How Does Santa Leave Gifts at Your House?

Despite those who say "it's too much work to wrap it all," I vote to wrap everything! We even wrap each stocking gift! Santa always wrapped everything when I was a kid (God bless my hardworking mother) and it really stretches out the fun on Christmas morning to have to "unveil" each gift one at a time, rather than coming into the room to see all the goodies all at once! If you have the gifts, start wrapping a few at a time now so you're not swamped Christmas Eve.
Santa in my childhood had great taste in paper and wrapped mine in one paper, my brother's in another. No other papers were like those (and be sure to hide the Santa-only papers well!). Ours went under the tree when I was a kid, as our daughter's do today. It's also fun to put a Santa-paper gift at the foot of the bed for Christmas morning, or to place on at the child's place at the dining table...I still use a separate Santa paper, though we don't do a lot of Santa talk....

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Santa usually doesn't wrap if it is big stuff (bicycle, play kitchen, etc.). Other stuff he wraps in special paper that is kept in the attic (where the kids don't go). And because Santa's hands would get soooo tired writing labels for millions of children...the elves print them off the computer :) Not a big hassle for me because my children are only allowed to ask Santa for 3 or 4 things and they can't be expensive stuff like a DS or Wii, etc. Because they have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors who all want to get them something it keeps it under control. My oldest birthday is also a week after xmas so we have to spread the joy!
Good luck.

At our house, Santa does not wrap gifts. Everyone always has a few (regardless of age) items that are left unwrapped (in stockings or left on the couch). Keep in simple, why wrap everything? Santa doesn't have enough room in the sleigh for all those boxes! :-)

We have always used different "Santa" for each of our children and then a third paper for gifts to each other that contain nametags. The trick is making sure you get rid of the "santa" paper. Or we have gotten a friend or grandparent to write out the tags using a red marker to avoid the handwriting problem. Good luck to you!

How about getting some of those To/From stickers and having a neighbor/friend fill them out? It wouldn't take any time at all to write the names 10/15 times, and then the handwriting is unfamiliar. Also, a man's writing might be a better choice. Good luck and have fun!

My kids are 17,15,13,12 and 7. I have always let them pick out wrapping paper that we wrap there gifts, each kids has there own paper. Then I buy wrapping paper that has Santa on it and it is from Santa. The name tags, I buy 2 different ones, one from us and one from Santa. The gifts from Santa are always written with a red pen and is kinda written like a little kids handwriting, because it is Santas evles that are writing on them. To this day the older ones look for the ones written in red to see what "Santa" got them!!! Hope that helps
Merry Christmas

What we do is leave several gifts in a pile with one unwrapped gift that will appeal to each child and they have their stocking sitting in front of that pile- all three stockings are different, so they know which is which

I am an advocate of wrapping the children's gifts in different paper anyway. I wrap my son's in one paper and my daughter's in another. but I go to the extremes of wrapping my husbands in a different paper, grandmothers in a different paper, grandfathers in a different paper, and gifts to other family members in another paper. I know is sounds crazy but I don't have to worry about really labeling too much. Plus it simplifies what has to be grabbed during the hectic schedules on those days. I buy my paper at the end of the season (day after christmas) for the next year. My mom has always done the same thing because I too was the kid who could tell handwriting!

Okay I have a couple of things here. My ex in-laws wrap all the presents and have them under the tree for like a whole week or so. They tell the kids that they wrap the boxes for Santa and then he fills them Christmas Eve. I don't do that though. I wrap them Christmas Eve night and put them under the tree. I have someone else label the gift tags. Other than that I don't do anything special. I hope you have a happy holiday! Enjoy, they grow up so fast!!!

For several years we did a special Santa paper in our house. My kids knew where we kept the wrapping paper, and this roll was hidden some place else and only used for presents from Santa. I think the idea of Santa wrapping the gifts to each person in their own special paper is great. And, gifts to more than one person can be wrapped using the parts of each type.
If your children ask, you can explain that it is easier and quicker for Santa to deliver the presents when everyone has their own paper, and if the present is wrapped with 2 (or more) types of paper it must mean that Santa means that the present is meant to be shared.

Santa leaves the gifts under the tree or near it and they are unwrapped. (like a train would be setup)packaging removed.

I have a two year old and I am keeping the same routine my mother did as I grew up. Basically, everything is wrapped and under the tree, except for the largest (not easily wrapped) or most expensive gifts. Those are placed out unwrapped from Santa late Christmas eve after we went to sleep. I remember growing up being so excited about Santa coming that my brothers and I would get up at 4-5 am to run down to see what Santa left. We could play with those toys until my Mom and Dad got up since they were not wrapped. Then we would have a nice breakfast and after, open the gifts under the tree that were from family. We would also be able to un-wrap one gift on Christmas Eve. This was a great routine for my family. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

For my kids , they write their letter to Santa early December and before they go to bed they put it in the fire place (we don't use ours) , once they are asleep we remove them and discard but they think that magic has taken them up the chimney and to his helpers to read. Then for the actual gifts I use different paper for each child (I have 3 kids), I don't use any tags with names on and the presents are put in 3 seperate piles in front of the fire place. The only gifts that come from 'santa' are the ones that we get them , so grand parents , uncles/aunts , friends etc we have explained that some people can just give them presents and santa brings the special gifts that they have asked for in their letter , although we have also told them that santa cannot bring everything they ask for , he has a lot of kids to get presents to after all , otherwise the amount of presents they would have would be ridiculous if we got everything they wanted!

In our family Santa filled the stockings and piled more gifts under them, but all the presents under the tree were from Mom and Dad (and each other). Santa didn't wrap his gifts.

Santa is the stocking stuff, not wrapped. And then usually one or two things in front of all the gifts from mom and dad and each other; also not wrapped.

so the stuff they see right away is the gift santa left. Then they have all the other gifts to open. My mom would occasionally leave a wrapped gift that said from "Mrs. Claus" - which was usually a special gift from her. I plan to do this with my own kids too.. but not until they understand the Santa story and I am sure that it won't spoil the whole Santa thing for them.

my parents always left our presents out on the sofas for us. one sofa or chair was for my sister, and one sofa or chair was for me. it was so fun to wait on the steps and ask our parents if they could guess which side of the room was for us. they would say "it looks like santa left S. her toys on the left side..." and it would really add to the aticipation before we were allowed to come downstairs and look. all that wrapping paper is unnecessary! let the wrapped gifts be from family, and the unwrapped ones from santa.

I do use different paper for Santa gifts and I also either have a neighbor write the name tag or use my alternate hand for writing.

we use different "santa" wrapping paper and I "disguise" my handwriting. so well, I suppose, that my daughter one year said, "hey, someone else wrote santa's name on this!!". I guess i forgot how i wrote the year before. Somethings, big ones, weren't wrapped in the past but the smaller ones were. Usually, we try to give the kids smaller items from Santa and the expensive ones (DS etc) are from us.

Have fun!!

For us, gifts from Santa are not wrapped, and since I have a girl and a boy, usually don't need tags.

One year it was easy. My son asked Santa for only 1 thing. An expensive powerwheel that he had been wanting, and I kept saying no. So its the only thing he asked Santa for, so...

For gifts from Santa, we get them one or two things that they've asked for as well as one thing that they aren't expecting.

All other gifts have names on it, although my inlaws put 'from Santa' on ALL of the gifts at their house. I've asked them to just say its from them, and they refused (to my face!)

Good luck.
M.

You have received alot of fantastic advice. We have always used special "santa" paper and I believe that your ideas are fabulous. Just don't start a tradition now that you wont be willing to carry on each year as kids catch on to changes fast. Another tradition we have at our house is that one of the children gets to be "santa". We have a santa or elf hat that one gets to wear and hand out the gifts from under the tree. Just an idea, but as your 5 year old is starting to read, it makes them feel very proud that they can do this very important task. It also makes them slow down and realize who has given them this gift instead of just randomly ripping open the paper and never paying attention to where the gifts came from. Enjoy the season

When I was a kid (with 2 siblings), we would each get one particular type of wrapping paper for all our gifts from Santa. So we would know which one was ours, we would have a few small gifts in our stocking wrapped in the same paper. Also, all the gifts were grouped under the tree by wrapping paper. All these years later, I still think it is a great idea and like to do the same for my son. Have fun!

When I was growing up Santa usually left one present for each of us and it was placed under our stocking so we knew right away which was ours. I can't remember if they had names on them or not, but I think not because one year I didn't realize that the pink bike was for me. It was also wrapped in paper with Santa's on it. All other gifts were under the tree with to/from labels on them.
I like the ideas of the bigger gifts being from the parents and not from Santa. Kids need to know that you love them more than Santa.

In our house everything is from mom and dad except for the one or two things she asked Santa for. The Santa gift is then taken out of the box, put together and fully functional for my daughter to play with so she doesn't have to get us up at 3 am.LOL then we leave her stocking on it. When I was growing up I had 2 sisters and the stockings were the key. I would just find the gift with my stocking on it. As far as the names on the gifts and the tags, i would still write who the gift is to because your 5 year old should be starting to read and she can feel like an important part of Christmas is she has to figure out who gets what present. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Wow - they are getting smart!! I guess I always knew my mom wrote 'From Santa' but I never really questioned it - but I also wasn't a die-hard believer either...try using print, or type it...or have a neighbor write the card....and they just use Santa paper. Maybe use the same paper for all the Santa gifts and make it flashy - like bright red paper with white or silver ribbons and bows, etc...that would stand out and be 'Santa colors.' Sometimes if the kids ask questions, I make up stories to tell them - they are pretty gullible. :) I would say Santa asked me to help him write names on presents...or that Santa has my same handwriting...etc, if they start to figure it out.

most of our santa gifts were not wrapped or labeled. there were 4 of us so santa would put our piles in different corners or nooks. much the same as you would when sorting laundry. it usually obvious whose pile belonged to whom.

Hi,
For my kids, Santa wraps in their favorite characters. My son is Cars or Hot Wheels, my daughter is Disney Princesses. He writes in capital letters as well.
When I was a kid that was the difference, the writing was all in caps. The paper wasn't all the same, but different than my mom's.

In my house santa always brings their gifts on christmas eve and fills their stockings. Although mine are all pretty much past the "santa" stage at this point. We had some friends who used to do the wrapping paper thing too ... and they ended up having to go buy an extra gift for a neice. Because they accidentally wrapped the gift that was supposed to be for a neice in the paper they were using for my daughter's gifts.

Also ... smaller gifts came from Santa ... bigger more expensive gifts have ALWAYS come from mom & dad. I wanted to make sure my kids understood that if they didn't get something really expensive they wanted it was because WE couldn't afford it that year and that maybe for birthdays or next christmas we could.

As for tags and recognizing handwriting ... if she recognizes printing use cursive or vice versa. Or simply change your handwriting a little for the Santa gifts. Make the letters more or less loopy, more or less blocky, etc.