12 Days of Christmas Gift Ideas for Families

One of our family's favorite Christmas traditions is surprising a friend or neighbor with  12-days of Christmas fun!   We've been doing it now for several years and my kids won't let us go through a Christmas season anymore without doing it.  When a friend recently mentioned wanting to start the tradition in her family and not really knowing where to begin, I thought I would compile some of the things we've learned over the last few years and share it with all of you. 

Choosing your recipient.   We take this step pretty seriously and have each member of the family give their input a couple of weeks beforehand.  We then pray about the names and decide who will be the recipient.  We don't  choose who we think is the neediest, but usually someone who is new or we feel could use a little pick-me-up or TLC.   After a family has been chosen, we try to do a little reconnaissance to make sure they're going to be in town through Christmas Eve.   This would also be fun to do for your own family. 

 Planning. After we decide who we're going to surprise, we sit down in a family meeting and plan each day's gifts out , marking it on the calendar what we're going to do.  It's helpful if the parents have done a little pre-planning and have some ideas to suggest, as well as having a budget in mind.  After you've decided what you want to do, I highly recommend purchasing everything in advance, so that you're not stuck at 7:00pm on some crazy night right before Christmas with nothing to give.   

Notes.  We usually write silly little poems to go with each night, but it isn't necessary at all.  Each delivery could simply have a note that reads, "On the seventh night of Christmas, the elf brought to you seven...."  or you could print off these cute printable tags that I found.

Packaging:  We package everything up in cheap gift bags or inexpensive baskets (from the dollar store), but you could wrap everything up in wrapping paper too. 

Delivery.  After all that prep work is when it's time for the real fun to begin!  We usually begin delivering on December 13, so that we'll finish up on Christmas Eve.  Our kids really enjoy leaving the gift on the doorstep, ringing the doorbell, and running to our car which I've parked just out of sight.  But you could also do blocked phone calls (by dialing *67 before the phone number) with the message that their package has been delivered.  My kids enjoy the running too much and would throw a fit if we ever tried that though!   We do try to vary the times of our deliveries, to minimize the chance of being caught, but my older kids have gotten brazen and will sometimes hide in the bushes to watch them open the door. 

Finishing up.  To reveal yourself or not?   We usually opt not to, because that's our personality, but it's up to the individual family whether you want them to  know who you are or not. 

It never fails to be a great experience for our family and we love imagining their excitement and anticipation each night for our deliveries.

So what do you give each night? 

I've compiled two versions of ideas...a deluxe version and a more economical version.  Both lists would be best suited for families with children.  You could mix and match between the two lists or add in any of your own ideas.  One thing to keep in mind, is that the lists are very flexible and you could move items around depending on how many people they have in their family or how many of a certain item you can easily find. 


Deluxe Version  Approximate Cost:  ~$125
(note:  most of these items {except the movies and books} would likely be found at lower prices in a store.  I've just linked them here for convenience, but have made the total price based on the lower store prices)

1-a fun Christmas movie (perhaps A Charlie Brown Christmas or Elf )
2-children's Christmas picture books (board books are cheaper--we like this one or this one)
3-things for dinner (a soup mix, bread, and a bottle of sparkling cider)
4-different kinds of hot chocolate mixes + marshmallows
5-blossomed poinsettia plant  (this is an easy one to move around to a different day)
6-pairs of fuzzy Christmas socks (or however many people they have in their family)--check the dollar store
7- Christmas ornaments (I like this set:  7-Piece Christmas Nativity Ornament Set)
8-sheets of Christmas Stickers
9-Christmas Cookie Cutters (+ a roll of sugar cookie dough + frosting + sprinkles)
10-oranges + Christmas Orange story  (printed from here or  this gorgeous book version) 
11-a goody plate with 11 treats
12-candy canes + the beautiful children's book, The Legend of the Candy Cane: The Inspirational Story of Our Favorite Christmas Candy  (the board book is cheaper)


Less Expensive Version  Approximate cost:  ~$50

1-chocolate orange (to share) + printed Christmas Orange story
2-Christmas coloring books (and a box of crayons)
3-things for dinner (a soup mix, bread, and a bottle of sparkling cider)
4-different kinds of hot chocolate mixes + marshmallows
5-blossomed poinsettia plant
6-Christmas cookie cutters + sugar cookie dough + frosting (you can usually find a cheap set of cookie cutters at the craft store)
7-homemade ornaments (or inexpensive 7-piece Nativity set from the Dollar Store)
8-Candy bar note with 8 different candy bars (use hot glue or clear packing tape to attach to a cardboard or poster board)  See this post or this post or this post for some fun ideas for writing the note
9-muffins for a yummy breakfast (along with 9 funny Christmas jokes to tell at breakfast)
10-oranges (with a reminder about Christmas orange story from 1st day)
11-a goody plate with 11 treats
12-a cd you've burned with your 12 favorite Christmas songs

 

HAVE FUN!!!!