Christmas is an ideal opportunity to teach children the value of gifts. But this goal becomes quite complicated when they receive so many Christmas gifts that they end with “stuffed with toys& rdquor; (And really in the end they only listen to one or two of them at the most). Then,what is the appropriate number of gifts What should we ask the Magi for our children? And how can we teach them the value of the things they have?
The rule of four Christmas presents
One of the tools we can start with is with the rule of the four christmas presents. That is, our children receive four gifts following four rules:
1. Something that works to carry out (for example clothes, shoes or accessories).
2. Something that they wish.
3. Something to read.
4. And something that they need really.
We know that this rule is sometimes a bit complicated to apply, because uncles, grandparents and other relatives also contribute with their wishes to the Three Wise Men to the long list of gifts that our children end up receiving. But we can try to square this list so that the Christmas tree does not end up being full of toys that it is very likely that in the end they will not even use.
This rule is based on the premise that each time children receive a greater amount of gifts at Christmas, which makes them not value them in the same way and end up worrying more about the amount than about the gift itself. In addition, if we think about it, children are able to have fun with the boxes in which the toys are wrapped, which suddenly become magical forts to protect themselves, or wonderful canvases on which to unload their imagination. But instead we are overwhelming them with gifts that they often do not ask for, in an attempt to keep their Christmas illusion and its childlike innocence. Something totally understandable, but is giving them more and more gifts the best way to achieve it?
The letter to the Magi: an ideal moment to educate
The educator and sociologist Alba Castellví proposes some tips to make the writing of the letter to the Kings, turned into a pure process of consumerism, into a opportunity to educate:
- The first, as always, is to lead by example. If we want some more honest letters, which are not a mere bet on consumerism, let’s start. We could write a letter in which we take stock of the year, our progress, the important things, and we ask them for immaterial things.
- Talk to the child about the gifts that are requested, to avoid being too influenced by advertising or the ideas of friends. Alba even proposes that in the letter to the Three Wise Men we ask our children to explain how they are going to use that gift they ask for and with whom. Surely reflecting on that they discard toys.
- Be more specific with the balance sheets or improvement purposes. “Take advantage of the moment of writing the letter to reflect on the last year: avoid the generic formula “This year I have behaved very well & rdquor; to specify what things have gone well. For example: “This year I have made an effort with music although I did not really want to, I have tried not to forget to set the table any day & mldr; & rdquor ;. In this way the child sees what valuable things he has done in the last period and can feel satisfied & rdquor ;, says Alba. With the purposes, “instead of writing” This year I will behave well & rdquor ;, it is better to specify how. For example: “I intend to do my best to help around the house and to help my sister get dressed. & Rdquor;
How to teach the value of Christmas gifts
In addition to the rule of the four gifts and taking advantage of the moment of writing the letter to the Kings, there are other things that we can carry out as a family to teach children the value of gifts:
- We emphasize the importance of example that we give them since, after all, our children learn from what they see that we do, and not what we tell them to do. If during the year they see us buy compulsively or give a lot of value to the material, how do we expect them to act?
- Getting involved in social causes: During Christmas many solidarity campaigns are organized in which we can do our bit and make our children aware of the different realities that exist. As the journalist and writer Melisa Tuya encouraged us in this presentation, let’s be “people with a causeLook for a cause, because there are millions of causes in this world that need us to get involved in them, as far as we go, because for this world to go better, many people need to do little things in our day to day & rdquor ;.
- Prepare gifts as a family: we can organize together an afternoon of activities in which we make crafts or homemade gifts for family and friends. Or we can also, following the line of the previous advice, make a collect toys that they no longer use to give to other children who do not have the same opportunities. It is important that we do not give them gifts that are broken or in poor condition, all children deserve the illusion of opening the package and finding a toy with which they can play properly.