How to Make a Kids' Christmas List Online (and Share It)

Quick Answer: To make a shareable online Christmas list for your kids, create a free GiftList list, set the occasion to Christmas, and add gifts from any store by pasting product links. Share one private link with family — anyone can reserve or buy without an account, so no two relatives buy the same toy and purchases stay hidden from your child.

A paper list taped to the fridge can't tell Grandma that Uncle Mike already bought the LEGO set. An online Christmas list can. Roughly 53% of Americans expect at least one unwanted gift over the holidays, and the single easiest way to cut the duplicates and near-misses is to put your kid's wishes in one shareable place where family can see what's already been claimed (Finder). This guide walks you through building that list, inviting family, tracking purchases, and handling the December-birthday curveball — start to finish.

Why Make a Kids' Christmas List Online Instead of on Paper?

An online list does three things a paper list can't: it lets every relative see the same wishes from anywhere, it marks gifts as "taken" the instant someone claims one, and it hides those purchases from your child so the surprise survives. The stakes are real — retailers expect their return rate to run about 17% higher during the winter holidays than the rest of the year, on a base annual return rate near 17% of sales (NRF) — and much of that churn is duplicate or wrong-fit gifts a shared list prevents. It also ends the "what does she want this year?" group-text every December. (If you're weighing tools, our guide to the best Christmas list website and app for families compares the options.)

Step 1: Create Your GiftList Account and Christmas List

Sign Up (It's Free)

Go to GiftList and tap Get started to create your free account by email, or download the iOS or Android app. There are no subscription fees, item limits, or hidden charges — GiftList is 100% free. Once you're in, you have access to AI gift suggestions, sharing, and reservation tracking.

Create the List and Set the Occasion

Click Create New List, give it a specific name like "Emma's Christmas 2026," and select Christmas as the occasion. Add a short description with your child's interests and sizes, and upload a cover photo to make it feel personal. Set the privacy level to Private while you build (more on privacy in Step 4).

A good description helps relatives shop confidently. For example: "Emma is 8 and loves art projects, chapter books, and the color purple. She wears a kids' size 10 and is currently obsessed with dinosaurs."

Step 2: Add Gift Ideas From Any Store

Paste a Link From Any Retailer

GiftList is a universal wishlist — it accepts product URLs from virtually any online store. Paste a product link and the platform auto-fills the title, image, and price. To build the list even faster while you browse, add the browser extension for one-click saving, or use the in-app browser on mobile to save gifts without leaving the app.

You can also add items that don't have a link at all — an experience, a gift card, or a "more art supplies" wish — by entering them manually.

Let Your Child (Carefully) Help

Kids are more invested in a list they helped build, but child-development experts also caution that the holidays shape kids' attitudes toward "stuff" — modeling restraint matters (Deseret News). A simple way to keep the list grounded is the popular four-gift rule: something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read (Understood). Use it as a loose frame so the list stays meaningful and family spending stays sane.

Need Inspiration? Use Genie and the Gift Ideas Feed

Stuck on ideas? Ask Genie, GiftList's free AI gift finder — tell it your child's age, interests, and a budget and it returns real products with live prices and direct links. You can also browse the Gift Ideas feed, which is refreshed daily and can be filtered by the recipient's age and gender (plus category), so you're seeing toys and gear that actually fit a kid that age rather than a generic list.

Add Sizes, Colors, and Priorities

Use the notes field for the details that prevent returns — clothing sizes, preferred colors, "must be machine washable," brand preferences. Then mark your child's top wishes as priority so relatives know which gifts matter most. Example note: "Size 8, loves pink or purple, no scratchy fabrics."

Step 3: How Should Parents Create and Curate the List Over Time?

A kids' list isn't "set it and forget it." Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, interests change and toys sell out. As the parent managing the list, plan to:

• Reorder by drag-and-drop so the most-wanted gifts sit at the top where relatives see them first.
• Update notes and prices as sizes change or items go out of stock.
• Remove anything outgrown so the list stays accurate and easy to shop.
• Keep the four-gift balance in view so the list doesn't balloon into 40 items by mid-December.

This curation step is what turns a wish dump into a list family can actually shop from in five minutes.

Step 4: Share the List and Invite Family to Buy

Get the Share Link

GiftList gives you one shareable link you can copy and drop into a text, email, or the family group chat. Recipients don't need an account — or even an email — to open the link, browse the gifts, and reserve or buy. That zero-friction step is the difference between Grandma actually using the list and giving up at a sign-up wall.

Choose the Right Privacy Level

Three privacy levels give you full control:

• Public — searchable and visible to anyone.
• Friends — visible only to your GiftList connections.
• Private — hidden from search engines and the public; only people with the direct link can see it.

For a kids' list, Private is the typical choice: it keeps your child's name and wishes off the public web while still letting anyone you send the link to shop instantly. You can start Private while building, then keep it Private and simply share the link as the holidays approach.

Invite Co-Parents to Co-Manage

If two parents (or a parent and a grandparent) want to build the list together, use collaborative lists: invite the other adult by email and you can both add, edit, and remove gifts on the same list. This is ideal for co-parents across two households who want one shared source of truth instead of two competing lists. Collaborators need a free account; the relatives who only view and buy still don't.

Step 5: Track Reservations and Avoid Duplicate Gifts

This is the feature that earns its keep. When a relative plans to buy something, they reserve it; once they've bought it, they can mark it purchased. Either way, GiftList shows it as taken to everyone else viewing the list, so two aunts never buy the same scooter. It works without group chats or spreadsheets — everyone sees who's covering what in one shared place.

Crucially, reservations and purchases are hidden from the list owner by default — they're only visible to other gift-givers. As the parent, you manage the list, but you can keep yourself in the dark too, or use the Gift Tracker tab to reveal who's buying what whenever you're ready to plan stocking stuffers around the gaps. With roughly 53% of Americans expecting at least one unwanted gift over the holidays, knocking out duplicates at the source is the highest-leverage thing a shared list does (Finder).

How Do You Handle a Combined Birthday and Christmas List for Kids?

Kids with December birthdays get shortchanged when everything blurs into one gift haul. You have two clean options on GiftList:

1. One combined list with priority tags. Keep a single list but mark the true must-haves as priority so the biggest wishes get covered first and "birthday" gifts don't quietly disappear into the Christmas pile. This keeps sharing simple — one link does both occasions.
2. Two separate lists. Create one Christmas list and one birthday list, then share the relevant link for each. You can duplicate an existing list to reuse items without rebuilding from scratch, and set a different occasion on each so reminders and framing stay distinct.

For most families, one combined list with clear priorities is less work and still ensures the December-birthday kid isn't combined into a smaller total. If grandparents specifically want to give "a real birthday gift," the two-list approach makes that easy to honor.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Leaving the list Public by default — for a kids' list, keep it Private and share the link directly.
• Never marking priorities — without them, relatives can't tell the dream gift from a filler item.
• Forgetting to update sizes — outdated clothing sizes are a top driver of returned gifts; clothing and shoes are among the most-returned online purchases, largely because of fit.
• Spoiling the surprise — don't peek at reservations if you want to be surprised too; the owner-hidden default exists for exactly this.
• Sharing too late — send the link by early December so relatives can claim before they shop elsewhere.

Pro Tips for a Stress-Free Kids' Christmas List

• Set occasion reminders so you (and family) get nudged before the date — useful for that December-birthday kid.
• Add a price range across budgets so a grandparent and a cousin can each find something that fits.
• Use Genie for the "hard" relative who always asks "what does she even want?" — send them a Genie-suggested option directly.
• Build the list on mobile while shopping with the in-app browser so you capture ideas the moment you spot them.

Make Your Kids' Christmas List Now

A shareable online list takes about five minutes to start and saves the whole family from duplicate toys, wrong sizes, and the annual guessing game. Create your free kids' Christmas list, add a few gifts, set it to Private, and send the link — then enjoy the part that actually matters on Christmas morning. For more, see the Christmas wishlist features worth having or read more on our blog.