We all want to give the best possible Christmas to our children, but often we get caught up in the consumerism of Christmas that it can turn into a competitive craving to “keep up with the Jones” that can lead to financial pressure and even serious debt. Christmas is the season of giving, yet for many families this aspect of ‘giving’ can put crippling emotional pressure on parents to give lots of gifts to their children.
Nowadays, the gifts kids want aren’t toy cars that cost a few dollars, they are high ticket items like iPads, iPhones, and Playstation’s. We live in a world where kids always want the next best thing; and this neverending cycle of consumerism can come at a very high social and developmental cost; let alone the financial burden it creates for you, the parent.
A common practice to take the edge of this, when looking for gift inspiration is to consider items that make good stocking fillers, in order to bulk out their collection of gifts. Let’s face it, both kids and grown ups enjoy the process of opening loads of presents wrapped in colourful paper.… but some of these gifts are going to have to be “padding out” your kid’s Christmas stocking so that you don’t break the bank this festive season.
Here are three interesting ideas you might want to consider for yourself:
LEGO
Lego is a brilliant educational tool that kids seems to become obsessed with; whether that’s to build their own unique LEGO world, or to follow a particular pattern provided by a kit, such as a ‘build an airplane’ kit; for more information on what LEGO kits are available you can search online, or better still, you can head down to a local LEGO store and interact with the LEGO yourself in order to see what all the fuss is about. As an item, it can be quite pricey, and unfortunately compact when it comes to bulking out your kid’s Christmas stocking – but there are tons of secondhand deals that can be found on places like eBay.
EXCITING GIFTS
Sometimes, it’s not so much about the cost of the gift that’s important, it’s the excitement that comes with the prospect of testing it out… as an example, for less than $10 you can get a plastic knife throwing set or a virtual pet, once upon a time known as tamagotchi. Getting a gift for a child isn’t the same as with an adult, often adults appreciate aesthetic beauty, thoughtfulness, or functional usefulness – kids just want to play. Do you remember, as a kid, you might go to the beach and find a shop that for under a dollar, you could make yourself a polystyrene airplane that would keep you occupied for hours; the trick is to find gifts that are engaging, exciting and interactive – as this way, it doesn’t matter how grand the gift is, because the experience of using the gift is what makes it.
EDIBLE TREATS
Thinking back, just sixty years ago, children would often feel lucky to receive a clementine in their stocking after WWII. They would display the gratitude that children today reserve for gifts worth hundreds of dollars such as an XBox or Playstation. Food is a very loving gift that captures the care and nurturing relationship between yourself and your child. Chocolate truffles, homemade fudge, cookies, cake slices, and basically anything else that is bad for your kids dental health seem to be the biggest stocking filler favourites.
