Poll: Does Santa Wrap Presents?

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I asked this last year as well, but I LOVE reading about everyone’s traditions and how everyone’s Santa operates so I am asking again. Does your Santa wrap presents? Or does he leave everything out under the tree unwrapped?

My Santa always wrapped presents growing up and always used “Santa” paper (you know wrapping paper with Santa on it) to wrap his things in. That’s how you knew it was from him. He also used to wrap all of our stocking stuffers, which I think annoyed Santa, but he did it anyway because he knew how much we liked it.

Santa continue to wrap presents for L and WB and of course wraps stocking stuffers as well! I think unwrapping presents is half the fun! And all that wrapping paper mess is a good time too ;). So what does your Santa do? And do parents give presents on Christmas too? Or just Santa? We do tag things from Mom & Dad and Santa, but I think L just thinks everything is from Santa anyway so it doesn’t even matter (I think the significance of the Santa wrapping paper is lost on him) anyway.

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Jennifer

Jennifer is the author and founder of Subscription Box Ramblings. She first discovered subscription boxes in 2012 and has been addicted since. Current favorites include CAUSEBOX, Boxycharm and Beachly!

This Post Has 76 Comments

  1. K

    Our Santa brings one handmade gift for each kid. They’re unwrapped and left in the sitting room near the Santa cookie plate and stockings (which are from Mom and Dad). After looking over the Santa/stocking gifts, we move downstairs to the playroom for wrapped family gifts.

    1. Jennifer

      Ohh, I love it! What kind of things does Santa make?

      1. K

        This year he’s making my 2 year old a latches/switches/knobs busy board and my 4 year old a wooden treasure box filled with a drawstring pouch, glass gems, seashells, and wooden “coins.” Last year, I had a colicky baby, so Santa bought stuff from Etsy. 😉

        1. Jennifer

          Ha! I can’t blame Santa?.

  2. Jenny

    This is how I grew up so we just continued it Santa does not wrap presents and only brings the couple of things unwrapped infront of the tree. All wrapped presents are from mom and dad 🙂 I want some of the credit. LOL Santa also doesn’t always bring the most expensive gift but usually the ones that are hardest to wrap or for now the ones they specifically asked him for. So N will have some Imaginext planes out and C will have Peppa Pig bath toys. They will be opening a box with their magic bands and Disney shirts in them from me and M so that is their big gift but its all from me.

    1. Jennifer

      LOL!!!!! You are so funny!!!!!!

  3. Tiffany

    we wrap santa gifts..and we share our paper with santa so he doesnt have to lug a ton around 😉 but my friends family NEVER wraps santa gifts..they come ready to go.. meaning if its a toy that needs to be put together and needs batteries.. its allready put together and ready to play with.. alot of the old movies santa never wraps gifts.. its a very cool tradiiton.. but i agree unwrapping is most of the fun!! However i do NOT wrap st nick gifts.. im too lazy for that!! lol!

    1. Jennifer

      Okay, I must ask, what are St. Nick gifts??

      1. Tiffany

        You guys don’t do st nick??? Maybe it’s a Wisconsin thing??

        St nick always comes the night of December 5th you leave your stocking out and when you wake up on the morning of the 6th your stocking is full of candy and small gifts! Usually a movie or something small you’ve asked Santa for and then of course candy or pjs something Like that!

        It’s really fun!! Even like walmart and target have signs up that remind us not to forget he comes tonight 😉

        1. Jennifer

          I’ve never heard of that?? Aren’t Santa and St. Nick the same person? I need to ask B – he’s from Wisconsin.

        2. Tiffany

          I looked it up and it’s celebrated in other country’s and Wisconsin lol! Hopefully b knows all about it depending where in wis he’s from!

  4. Erin Johnson

    Santa always wraps his presents but he uses different wrapping paper then everyone else. My oldest was curious why his presents looked the same from mom and dad as they did from Santa so I had to change that up the next year. We ended up telling him Santa ran out of paper and had to use ours.

    1. Jennifer

      That is a good answer!

  5. Beth

    Santa had his own paper in our household too, but didn’t wrap stocking stuffers. As a parent now who’s terrible at wrapping, I’m very grateful for that second bit.

    1. Jennifer

      Ha!!! I do think Santa gets annoying wrapping tubes of chapstick and the like.

  6. Katy

    I don’t have kids yet, but when I do, Santa will wrap their gifts. Santa never wrapped my gifts. I think my sister and I asked one year why he didn’t, and our parents said he probably ran out of time! 😀

    1. Jennifer

      LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that was probably true! Christmas Eve is a busy time for Santa.

  7. Nicole

    This year we have to use different paper and hide the rest or throw out. My oldest is 8 and he caught on and I had to white lie a bit. PS Due 8/1 being the third prob middle of July second was two weeks early and 1st was 1 day early.

    1. Jennifer

      Yeah, I think my 5 year old will start to notice things like that too!

  8. Alexia561

    Santa always wrapped gifts for us, but the stocking stuffers were unwrapped (but in an actual stocking so that was okay). I still wrap gifts from Santa for my husband, and he does the same for me! That way we get around the spending limit we always set for each other. *L*

    1. Jennifer

      OMG I am cracking up! If Santa brings it, I guess it doesn’t count!

  9. Debbie

    I always buy a speacial and different wrapping paper, just for stanta’s presents

  10. Hillary

    Every year Santa would fully set up all of our toys and display them in front of the tree, even the ones with a million little parts and decals. He would also put in batteries to make sure all we had to do in the morning was go down and turn it on. Sometimes right before my brother and I came downstairs my parents would even turn on our toys so they lit up and we thought Santa did it. It really made me think that Santa was magical and real.

    1. Jennifer

      Ohhh, that is cool! Santa worked hard when he came to your house didn’t he??

  11. Lisa D

    Yes and no big items Santa couldn’t always wrap. Stocking stuffers were never wrapped. But we and (we as children) had half and half. Yes Santa had certain paper.

    1. Jennifer

      Santa does have trouble with bikes and stuff. That is hard!

  12. Mary

    Out santa wrapped smaller presents and our main present from Santa was left out, I don’t think we got presents from parents. Except one year I got a book actually from my dad. Stocking stuffers around here are not wrapped. Although it’s a good idea! It’s hard to put out my husbands stocking without him being able to peak before Christmas morning. With wrapping he can’t peak!

    1. Jennifer

      It does kind of prolong the unwrapping and the excitement of Christmas morning too!

  13. Well, I am from Puerto Rico and of course we celebrate Christmas. Yes, Santa wraps presents. Now one tradition that I still celebrate here in the States is Three Kings Day on January 6. This is how we do it…in Puerto Rico…On January 5…all the children go out and they cut grass, they place the grass inside an empty shoe box, then they place the shoe box under their bed. Then they get a bucket full of water…the grass and the water is for the camels…because they have to travel a long way to get to the island 🙂

    The next morning, children look under their beds to see if the Three Kings have left them any presents….

    My kiddos are 11 and 12 and they still get a kick out of that tradition. Here we don’t have much grass during the winter, but we do have monkey grass and that is what my kids use 🙂

    1. Jennifer

      I was just going to ask where you get grass from if it’s winter! That does sound like a neat tradition!

  14. Kelsey N.

    I have been trying to use a different patterned wrapping paper for each boy so that I don’t have to make name tags and to make it easier for them to know which ones are theirs. I like wrapping the stocking stuffers too because the boys just light up when they see that they have even more presents to open. We have been doing a 3 present rule here so the little extras in the stockings are always a plus for them.

    1. Jennifer

      I like the idea of the 3 present rule. Do they know that’s what Santa brings?

      1. Kelsey N.

        I like having the rule too because then they each get the same amount of presents and there is no argument about one getting more than the other. Everything is from Santa too.

  15. Mary

    Yes! Santa brings ONE present, wrapped in Santa paper as well. Stocking stuffers are also wrapped (sloppily) in matching paper — he doesn’t even take the price tags off! And he has shaky handwriting… He is a diabetic and is a mess from all of the cookies! My mom started these traditions and we are keeping them alive for the new generation. My sisters and I believed in Santa until 6th grade!

    1. Jennifer

      Santa probably is tired from wrapping all those stocking stuffers too. It gets difficult for him I imagine 😉

  16. I never heard of Santa not wrapping gifts… Unless it was a bike or something and then it still got a bow

    1. Jennifer

      Santa does things all different ways!

  17. Turquoise Sellers

    Growing up Santa wrapped everything except bikes. This year I bought my son some gifts that are a little hard to wrap. Those items will be from Santa. I plan on sticking a bow on them.

    1. Jennifer

      It is hard to wrap a bike!

  18. Rebecca

    I never knew Santa wrapped gifts until I got older! When I grew up Santa never wrapped his gifts or stocking stuffers and I’ve continues this with my kids. I LOVE my kids expressions when they look at the tree and see Santa gifts. Santa gifts are usually the bigger gifts. Last year it was a ball put all blown up with the balls in it and a push buggy. This year it will be a bike and a few other small things. I also leave Santa gifts out for my husband.

    1. Jennifer

      I hope Santa leaves me gifts this year 😉

  19. Elizabeth

    The big presents are under the tree unwrapped but all the stocking stuffers are wrapped. Our gifts to the girls are wrapped under the tree and are labelled from us.

    1. Jennifer

      So many different ways Santa works things!

  20. Mary Kate

    Our Santa wraps everything, except for huge things. Each kid ha a different wrapping paper for all gifts, including stockings, so when things get mixed up we know who’s is who’s. Each kid gets the same number of gifts, and there is always one big gift from us that we “forget” about and bring out after everything is open.

    1. Jennifer

      Ha! Your Santa sounds good. And a lot like mine!

  21. Nina

    As a 28yo going home for Xmas whose parents still wrap the “Santa presents” that go under the stockings for myself and siblings I must admit I still love it! Youngest sibling is 21 but Santa still pretends were kids! Love the tradition of it….and now sometimes the Santa kids wrap some secret presents for the Santa parents as well 🙂

    1. Jennifer

      That is so mic elf the Santa kids!!

  22. nichole budnick

    Since my youngest step daughter is 19 and in college we are going to start elf on a shelf dorm room edition if she wants anything for Christmas it has to come from Santa and it will be wrapped….. I miss being Santa and I for sure need an elf this should be super fun

    1. Jennifer

      That would be fun!

  23. Ashley C.

    Santa doesn’t wrap in our house — he leaves things out in front of the tree all assembled [if need be] so the kids can get to enjoying those gifts right away. That’s how it was in our house growing up, too. I can’t remember who stockings were fron when I “believed” — but lately, our daughter says that the gifts are from Santa in the stocking, too. I have to watch myself all year long — she has a great memory and will say something in September about “Remember that awesome necklace I got in my stocking last Christmas? I hate that it broke, maybe I’ll get a new one!” And I have to catch myself from saying “Well … I found it at this store, so lets go look and see!” Ugh kids and their stellar memories!

    1. Jennifer

      Ha!!! Kids do have great memories!

  24. Tabitha

    Santa does not wrap his gifts or stocking stuffers at my house. This is something I’ve carried on from my childhood. I actually never heard of Santa wrapping presents in his own special Santa paper until a co-worker mentioned it this time last year. While unwrapping presents is super fun and all, I love the look on my daughter’s face when she heads to the living room first thing in the morning to see what Santa left out for her. As some other people have commented, Santa fully assembles anything that needs to be put together and makes sure things are charged, have batteries, etc. Plus when I was younger my mother told me that Santa has special “dust” that he throws in your eyes if he catches you trying to peek while he is sitting out presents. When your parents wake up they will find you sleeping sound asleep in the hallway, etc and they will know you tried to sneak up on Santa. 🙂

    1. Jennifer

      OMG that is so funny about the dust!!!

  25. Glenna

    I love the idea of Santa using paper with his picture on it! I haven’t really paid much attention yet, as S can’t read anyway, but maybe next year we will start the difference between Santa gifts and Mommy and Daddy gifts. This year everything is wrapped and the tag says “To: S” and I left the “From” part blank :-p

    1. Jennifer

      LOL! I should too. I don’t really care if L and W think everything is from Santa though.

      1. Glenna

        I don’t really care either. I suppose I should ask my husband what he thinks..I think when I was growing up it was about 50/50 between Santa and my parents. I remember I always specifically got an ornament from my dad. (Still do!)

  26. Lauren A.

    Santa never wrapped any of our gifts, it was always exciting to come out of ours rooms Christmas morning and IMMEDIATELY see what Santa had brought.

    Also, its probably a good thing Santa didnt wrap presents, because one year for EASTER I noticed that the Easter Bunnys eggs were the same as the eggs in the egg hunt my parents set up and I like ummm I dont think the Easter Bunny is real, y’all did this.. Unfortunately, my parents didnt come up with a great answer like Ive seen other Moms say, that y’all share.

    1. Jennifer

      LOL! I think the Easter Bunny probably left those for your parents to use!

  27. Mary

    My childhood Santa wrapped gifts. He wrote in a very distinct block writing on the tags. The biggest gift was always the Santa one, and there was only one Santa gift. There were always one or two wrapped items in the stockings, these were the more gifty things like earrings. Things like candy and socks were unwrapped.

    My mom spent much of her childhood in Puerto Rico, so we grew up with the Jan 6th Three Kings Day tradition as well. Ours was a bit different. We would just each put a pair of shoes in front of the door of our rooms. When we woke up there would be either a small gift in each shoe or a larger gift sitting on top of both shoes. Inexpensive fun stuff, nothing big. I don’t recall leaving anything out for the three kings. It was always fun to still have one little holiday to look forward to after Christmas.

    1. Jennifer

      THat is a neat tradition!

      And Santa must bring everyone socks huh?

  28. Shannon N.

    We’re slow to the Santa thing at my house. My husband doesn’t care one way or the other and I found out about Santa when I was five and didn’t have any siblings, so we never did much with Santa in my family either. My daughter is 3.5 and this is only the second year we’re doing Santa. Funny side note…her first Xmas was at 5 months so she didn’t care. At 18 months she was so overwhelmed that she refused to open anymore presents! We had to open one a day for like 2 weeks after. Last year at 2.5 was the first time she “got” Xmas but wasn’t too sure about Santa. Also she was deathly afraid of Santa (like hysterical if she got near him), so we haven’t done much with Santa at all. But last year, we decided that Santa will bring one present and leave it unwrapped by the tree. Last year it was an art easel (which would have been a pain to wrap). But it was all set up with all the markers, stickers, etc. This year she is getting a Disney Art Set I got from Costco. It is HUGE and I don’t want to wrap it. Haha.

    1. Shannon N.

      Also, when we asked her if she wanted to see what Santa brought her, she started to cry because she thought Santa was in her house. O.o Kind of takes all the fun out of Santa when your kid is terrorized by the idea. LOL

    2. Jennifer

      I think wrapping that would be impossible. Santa can only do so much! He has big bows for those kinds of things.

    3. Cassidy

      My little girl is 4 and she is terrified of Santa. We gave up on a picture of her with Santa. But she drew him a picture of what she wants and “mailed” it to him (she can only write her name). We put up Christmas lights so Santa can see our house and we plan on making him cookies. As long as she doesn’t see him in person, she is okay

      1. Jennifer

        Ahhh, hopefully that doesn’t last forever!

  29. audrey

    Santa doesn’t wrap at our house. He didn’t for my husband and I growing up either. We had to start giving a few presents from “mom and dad” last year to cover for Santa. We wrap ours. I have more of a problem hiding gifts and being incognito when there are presents in boxes on the porch everyday on my way home from work!

    1. Jennifer

      LOL. I had to chase down the UPS man in the driveway the other day so my5 year old didn’t see what we were getting!

  30. Cassidy

    Growing up, Santa didn’t wrap gifts (my mom worked in a gift shop for most of my childhood & hated wrapping presents, hated it). Santa doesn’t wrap the gifts for my daughter either. To be honest, I never even thought about Santa wrapping gifts. This year, Santa is bringing a 4 1/2 foot tall doll house filled with furniture and new barbie dolls. That would be a little difficult to wrap.

    1. Jennifer

      Santa wouldn’t wrap that at my house either. That would be too hard!!!!

  31. Kathy

    I never wrapped my children’s Santa gifts because I liked the look of “WOW” when they walked into the room Christmas morning. I know they used to get up in the middle of the night and sneak in to see what they had. I used to do the same thing after what seemed like hours of staying perfectly still in the bed so Santa wouldn’t know I was awake.

    I also need to say that I LOVE your blog. I subscribe to many blogs, but yours is my favorite and the only one that I read every word. I subscribed to Goodies and love getting a Birchbox each month, thanks to you.

    1. Jennifer

      Aww thank you so much!!!

  32. PotPourri

    No No Santa never wraps his gifts!!! The magic of seeing what you asked for all out of the box and ready to go is priceless!!!

    1. Jennifer

      It all must relate back to what people’s Santa’s did when they were younger!

  33. Blisser

    What to do when the mom’s side didn’t wrap Santas gifts, yet the dad’s side did? Santa doesn’t have time to wrap every single gift and he likes to leave the big ones not wrapped .
    When she was a little girl she (the mom) loved to sneak to see what Santa got her in the middle off the night and this made her even more excited.
    Mom and dad would love to see that happy expression on their children’s faces when they saw what Santa brought them. It adds so much to Christmas.

  34. Trisha

    Nope, Santa doesn’t wrap here either. It’s a family tradition I’m more than happy to carry on!

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