Christmas Wish List

A list that answers the follow-up questions

A wish list on its own produces a phone call: which one, where from, what size. This sheet has the columns for those answers. Next to each wish there is room for where to find it (a shop, a website, Grandad's shed), an optional price column, and three small stars to colour in so the reader knows the difference between a nice idea and the thing they have talked about since August.

Choose the columns

Every column is a checkbox. A young child's list wants just the wishes and the stars. A teenager's list wants the where and the price, because that is the information that gets a present bought rather than guessed at. Turn off what you do not need and the remaining columns widen to use the space.

The notes box

At the bottom, a shaded box titled Notes for the helpers, with ruled lines. Shoe size, favourite colour, the game they already have so nobody buys it twice. It is the part relatives thank you for.

Numbers and names

Six to fifteen wishes. Fewer rows print taller, which suits big handwriting. Enter a name and the heading reads For: that name; leave it blank and a Name line prints instead, so one sheet does for the whole class. A year line reads 20 with two blanks, which will be right for a while yet.

Using it as a family

Print one per child in late November and pin them to the fridge. The stars do a quiet job here: a child who colours in all three on everything learns fast that nothing stands out, and a parent gets a ranking without asking for one. Photograph the finished list before it goes to a grandparent, because it will not come back. For a class, the sheet works as a December writing task that has a real reader at the end of it, which is more than most worksheets can say.

Goes with

The letter to Santa is the same form told as a story. The Christmas planner and gift tracker is the grown-up's side of the same list, where what was bought gets ticked off against who it was for.