Last year when Amazon’s Holiday Kids Gift Book landed in our mailbox, our kids suddenly craved toys and gadgets they had been blissfully unaware of moments before. As four excited voices fought over the cherished catalog, I desperately sought to regain control of our Christmas gift giving. The highly touted Want, Need, Wear, and Read list came to mind. We decided to try it right away.
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Learn more in my disclosure policy.
Want, Need, Wear, and Read Gift Lists
Something I want
Something I need
Something to wear
Something to read
The Want, Need, Wear, and Read list makes it much easier to be intentional in both requesting and receiving Christmas gifts. While you don’t have to limit your gift giving to this list, it does make for a more well-rounded gift giving experience.
Something I Want
The Want list is by far the easiest for our kids to fill out. Fortunately, by adding in three other categories, our kids now know that they have to be even more intentional with their Want list.
Something I Need
Our first attempt at using this gift list nearly stumped us in the Need category. Our daughter did ask for an inexpensive item for her sewing hobby, but our boys were having a tough time with this one.
However, they had been asking for an audio player for their rooms for quite some time. When we found the Yoto Player, it was obvious that its versatility would serve them well in the coming years. To make it more affordable, this was a shared gift for all four kids.
Read More: Yoto Player Review {Why Our Kids Love Their Yoto}
Something to Wear
I really enjoyed figuring out how to include this gift category. Our daughter wanted a very specific cardigan that was featured in her capsule wardrobe guide. Fortunately, it was affordably priced and easy to order online.
Read More: Capsule Wardrobe Guide for Girls {Review}
Our boys requested items that weren’t as easy to find or as affordable, so I had to improvise. Thanks to some Kohl’s cash and coupons, I managed to find something within our budget that each of our boys loved: a Mickey Mouse shirt for our youngest, a t-shirt with Captain Toad for our middle son, and a Cincinnati Red’s baseball cap for our oldest.
Something to Read
We read so many great books in our homeschool, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well my kids took to this gift list category. Our oldest son chose a book about super cars – one of his current fascinations. Our daughter requested 100 Cookies, and we have since enjoyed so many delicious cookies from its recipes. From Thriftbooks my sister found a good, used copy of Redwall and the sequels to My Father’s Dragon for our younger boys.
Remember: It’s Just a Guide
Sticking to our Christmas budget was more important to our family than checking off all four categories of the gift list. While I’m grateful that everything worked out our first time using the Want, Need, Wear, Read categories, it will be okay if some years we can’t cover every gift.
If a list like this helps your family come up with more meaningful gifts, then it is serving you well. However, if you feel bound by the list, it may not be the best fit for you.
Read More: Tips to Simplify Christmas {Schedules, Expectations, Santa, & Gifts}
Christmas List Printables
Our kids took to the idea of the Want, Need, Wear, and Read Christmas list much more readily when I made a printable for them with a fun background. Feel free to download and print any of these blank gift lists. Each image links to an 8.5 x 11-inch PDF download.
Green Backgrounds
Red Backgrounds
Red and Green Backgrounds
Plain Background
Tools to Create Your Own Printables
I created these gift list printables on Canva with backgrounds I purchased from Design Cuts and DepositPhotos. You can create similar printables fairly easily in the free version of Canva.