Welcome to the Holiday Hacks blog series where we quickly describe ways to get kids more involved in the spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah – for yes, less. Our sixth entry is a time-tested tradition in one Calgary family: every grandchild gets their very own tin of their favorite homemade cookies.

Imagine getting an entire tin of something you love to eat and having no guidelines regarding responsible consumption or sharing? Louise knows that her grandkids really prefer gift cards as holiday gifts, but she was searching for a way to wrap them with some old-school sentiment. Her three (now grown) boys often argued over who would get the last piece of pie when they were growing up and so she had been giving each of them their very own pie at Thanksgiving for years. Ever since she extended the tradition to her grandkids, “cookies from Nana” has become the absolute preferred gift. She knows it isn’t all about the baking, that the kids love the ability to shop with the gift cards, but she is betting in years to come, the cookies will be remembered, whereas the iPhone case, fingerless gloves, or concert t-shirts may not.

Louise is now suggesting the kids only spend their gift cards on items that can generate solid DIMS (Does It Make Sense) Scores. To learn about DIMS SCOREs and how thoughtfully preferring gifts can reduce waste and increase happiness, click on the pink or green buttons below.