally put back in the box so they get the pleasure of taking it out (and keep any instructions). Less so now they’re older as they enjoy the set up.

Build any big items (toy kitchens etc.) But any small items I leave in boxes. I set my boys switches up the night before last year so they were all updated ready to go and fully charged. I'll never forget my pfb 2nd Xmas (first year with 'big' toys) and having to drive to my parents house at 11pm to get a drill to put the damn cosy coupe up. I learnt then, build and hide earlier then Xmas eve 🤣

If the recipient is your own two year old then it makes sense.

Yes! I remember spending 3-4 hours Christmas Eve assembling a playmobil school 😂

I always took them out especially if they needed batteries and make sure they work. Last year a friend of mine bought a Lol dolls house for her little girl. When she opened it Christmas day someone had swapped it for an old one and taken it back to the shop. So Christmas day her little girl was heartbroken and she had lost the receipt.

Always unbox, add batteries if needed and get rid of all the packing.

Depends on the toy and age of the child. If it’s something that’s going to cause hassle like a doll or figure held ransom in its box by a million plastic tags and it’s a young child I’d take it out to undo them and then put it back in untied. We got ds a millennium falcon model one year, it was big and needed something like 300 stickers put on, we took that out and put the stickers on before putting it back in the box.

Doll house n bike built and not wrapped everything else wrapped in their original boxes xxx

Oh my god I barely get them wrapped in time let alone unboxed and assembled! Surely opening, assembling and setting them up is part of the fun of Christmas Day!

for little children, prep makes Christmas morning much more pleasant for parents.

Toys that will need assembling get assembled in advance. If that means a different box is required I find one.

for toys held in display position by a million little clips and ties, I carefully open the box, remove the clips and ties on anything that will stay in place now that the package isn’t traveling on a barge across the ocean, and put it all back together before wrapping.

If its something that he's going to want right away and get frustrated while we build it, then it gets unboxed and built then awkwardly wrapped.

I unbox things from Santa so it feels more realistic 😂

Oh wow I can't believe some families put all the stickers on for their kids! Mine love doing that.... maybe we're weird!

We buy a lot of toys second hand which helps with not having to build/remove ties etc. I can see the appeal of pre-building some stuff but I remember how aghast I was to discover that my cousins got their Lego already built and set up under the tree. I just didn’t see the point in getting it because for me the fun was in building it!

I used to remove all the wires etc that held them in place, (I think that was a tip that I read on here), and also add batteries if they needed them to make sure that it worked and to save having to do it on Christmas Day. Then the toy went back in the box and was wrapped .

There is nothing worse than disappointment on Christmas Day if the toy is broken or doesn't work