The Magic of a Less-Stuff Holiday
Or: How to Give the Gift of Fewer Gifts
If you feel like the holidays are starting to resemble a runaway train of plastic packaging, frantic shopping, and expectations, you’re not alone. Many parents today are rethinking the more-stuff treadmill and craving something calmer, lighter, and more meaningful. Whether it’s for environmental reasons, financial sanity, or simply wanting to avoid January’s toy hangover, there is a way to shift the season without losing the magic – here’s how.
Why Scale Back on Gifts?
There’s a steadily growing recognition, even among mainstream parenting and child psychology experts, that holiday excess isn’t great for kids or parents. Reports show that nearly half of parents feel pressured to overspend during the holidays, citing a mix of comparison culture, family expectations, and the belief that happiness increases with price tags. This pressure alone is enough to take the shine off what’s meant to be a joyful time.
However, when you look closer at what actually creates lasting happiness for kids, it’s not the latest Xbox release (no shade on Xbox, though). It turns out, children often gain more long-term joy from experiences than from material gifts. Experiences build connection, identity, and memory, and isn’t that exactly what you wanted the holidays to be about?
Fewer items on the toy shelf can also help kids engage more deeply. Studies show that children often play more creatively and independently when they’re not overloaded with choices or distractions. For you, that might mean a calmer home, less clean-up, and more meaningful interactions.
So if you feel a tug toward simplifying, know this: it’s not about depriving your kids of Valuable Things. It’s about designing a holiday that supports your whole family’s well-being, not overwhelm.
That Sounds Good, but How?
If cutting back on gifts feels tricky (especially if your kids love the unwrapping frenzy), we get it! The explosion of gift-giving is so engrained in our idea of what the holidays are that it can seem impossible to just take it out of the equation.
Re-think the Giving
It may then help to think of this not as “taking away” but as “re-imagining” the gift-giving. The key is to preserve the feeling of surprise, delight, ritual, and warmth while reducing the sheer volume of stuff.
Think about it – half of the joy of getting a gift isn’t in the gift at all. It’s the anticipation, specialness, attention, and the sense that something was chosen with you in mind. That means you can give your kids fewer gifts and still keep the magic alive. Instead of six or eight packages under the tree, perhaps it’s one thoughtful gift (something they’ll truly use or treasure), plus a shared experience: a day trip, a workshop, tickets to a show, or a “yes day” coupon where they choose the family activity.
(Pro tip: “experience” gifts really are the kicker. Kids tend to remember them for longer and talk about them more, a lasting gift for both them and you. And it doesn’t have to be a week at Disney world – just doing something together is the winning recipe.)
Re-imagining gifts also brings a natural space to teach gratitude without turning the day into a lesson plan. Kids learn gratitude best by seeing it modeled. When you talk about why you picked a specific gift (“I thought of you because you’ve been loving…”) or take a quiet moment to appreciate the giver, children internalize that gifts have meaning beyond the object.
A lighter gift haul also prevents the sensory and emotional overload that makes gratitude nearly impossible. When every present gets its moment, kids can actually connect with what they’ve received.
Some families unwrap slowly throughout the day; others go one-gift-at-a-time while talking about what makes each item special. Little tweaks like these keep the fun intact, but bring intention back into the mix.
Navigating the Gift Avalanche
Have you ever tried telling people not to give you presents? It can feel a bit like telling them you’ve decided that you are now part octopus.
Ah yes: the gift avalanche. The one that arrives courtesy of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, school, and well-meaning friends who express love through quantity. This is one of the trickiest parts for parents who want to simplify. Have you ever tried telling people not to give you presents? It can feel a bit like telling them you’ve decided that you are now part octopus.
People give because they care (and because it’s generally what’s expected), not because they’re trying to drown you in wrapping paper. So it’s best to start by acknowledging this care with gratitude.
You might say something like, “We’re trying to keep things simpler this year so the kids don’t get overwhelmed. Experiences or one small, meaningful gift would be wonderful.” You could also suggest that everyone contributes to one bigger item or experiences or propose a cousin gift exchange instead of individual gifts for each child.
And if the avalanche still arrives? Stay calm, stay grateful, and manage it afterward on your own terms. You can keep what’s truly useful or loved, rotate toys so not everything is available at once, or donate extras later as a family activity that reinforces generosity rather than guilt. To protect your peace, you can also forego any strategy with outside gift-givers and keep your new, low-gift lifestyle within the family. It’s okay to do a little of both.
Build Your Own Traditions
The fun part of going against the status quo is that it opens you up to creating your own traditions. With fewer gifts on the menu, you get the fun challenge of deciding what fills the space.
Some families pick one “anchor experience” each year: a holiday hike, a special breakfast, volunteering together, a movie night with homemade treats, a scavenger hunt, or making ornaments from natural or recycled materials. Others lean into seasonal coziness: reading the same book every December, having a candlelit dinner, or baking something that only appears once a year.
You can also create rituals around the reduced gift pile itself. Maybe each gift comes with a note about why it was chosen – or you can embrace the Swedish tradition of Christmas rhymes, where each gift has a short rhyme hinting at what’s inside.
Traditions rooted in presence rather than presents (see what we did there?) tend to stick with kids long after the toy batteries die.
Tell Us How You Holiday
Scaling back on holiday gifts isn’t about being rigid or joyless. It’s about coming home to the why: calmer parents, more connected kids, less waste, fewer financial stressors, and a holiday season that actually feels like a holiday. You don’t have to overhaul everything. Pick one shift – a slower unwrap, one experience instead of one plastic thing, a morning family bake instead of stocking stuffers – and see how it changes the energy of the season.
Then tell us all about what’s worked for you! We’d love to hear how you’re reinventing your celebrations and finding your way in less-is-more holidays. Share your stories with us on Instagram or Facebook. Your changes may inspire another family ready to step off the more-stuff treadmill!
And as always, if you’re looking for childcare this holiday season, our babysitters and nannies are ready to step up. Just click the button below, tell us a bit about your family and your needs, and our team will hand-pick the right person to fit your family. Now that’s a gift that keep on giving.