Do you give gifts at Christmastime or opt for experiences and quality time? If you are a gift-giver, do you keep a running list all year, pull it together close to Christmas, or use another strategy?

Here's our gift brainstorming list updated for 2020! These are items we (or close friends) have found enjoyable, useful, and worth the money. Of course, the ultimate safe route is to ask the recipient or their parent, spouse, or friend!

What are your tried and true gift ideas?
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One year:

• Lakeshore Learning What’s Inside? Soft Feely Box
• Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone
• Pretend telephone
• Duplo
• Stacking toys
• Nesting dolls
• Teething toy
• Handmade blanket
• College fund contribution
• Board books
  • Goodnight Moon
  • Boats Go
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  • Karen Katz books
  • Touch and feel books

Two years:

• Sand table or sensory bins
• Toddler trampoline
• Trains and train track (we skipped the table- our kids build on the floor) – some quality generic brands fit most popular brands
• Bubble blower and bubbles
• Crayons and paint sticks
• Play kitchen
• Play food and dishes
• Water table
• Kids picnic table
• Zoo, aquarium, or museum membership
• Books (some of our favorites):
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
  • Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lewis
  • Jamberry
  • The Goodnight Train
  • Go Dog Go
  • Snowmen at Night
  • Trucks Roll by Lyon and Frazier/ Planes Fly by Lyon and Wiggins
  • Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
  • Mighty, Mighty Construction Site
  • Are You My Mother? by PD Eastman
  • Best Behavior Series by Elizabeth Verdick

Three Years:

• Play doh
• Sticker dolls or scenes
• Kinetic sand
• Magnetic tiles
• Wee Sing Book and CD
• Books on CD
• Watercolor paint
• Dress up/ costumes
• Baby dolls
• Balance bike and helmet
• Hopper ball
• Candy Land, Don’t Break The Ice or other age appropriate board and card games
• Sled
• Micro kickboard scooter
• Zoo, aquarium, or museum membership
• Books (some of our favorites):
  • Lola reads to Leo
  • Best Behavior Series by Elizabeth Verdick
  • Blueberries for Sal
  • Pout Pout Fish
  • The Gruffalo
  • Pete The Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
  • The Little Engine That Could

Four-Five Years:

• Baby doll
• Action figures from favorite TV show – Super Wings transformers are a favorite here
• Floor puzzles
• Matching game
• Lacing cards
• Candy Land, Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, Monopoly Jr. or other age appropriate board games
• Color pencils
• Zoo, aquarium, or museum membership
• Micro kickboard scooter
• Bike and helmet
• Lessons
• Educational CDs and DVDs like Leap Frog or Preschool Prep series
• Books (a few of our favorites):
  • What should Danny do?
  • Ready, Set, Read!: The Beginning Reader's Treasury, Mouse Tales, Poppleton, BOB books, or other Early Readers/ I Can Read Books
  • Hop on Pop
  • Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems
  • As An Oak Tree Grows
  • Becoming Bach
  • 20 Hungry Piggies
  • Zondervan Children’s Bible
  • Berenstain Bears
  • Further Tales of Peter Rabbit with CD by Emma Thompson
  • Beatrix Potter audio collection
  • Mind Your Manners BB Wolf
  • Simple science books

Six to Nine Years:

• Board games – checkers, Uno, Zingo
• Fine tip markers and other art supplies
• Lego
• Perler beads
• Friendship bracelet or other crafts
• Science experiment kit
• Paint by sticker
• Roller blades
• Helmet and pads
• Bike
• Adventures in Odyssey
• Tales of Buttercup Grove Series (early reader)
• Read aloud books:
  • Imagination Station Series
  • Charlotte’s Web
  • Mr. Popper’s Penguins

Ten to Thirteen:

• Crossbody purse
• Skating rink/indoor climbing, trampoline park passes
• Soccer or basketball goal
• Gift cards to favorite store
• DIY bath bombs or other crafts
• Crazy socks
• Fun throw pillow
• Chronicles of Narnia series
• Lord of the Rings series

​Fourteen to Eighteen:

• Gel pens
• Journal
• Fuzzy socks
• Nail polish or nail appliques
• Gift cards to favorite store or restaurant

​Teachers/ Day Care Workers:

• Hand written thank you note
• Gift cards
• Gift basket. Some filler ideas:
  • Kind Bars, Goodness Knows, or other healthyish treats (watch out for school-banned ingredients), fragrance free hand sanitizer, nice pen, notepad, Emergen C, special blend coffee or tea, dish towel

Adult Family Members:

• Donation to a charity or sponsoring a child or family for the holidays on their behalf:
  • Partner with your local church’s outreach initiatives
  • Salvation Army Angel Tree
  • Food For The Poor
  • Operation Christmas Child
  • Every Home for Christ
  • Exodus Cry
• Plan a family outing or activity – sometimes the best present is to be present.
  • A special meal
  • Candy house competition
  • Snow tubing or ice skating
  • Caroling at a local nursing home
  • Participating in your church service day and sharing a meal afterward
  • Bundle up and do a Christmas scavenger hunt
  • Card making/ exchange with meaningful letters
• Create a family tree
• The Chosen DVD series
• Bluetooth speaker
• Customized kitchen towel
• Rechargeable battery fan
• Special blend coffee
• Coffee frother
• Pour over, French press or percolator
• Framed family photo
• Family photo session
• Book or audio book for commute
• Glass water bottle
• Plush throw blanket in a neutral color
• Battery vacuum
• Meal kits delivered
• Restaurant gift cards
• Portable DVD player or tablet (especially families with kids)
• Amazon prime membership

And when in doubt…socks!

Who's here for tips to simplify a busy time of year? We hope these ideas will help you make room for the things that matter at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and year-round. We’d love to hear your tips as well!

1. Over door mitten scarf holder. The weather is turning cooler which means all the gear. You can use an over the door shoe organizer for keeping mittens, scarves, and winter accessories sorted and available. 

2. Furniture sliders
Oh how we wish we’d discovered these friction reducing beauties many holidays and children ago! Furniture rearrangement seems to be a part of family life and if you are making room for a tree or other decorations, may we suggest these back savers.

3. Panera coffee subscription
For $9 a month you get unlimited coffee at Panera! Subscription includes 1 cup of coffee per phone number and resets every 2 hours. 

4. Tribl Worship Music App – Tribl is an incredible resource a friend shared with me. These prepopulated play lists will fill your home with worship all season long!

5. Dwell Bible App – Another way to keep your mind set on Christ throughout the season is to let someone else read Scripture over you. Check out this app which has a few books available for free listen. 

6. Ready recipes – easy, yummy, and scalable for crowds. These aren’t necessarily holiday recipes, but if you are hosting out of town guests or just need some simple ideas for your family during holiday prep check them out! We also do plenty of BFD (breakfast for dinner), hamburgers, and take out when our schedule is full.

• Baked Chicken Thighs: https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/crispy-baked-chicken-thighs/
• Crock Pot Brisket: Buy seasoned or season with your favorite rub. Cook on low 8 hours and top with your favorite BBQ sauce! 
• Meat Loaf: https://natashaskitchen.com/meatloaf-recipe/
• Panera Cream Cheese Potato Soup: https://www.food.com/recipe/paneras-cream-cheese-potato-soup-150863
• Chicken Salad: Boil chicken breasts until cooked. Shred in stand mixer. Add mayo (or cottage cheese and greek yogurt for a healthier version!) and your favorite veggies and seasonings. We use olive oil mayo, salt, pepper, green apples, slivered almonds, onion, and bit of lemon juice. Serve on salads, wraps, or crackers!
• Fish Tacos: Need a new twist on tacos? Try swapping beef or chicken for fish! We use Wild Caught Alaskan Pollock from Wal-Mart. It bakes from frozen in less than 20 minutes and is a great way to mix up tacos.
• Baked Brie: Aldi often has brie for a great price. We basically follow the recipe below, but skip the egg. Serve with apple slices.​  https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/raspberry-baked-brie/7e5bb469-fe1f-439b-bdaa-fed3da9e1335
• Cinnamon Baked French Toast Casserole: No batches to turn makes this an easy treat for crowds! ​https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/cinnamon-baked-french-toast-recipe-2120484

What are your go to recipes when you’re short on time?

Here are recipes from years past:

• Chicken Picante 
• Sushi roll ups – grill your favorite fish, steam rice, and roll both up in bite-sized Nori (seaweed snacks). Top with soy sauce, wasabi, and ginger as desired!
• Korean Beef and Rice 
• Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast 
• Crock Pot Taco Soup (Can also be made on stove top)
• Tater Tot Casserole​

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For convenience, here are our tips from prior years but be sure to check out those posts here and here for all the details:

• Free Library App –offers instant access to books, audiobooks, and other media completely free
• Audiobooks and podcasts – Any task can be educational if you’ve got a good book or podcast playing in your ears. We also use these for our kids.
• Gift list/ card journal – You can create your own record of all-star gifts and even draft greeting card wording.
• Wal-Mart grocery delivery - $99 for annual subscription.
• Whole Foods 2 hour delivery  - free with minimum purchase
• Free USPS pickups – schedule on the USPS website 24 hours or more in advance and skip the trip to the post office. You need to have correct postage on the package at the time of pick up.
• Amazon Gift Card Greeting Cards Delivered by US Mail Same or Next Day
• Amazon Prime Music and Shows – stream shows and music! Build those Christmas playlists and stream your favorite Christmas shows and movies.
• Wal-Mart Online Grocery Shopping and Free Curbside Pick Up – saves us hours each week. Use the app to build your list as you think of items throughout the week.
• Paper Products- maybe it's just our life stage but paper products are always on our Wal-Mart grocery pick up list and not just at Christmas. 
• Poinsettias for 99¢ at Home Depot on Black Friday
• Mangers - A Completely Unbiased Perspective – a simple way to remember Christ throughout the Christmas season.