Gifts We Can Use Please, Santa

Parents estimate that each of their kids will get about $500 worth of presents this festive season. When you consider the contributions of parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, godparents, and friends, it adds up to a tidy sum when you think of it. What would parents like their kids to get with all that? We asked 1,000 Quebecers.

Traditional presents

1. 1.At the top of the list (tied at 48%) are cash and gift certificates, which are especially popular among parents whose children are a little older. These gifts can allow kids to get something they really want.

1. 2.Clothes. It’s no secret that kids are tough on clothes, whether they wear them out or outgrow them. Given the continual need for wardrobe renewal, clothes are always
   
   
2. 3.Toys, particularly for the little ones. More specifically of the developmental and educational variety. Battery-powered toys are in decline.

1. 4.Reading’s popularity is on the rise, with 35% of parents wishing to see books for their kids under the tree this year. We’ve often heard that “a kid who reads becomes an adult who thinks.” It’s a gift idea we’re particularly partial to here at Kaleido.

An RESP under the tree

Fully 65% parents surveyed said they’d be delighted if their kids got a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) as a gift this year. Sure, it doesn’t have quite the same under-the-tree appeal, but there are ways of making it more exciting.

If your daughter is really keen on aviation, for example, you could get her that model airplane she’s been pestering you about, then wrap it up together with an RESP gift certificate. You’d explain to her of course how the money could help her fulfil her dream of becoming a pilot, by paying (part of) her way through flight school. It’s the season of dreams, after all!

Creating special moments

Many parents also said they’d like to make the holiday season a time of rejoicing and “quality time.” Many respondents would like to receive family activities as gifts from their loved ones, or contributions to a family trip, rather than just “gifts for gifts sake.” The frantic pace of life today is making quality time with the kids harder and harder to find. Parents say that what they wish for most of all is to create those special times and memories.

What do you think? What do wish for your kids this Christmas?