How to Prevent Kids from Peeking at Presents

Looking for a solution to your kids snooping on Christmas gifts? If you have ever struggled with kids trying to sneak a peek at their gifts before the big day, check out my one trick that will help prevent kids from peeking at presents before Christmas and spoiling the surprise.

BONUS: Don’t miss the darling printable tags I created just for you!

I absolutely LOVE Christmas!

I love hunting for those special things I think my kids will love and surprising them with meaningful gifts on Christmas morning.

Even if they have a list of things they would like to have, they never know what will appear under the tree until they open them on Christmas morning.

I might be more excited for them to open their gifts than they are!

When my kids were little I always wrapped the gifts ahead of time.

I always had a wrapping station set up and put effort into wrapping each gift thoughtfully.

It is a lot of work that is self-induced because I am a little nuts in believing each gift should look like it came out of a Martha Stewart magazine, lol.

Then, on Christmas Eve, I would have to wait for everyone to go to bed and actually be asleep (which took longer because they were so excited for Christmas morning) before I would make multiple trips up and down the stairs with my arms full of gifts to place under the tree.

I never got to bed before 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve for DECADES!

It didn’t matter how much I hid the wrapped gifts, someone would always find them after I hid them.

Over the years I have tried everything to keep my kids from peeking at gifts for Christmas. And I always had that one snoop. 

If it had their name on it, they would be overtaken by anticipation and curiosity and peek at what was concealed underneath the beautiful wrapping paper, completely ruining the surprise.

Storytime: I (almost) ruined my Christmas

I remember one Christmas when I was 8, there was a gift under the tree for me from my grandparents. When my mom wasn’t paying attention I carefully unwrapped the gift, saw what was in there, and wrapped it back up.

SO SNEAKY!!

I remember that gift specifically. It was a faux leather jacket.

I don’t remember any of the other gifts that year and I never did it again. Maybe because I felt bad for sneakily opening it and the guilt has never left me or because there was no excitement left for that gift on Christmas morning.

As my kids got older, when Santa no longer appeared while Sugar Plums danced in their heads, I could put the gifts under the tree as I wrapped them, ahead of Christmas.

Oh, they were for sure still shaking boxes and peeking through tissue paper if the gift had their name on it.

So I came up with a solution that kept has them from spoiling the surprise and still does!

How do I prevent my kids from peeking at presents?

I started numbering all of the gifts.

It is that simple and it WORKED!! No more spoiled surprises.

I know you want to try this trick so I have created this darling number tag download for you to use for your gifts.

Download these cute printable tags for your gifts. There are numbers 1-9 and some blank ones you can fill in yourself. You can print as many as you need!!

Just download, print, cut them out, add tape or string ribbon through a hole you punch at the top of the tag, and attach them to your gifts!

Last year I stamped all of my numbers on the gifts and it turned out so cute!

Want to try stamps like I did? Here is a set of number stamps that you can use over and over each year. And this ink pad set is great! I have had my ink pads for decades. Just wrap them in a rubber band and store them upside down in a cool drawer or box.

How does the number method work?

I assign each person a number next to their name in the notes on my phone (so I don’t forget who has which number). And I am the ONLY one who knows which number belongs to which person.

Example: All of the gifts with the number 3 are Emma’s presents. All gifts with the number 1 on them are Max’s gifts, and so on.

I either add tags that have numbers on them OR I just stamp the numbers directly onto the wrapping paper!

You can use the downloadable tags I have made for you, stamp on the gift or, if you care nothing about it you can simply write a number on the gift itself with a gold or silver paint pen!

If you stamp or write the number on the gift, just be careful with the ink because it takes a little bit of time to dry and it can smudge and get on your hands easily.

You have got to try this trick!

It is not hard and it is fail-proof!!

All I can say is, you’re welcome.

Remember you can do it yourself, but let’s do it together!

Have a blessed day!