In our family, the adults don't exchange and only the kids receive. However, the kids save allowance to give gifts for the cousins/siblings.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, this is interesting, thanks!

If children in your family don’t give gifts, at what age do you think they should start giving a small gift?

Age two. That is when they really enjoy it. My DS2 will then wrap things in discarded paper and pretend to give them again, and everyone plays along. Fun times!

Anonymous wrote:Our kids exchange gifts with each other. Sometimes they make something at school for us.

Otherwise, I really don’t want my kids to give me presents.

I’m curious about this. Why don’t you want your kids to experience giving a gift? As PPmentioned, I think it’s good to teach kids the joy of giving a gift.

Mine do usually because I want them to learn about giving presents and not just getting. They both made gifts at school/preschool and painted flower pots for both grandparents.

Anonymous wrote:Our kids exchange gifts with each other. Sometimes they make something at school for us.

Otherwise, I really don’t want my kids to give me presents.

Yes, my kids do this. Usually it is gag gifts.

We have had our kids make or sometimes purchase gifts for grandparents as well as us parents (each parent helping for other.) Certainly these gifts are ideally handmade, joyfully given. We do this not only to have them ‘experience the joy of giving’ (hmmm a hard lesson!) but to me more importantly is thinking of others, becoming an active member of family celebrating others as well as learning social expectations. I don’t want to raise a 20yo who has never given a gift to one of their family.

OP here, this is interesting, thanks!

If children in your family don’t give gifts, at what age do you think they should start giving a small gift?

Sometimes she makes something in school. Sometimes she’ll help pick something out. But otherwise, no.

Yes, they make homemade Christmas ornaments with pipe cleaners and stuff. Homemade cards and little books that they make with paper and staples. They love to bake with me for gifts or to wrap and give small pieces of candy. I also love to source books and games from my own childhood for the kids to give and everyone to play together. For example my DD6 gave my sister the game Guess Who this year. They love to give gifts and it is cute.

I remember scheming to buy chapsticks for my parents when I was really little. I must have been in kindergarten because I didn’t have an allowance yet and allowance started in 1st grade. My aunt slipped me the chapsticks after church on Christmas Eve and I was so excited to give them that I could barely sleep.

More excited to give chapsticks than to get presents. Haha. I don’t remember anyone saying “you need to give gifts.” It just seemed natural to want to be part of the giving.

Our kids exchange gifts with each other. Sometimes they make something at school for us.

Otherwise, I really don’t want my kids to give me presents.

No. They may help pick something out, but otherwise, no.

Only if they made it at school.

Yes, they make or buy little gifts. They want the joy of giving too.

In my family, the little children make gifts (a drawing, a card) and then we adults help them with when they are a little older.

In DH’s family, the kids don’t give anything. There’s even a 20 year old who has never given anyone a present. Obvious, this is their tradition and it’s not my place to change it, but I’m curious if the children in other families give small gifts?