How To Explain Toys For Tots

[Nellie]

I am asking this question here because I find many of you have wonderful ideas or incite. My sons P-K class is not doing a gift exchange and is putting a Toys for Tots box up for anyone that wants to donate a toy. My husband and I want to help out.
My question is my son believes in Santa Clause. I just fallowed my parents tradition that all the presents besides one that would be from them were from Santa. I wish I would have done it differently. I wish a couple of gifts would have been from Santa and the rest from mom and dad. I can only here my son say "but Santa Clause will get every one gifts."
I originally wanted to take the daycare kids to the store and pick out a few toys for us to donate, but I am scared one of them might ask the same thing. Instead I am going to take them to the grocery store and we will buy stuff to bring to the food bank.
Hopefully I can just send him with the toys and tell him to put it in the donation box and he won't ask any questions. How would you explain Toys for Tots when your child thinks all the gifts come from Santa?

[Blackcat31]

Can you maybe try to say that sometimes Santa gets so busy that moms and dads try to help him out.

After all, even Santa needs a helping hand from time to time.

[melilley]

Can you maybe try to say that sometimes Santa gets so busy that moms and dads try to help him out.

After all, even Santa needs a helping hand from time to time.

I sometimes would wrap some of the presents from us and from Santa with the same wrapping paper. I told my dd that Santa sometimes needs to borrow paper from us because he either ran out or is so busy that he had to wrap some here. She believed me. We even started buying a roll and wrapping it for Santa to use...

She is now 10 and knows the truth. We laughed about it the other day...

[itlw8]

So if you start putting tags on the stuff under the tree this year will it really break his heart knowing YOU get him presents... Our tradition is always Santa brings the stocking and one big thing under the stocking.

So yes if he said Santa brings everything you could say well yes Santa brings presents but Mom and Dad give you things also

[MamaBearCanada]

What about saying:

Santa does give toys, but it's also nice for us to give to others. It reminds us how blessed we are to have all we have. Christmas is about the giving not the getting.

This might be a good time to talk about the giving part of Christmas.

[Great Beginnings]

So Santa gives all gifts but mom and dad will give a gift?

What about if you said some mom's and dad's can't afford to leave a special gift like we do so we give these gifts to help out parents. That way all kids have gifts from mom and dad and Santa.

[Cradle2crayons]

We usually get our kids x presents and wrap them and out hem under the tree weeks before.... And Santa doesn't wrap his presents that's how they know Santa came. Santa also does stocking stuff.

We do toys for tots every year and we explain it that their parents can't put anything under the tree and that's what these toys are for.

[Maggie]

I told my kids that there are some families that don't have enough money to buy food so instead of toys Santa brings food for the whole family and those those kids still need some toys. Why cant Santa bring them toys and food? He doesn't have enough room on his sleigh.

[Nellie]

I told my kids that there are some families that don't have enough money to buy food so instead of toys Santa brings food for the whole family and those those kids still need some toys. Why cant Santa bring them toys and food? He doesn't have enough room on his sleigh.

Cute!!!

[Nellie]

We usually get our kids x presents and wrap them and out hem under the tree weeks before.... And Santa doesn't wrap his presents that's how they know Santa came. Santa also does stocking stuff.

We do toys for tots every year and we explain it that their parents can't put anything under the tree and that's what these toys are for.

[Nellie]

What about saying:

Santa does give toys, but it's also nice for us to give to others. It reminds us how blessed we are to have all we have. Christmas is about the giving not the getting.

This might be a good time to talk about the giving part of Christmas.

Don't worry we do!! Giving and helping out those is need is a year round in this household.

[Nellie]

Thanks everybody for the wonderful suggestions!!

[MamaBearCanada]

Don't worry we do!! Giving and helping out those is need is a year round in this household.

Oh I didn't mean to imply that you didn't. Sorry. That's awesome that you do

[SilverSabre25]

In my family (going back to childhood) Santa always fills stockings and brings a few presents, wrapped in paper the kids haven't seen and labeled with a tag that says Santa.

[Hunni Bee]

*Totally not bashing anyone who raises their children to believe in Santa*

But this is one of the reasons why I will not teach Santa to my daughter or any future children. I imagine that would be hard to explain to a child...why some kids aren't getting gifts from Santa.

We were pretty poor growing up. I remember one year we got presents from the Angel Tree. My gift was in a huge box, maybe as tall as my knees. It said from "Santa". I was really excited about it. I opened it on Christmas morning, it was completely full of newspaper with a cheap Christmas ornament suspended in the middle . It was easier for my mom to explain that sometimes people are really mean than if I really thought Santa brought it. (I guess this is why they now require the gifts to be unwrapped when you turn them in).

We grew up believing that Santa was a part of Christmas just like the tree and the songs, but we knew our mom and grandparents searched for gifts they knew we'd love. It just made us love them more. I plan to raise my daughter the same way.