We have a tradition of rotating names for those we get Christmas gifts for each year. I remember doing this with my family growing up. 

This is how we do it. On the left side of a piece of paper list your children’s names and then to the right of those names re-list but start with the second name. Next year start with the third name and so on. We do this among adult couples and cousins on both sides of our family. It helps budget-wise and also simplifies things a great deal.

Rotating names is a great way to help your children focus on one sibling. Some questions that we have our children consider, when choosing a gift, are: What goals has your brother/sister set for the new year? What are their current interests in school and play? What do they want to be when they grow up? Do they like to cook, sew, paint? Are their interests horses, science or history? This helps them to narrow down ideas and planning helps them to save money and ensure that their sibling will love what they make or buy. The whole idea is that they learn to give from deep inside and that they are not focused on what they are going to get.

We have a huge, green poster board Christmas tree on the wall. Each child gets three die-cut Christmas ornaments on which to write the names of the 2 cousins and sibling that he has for Christmas. (2 cousins because one is from my side of the family and one from Jim’s.) We put the tree up in October so that they have plenty of time to create the gift or shop for the best deal. Then they write the names of who they have and tape it on the tree. They love the tree and each time they walk by it they are reminded, to consider for a moment, their gift.