As a family with four kids of different ages, Christmas shopping can be challenging at times. What Dylan loved a year ago, he may have completely given up by now. Our little Evelyn is definitely cycling through interests quickly at 4 years old! Although it doesn’t seem like dinosaurs will be going anywhere anytime soon…

Thankfully, our kids love writing their Christmas list each year, which in turn simplifies gift shopping. That being said, Christmas lists can be tricky! If you give an excited child a pencil and paper and let them go to town, you’re likely going to end up with requests for big ticket items that just aren’t realistic. With that in mind we’ve tailored our printable Christmas wish list to encourage thoughtful, meaningful, and realistic wishes by separating out four mini lists plus a space to emphasize their top pick. 

Download our printable here!

A quick overview of what it includes:

What do you want?

This one’s easy. The simple, straightforward, ‘what do you want for Christmas this year’ question answered up front. We find that asking this one first gets the less meaningful items out of the way.

What do you need?

This one took some initial explaining, but essentially this gets the kids to focus on something they’ll use in their everyday life and think of it as a gift! 

Something to read

We are big readers in this house, and have always encouraged our kids to be, too. After all, leaders are readers! Having the kids write down their reading interests helps them discover new books, whether they’re novels or a book on a specific topic they’re currently interested in.

Something to wear

Whether it’s new shoes for a sport they play, a new scarf for the walk to school, a favorite sports team jersey, or a new trend they want to keep up with, there’s usually something to wear on everyone’s list!

Something you would really love

This is a chance for the kids to think carefully about their most wished-for item. It can be hard for kids to narrow down their list, that’s why we save this one for last. The big-ticket item, the experience they would be over-the-moon for. This is where that goes.

PS, this list works great for your spouse, too! If you haven’t yet, check out our blog on disappointment in marriage – and how to combat it! There’s a great story about the first gift Kevin ever gifted me and my reaction to it.