gift giving play

We reuse great big Christmas boxes for wrapping every year to cut down on all the ripped wrapping paper. When I unpack Christmas ornaments and decorations, I also take out the empty boxes and leave them under the tree weeks before its time to fill them.

I put some random toys in there. The kids open it up and it’s like a little surprise.
It’s not a big holiday performance with lots of people watching and hoping they’ll like what’s inside. They can open the gifts at their own pace, they can play with them or not.
They can put them back in the box or not.

What I’ve noticed is that the kids are excited to open these boxes and find out what’s inside. I don’t know that it matters what’s actually in the box. It doesn’t much matter that it can be a toy they’re already familiar with. They enjoy the mystery of “what could be inside?” They enjoy it so much, they hide their own toys inside the boxes.

Little J gathers objects to give to Santa and packs it all in a big box. He packs him cough drops, tissues, pens, match box cars, a pretend phone, a book and some glitter glue bottles. He concerned that staying up all night in the cold weather, Santa might get a cold or be bored.
It’s a fun game and encourages my kids to practice giving and receiving.