Idealpresent Christmas Gift Guide

In the UK this year, we’ll be spending £1.4 billion on presents for our children!

Research shows that we spend somewhere between £120 - £180 on each of our children at Christmas, and that in total, children will receive gifts (from friends, relatives etc) worth more than £258!!!

As any parent knows, some presents get played with and some are discarded almost as soon as they are unwrapped -not just a waste of Dad’s or Granny’s hard earned cash, but also a disappointment for the child.

But, follow our Gift Guide to the “What’s Hot” for boys and girls this Christmas, and you’ll be sure that the children get just what they always wanted!

If you think they get too much

If Christmas Day just becomes too much of a frenzy, what about trying some of these ideas:

• Hold back some presents, then give them one each day after Christmas – you might even make it until the New Year!
• What about giving a “voucher” for a treat or day out in the New Year – something to really look forward to!
• Think about charity donations – www.greatgifts.org has really innovative ideas such as buying a goat for a third world family, which will help children to understand about the importance of thinking of others at Christmas.
• Maybe suggest to Grandparents and Godparents the idea of putting some money into your child’s saving account (or even setting on up for them!) rather than buying a present.
• Remember! Children value our time and energy spent with them far more than their presents!

Mums are officially the Present Fairy!

According to research carried out by www.idealpresent.co.uk in the run up to last Christmas, one of the things that Mums find most annoying is having to act as “The Present Fairy” – 72% of Mums said that they have to supply ideas for grandparents and other relatives for what to buy their children, and then field the phone calls and questions about the presents seemingly for weeks. When Mums are already shouldering a large amount of the burden of Christmas preparations it seemed like just one more thing to do!

If this sounds like you, why not set up your child's very own Ideal Present List, using a brand new service from www.idealpresent.co.uk. You make up a list of up to 30 presents (ideas from idealpresent’s extensive database or ideas you already have), then you send the idealpresent list e-mail to friends and family. They log on, view your list and decide what to buy - ideal present will tell them where to buy, and how much to pay. You can simply sit back and relax knowing your children will get just what they always wanted.

Still need some more ideas?

Idealpresent.co.uk is the first online independent children's gifts advice service, to help you with ideas and suggestions for every occasion. All you do is answer some simple questions about the child you are buying for, then idealpresent tells you what to buy, and where - from over 10,000 toys, games, books, CDs (anything you could imagine, and things you wouldn't think of!) from over 170 different retailers. The service is completely free of charge, and there's also a quick and free "what's hot" section.

Idealpresent Christmas Gift Guide for Boys 2006
Idealpresent Christmas Gift Guide for Girls 2006