How should we give gifts to our preschooler?

[Noneya]

We bought a bunch of new toys, games, etc for our young one (3.5 years old) allegedly for Christmas. Given that we don't actually care about giving them all on some specific day - what do you think is the best gifting strategy - 1 gift a day for N days, or N gifts in 1 day, or something else? Why?

[Fast.F10]

Have your Elf on the Shelf make the drop on a nightly basis.

[Ximian]

Giving all the gifts at once meant the kids played only with their favorites and the rest were ignored. We're now giving one toy every other week for Christmas and birthdays.

[spazzyfry123]

I think back to me being a young kid and the anticipation that came with Christmas day. Looking back, I think me, as a kid, actually enjoyed it that much more. Not as a toy dump on a single day, but really just constantly getting pumped up for that day. Made it mean more. I think that would be better than to water down the holiday over a period of weeks. Watching the big firework go off was always more fun than watching the little snake thing grow.

Originally Posted by Ximian

Giving all the gifts at once meant the kids played only with their favorites and the rest were ignored. We're now giving one toy every other week for Christmas and birthdays.

A gift every other week? As in twenty six gifts a year? As I type this it sounds like I'm being facetious, but I'm genuinely interested. I think I'm misunderstanding.

[Smgs1992]

Celebrate Hanukah and have 8 nights of gifts

[Ximian]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

A gift every other week? As in twenty six gifts a year? As I type this it sounds like I'm being facetious, but I'm genuinely interested. I think I'm misunderstanding.

Yes, although not quite like that. In reality, we wait longer between rotating out toys. They can see what they got on the day of, but can only open a couple to play with.

We prefer doing toy rotation where we try to have a few extra toys out in addition to the ones they play with the most to avoid clutter. So when we take toys away (without announcing it) that sit ignored, we replace it with one that was given as a gift. We still have some toys in the closet that were given years earlier as they weren't quite age appropriate so that situation is covered well enough with this practice. We don't apply this to all gifts, excluding "consumable" things such as coloring books, paints, etc.

This sort of toy rotation works for <6 year old kids, but I wouldn't expect it to for older ones. It also depends on the kids as well as I don't see a need for toy rotation if your kid appreciates all the gifts, plays with them for a long time, and cleans up after playing.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by Ximian

Yes, although not quite like that. In reality, we wait longer between rotating out toys. They can see what they got on the day of, but can only open a couple to play with.

We prefer doing toy rotation where we try to have a few extra toys out in addition to the ones they play with the most to avoid clutter. So when we take toys away (without announcing it) that sit ignored, we replace it with one that was given as a gift. We still have some toys in the closet that were given years earlier as they weren't quite age appropriate so that situation is covered well enough with this practice. We don't apply this to all gifts, excluding "consumable" things such as coloring books, paints, etc.

This sort of toy rotation works for <6 year old kids, but I wouldn't expect it to for older ones. It also depends on the kids as well as I don't see a need for toy rotation if your kid appreciates all the gifts, plays with them for a long time, and cleans up after playing.

I’m always interested in other people’s techniques. We’ve got a two month old that, while it doesn’t matter now, will be soon getting into some routines. I’m a fan of appreciation of smaller amount than spoiled with everything. Cool idea.

[Efthreeoh]

Become a Druid.

[BMWCCA1]

Whatever you want to do as long as you save the best for Santa to deliver on Christmas.

[Pheonix]

Now that our son is 7 and daughter is 3, we learned "less is more"! We have a very big family and lot of friends so they usually get so many gifts. Leading up Xmas, we would lead something small in their Xmas Stockings if they are good. We will let them open up all their gifts on Xmas morning. However, they only allow to keep 3 favorite presents. The rests get donate to charities!
This year, we are thinking of asking our family and friends just to donate to their favorite charities instead of gifts for the kids!