A family Christmas list, sorted by age group
Six people to buy for, from a four-year-old to a grandfather of seventy-four, and one week to do it in. Generic ideas stop working with a spread like that. It helps to think per age group first and per person second, and to get a list from everyone who can hold a pen.
Ages 2 to 7
Small children want things to build, pour and dress up in. Duplo for the youngest, Magna-Tiles or a wooden train set from about four, and a Djeco craft box for the child who would rather glue than build. A play kitchen gets used for years if the child is under five when it arrives. After that it gathers dust.
Picture books are the safe pick, and a bubble machine or a football gets them outside on Boxing Day, which every adult in the house will be grateful for. Skip anything with a screen at this age; the grandparents will buy that anyway when the child is eight.
Ages 8 to 12
This is the age of the first real hobby, so buy into it. A board game with actual decisions in it (Ticket to Ride, Catan Junior, King of Tokyo), a Kosmos science kit, a Lego Technic set or a first proper kit from the football club they support. A book series they can disappear into for a month does more than three unrelated books.
A cheap digital camera or a Toniebox works for the younger end of this group. Gift cards do not, because a ten-year-old with a voucher tends to feel short-changed.
Ages 13 to 18
Teenagers know exactly what they want and will tell you, if you ask in the right tone. Wireless earbuds (the budget Sony WF-C500 do the job), a portable charger and a phone case get used every day. Clothes are a minefield unless they picked the item themselves, and that is what the list is for.
The gift that goes down best at this age is a ticket: a concert, a festival day, a match. It gives them a date to look forward to, and they will still be talking about it in March. Add one thing tied to their hobby, like a set of decent drumsticks, a climbing chalk bag or a sketchbook from a brand they actually use, and you have shown you paid attention.
Adults
Adults want the thing they would never buy themselves. A Le Creuset casserole, a Kobo, the Lego Botanicals orchid, a proper wool blanket, an Ottolenghi cookbook for the one who cooks. Buy for a hobby they already have, never for one you think they should have. A running watch for someone who has not run since school feels like a telling-off in wrapping paper.
Scented candles and bath sets are what people give when they have no idea what someone wants. Look at the person's list instead.
Ages 65 and up
Grandparents mostly have everything and say so. What they are short of is comfort and contact. A heated throw for the sofa, good slippers, a 1000-piece Ravensburger puzzle for the long afternoons, a subscription to a magazine that arrives every month with their name on it.
The best present for this group is a digital photo frame the family can send pictures to from their phones, such as an Aura frame or a Nixplay. A grandparent who gets a new photo of the grandchildren every few days uses that frame more than any tablet. If they do want a tablet for video calls, set it up before you wrap it, with the calling app on the home screen and nothing else.
Getting everyone's list organised
Most of the work is in getting the lists early. Ask in the first week of December, give a date, and talk to the children with their parents in the room. Set one budget per person across the family, so the four-year-old and the grandfather get the same amount spent on them and nobody keeps score.
Each family member can create a Christmas list of their own, and the buyers reserve what they picked so the teenager does not get two chargers. Send the link round this week, because the lists that turn up on the 22nd usually end in a gift card.
