I participated in a campaign on behalf of Sverve for Wal-Mart. I received a sample to facilitate my review and compensation for my post.
When my children were younger, it was really hard for them to zero in on the things they wanted most for Christmas. We had an easy way to help them whittle down their lists. Check out what we did!
It’s never too early for holiday toy shopping in my opinion. It helps the family budget. So we start Christmas shopping in October.
We pick a Monday Night (which is family night for us) in the middle of October and we took the kids to Wal-Mart. By the way, WalMart is holding a fun Holiday Toyland Event where your kids can interact with this seasons hottest toys and become official “toy testers”. Learn more about this event including dates and locations HERE.
We told them again and again that we weren’t buying any toys today so there wouldn’t be any fit throwing at the store. We had the kids go up and down the isles and pick up things they liked. We took a picture of them holding the toy (next to the price so we had reference). Then when we got home I made a “proof sheet” for them to look at. They cut out the pictures and started sorting them into “Really Want” and “Don’t Care” piles. The don’t care pile went in the garbage. Then we started all over with the “Really Want” pile until they had whittled down their list for Santa.
My kids know that they get ONE present from Santa along with a few stocking stuffers. The other gifts they get are from Mom and Dad, Grandma’s and Grandpa’s and Brothers and Sisters. So they get about 6 gifts total. Or up to $100 worth of things.
Once they decided what they wanted from Santa, we wrote Santa a letter and glued the picture to the letter so Santa wouldn’t get confused about what they wanted.
My kids loved this tradition. Now that they are older, they know what they want for sure. It’s not as hard for them when they don’t care about toys anymore. But we still continue the tradition for the sake of the 9 and 3 year old.
The Wal-Mart Holiday Toyland Event would be the perfect time to whip out the camera and take pictures of the things your child really liked playing with.
Have fun shopping this Holiday Season! ~ Annette
Love the letter to Santa. Great tips for helping make lists for the little ones.
I love that ‘Dear Santa’ list!! Such a great idea!
children love to write letter to Santa…. great idea and thanks for sharing
I love this! Such a great idea and gets the kids involved while spending family time.
Great ideas. I have a 6 & 3 year old, so I will be using this!
I love the letter to Santa! That is a great idea to take pictures with the children and the toys they want.
That Dear Santa letter is adorable!
What a cute idea for a Santa letter. We’ll have to do that this year!
Great ideas! Looks like she wants a lot of toys!
We write letters to Santa too!