When kids are young, our culture tends to see children as receivers of gifts. This usually feels good all around – kiddos feel excited and loved, and adults feel good about giving this pleasure. And at the same time, kids also get enormous benefits from giving gifts. Giving increases their sense of pride, confidence, and empathy. And it brings joy!
Research shows that gift giving gives back to the giver in several ways:
Doing things and spending money for others builds self-esteem and happiness. When giving a gift, the giver feels satisfaction and good feelings about themselves, such as that they are generous, valued, and can make a difference. A positive feedback loop is created where gift giving increases positive feelings, and positive feelings make people more likely to give gifts.
Secondly, when children give gifts they have chosen or made, they may also feel more grown up, creative, and good at solving problems, which all bring a sense of pride.
A handmade gift can also be a way to encourage creativity, or show that the point of gift giving isn’t shopping for someone else, it’s about the giving and thought that goes into the gift.
Lastly, gift-giving has added benefits of helping children practice empathy and ‘perspective-taking’ - which is the ability to see the world through another person’s perspective, and is an essential life skill. Research has shown that gift giving correlates to greater emotional understanding of others, which is positively associated with better relationships and greater life satisfaction.
One important note is that children are far more able to be generous and think about somebody else's wants when they feel their own desires are met. Even anticipating that their desires will be met increases generosity, so you can remind them that others are planning gifts for them, while they plan gifts for others.
