2019 Christmas Gift Guide

Have you heard of the “four gifts” rule? Some families are finding it helpful, for budget reasons or just for simplicity, to give each of their children 4 total gifts on Christmas:

Whether or not you adhere to this 4 gifts rule, we thought it was a helpful way to break down this year’s Christmas gift ideas. After all, most gifts fall into one of these categories anyway, right?

We’ll publish another article on a fifth category to consider or substitute — “somewhere to go” — for those looking more for experience gifts or memberships.

But without knowing who you’re buying for and what your budget is, our goal is simply to give you some inspiration — so that hopefully something will pop out or spark an idea whether you’re hunting for your child, Grandma, a teacher or a godchild.

Something they want

In general, for the kids this tends to be toys. For the adults (and older kids), sometimes something you want IS something to wear or read. But there are some fun things adults love and won’t buy for themselves — like sugar scrub, a new chess board, or a lightweight and versatile backpack — so we’ve got ideas all around.

Something they need

Honestly a gift in this category could be a new package of Spiderman underwear or some other essential that is just slightly cooler than the normal buy. It’s fun to open on Christmas Day, even if it’s a necessity.

But if you’re all set on underwear and already have plenty of toys, we have a few suggestions:

A bluetooth meat thermometer, so Dad can see if the steaks are cooked without even opening the grill
The best noise machine/okay-to-wake clock for the early rising toddler
A triple bunk to make that shared bedroom a little more spacious (and fun new cozy sheets to go with it)
New lunch boxes to keep the dip separate from the veggies until it’s time to eat
A trunk organizer for, well, you know, the one who needs it

You get the picture. Shopping for something needed can be fun, too:

Something to wear

There are probably far too many suggestions here, but we wanted to include a quick browse list for you with a variety of budgets and for everyone in the family from the babies to the teens to the parents to the aunts and uncles.

Some of these picks are surprisingly affordable and others are more of a splurge, but all should hold up for years to come (or as hand-me-downs!).

Something to read

Here, we’ve stuck to some collectible reads, some classics, and some home and cooking wish list reads, but this is an easy one, really. We could go on all day.