Kids Opening a Christmas Gift Coloring Page: PDF Sheet

Footed Pajamas and the Story of Christmas Morning Gifts

Footed Sleepers as a Holiday Wardrobe Staple

One-piece footed sleepers date back to the early 1900s as a practical way to keep children warm overnight without loose blankets slipping off, and by the mid-1900s they had become a familiar sight in Christmas morning photographs. The built-in feet meant no socks were needed before dashing to the tree, which is part of why footed pajamas still show up in holiday catalogs and cards today.

Why One Gift Gets Opened First

Many families let children unwrap a single gift the night before or the very first thing on Christmas morning, a custom that draws out the excitement before the rest of the presents are opened together later. That single early gift is often chosen to be small or shared, keeping the bigger reveal for when the whole family can watch.

Wrapping Paper Traditions Through the Decades

Decorative wrapping paper only became widely affordable in the early 1900s, after printers found ways to mass-produce colorful sheets instead of the plain tissue or brown paper used before. Ribbon bows and curling ribbon followed soon after, giving families the now-familiar pile of torn paper and ribbon scraps left behind once a box is finally open.

The Shared Moment of Unwrapping

Psychologists who study family traditions note that shared unwrapping moments, where two or more people open a gift together, tend to be remembered more vividly than gifts opened alone, since the surprise is doubled by watching someone else react at the same time. That shared reaction, caught here between two children peering into the same box, is part of why sibling gift-opening scenes are such a common image in holiday art.

Why Big Boxes Build Anticipation

Gift-givers often choose an oversized box on purpose, sometimes larger than the item inside, because the extra size and weight of lifting a big lid adds a small dramatic pause before the surprise is revealed. That pause, shown here as one child holds the lid steady while the other reaches in, is a small design trick that has shaped gift wrapping for generations.

Ribbon and Bows as Finishing Touches

Curling ribbon, the kind that snaps into springy loops when dragged along a scissor blade, became a common wrapping accessory in the mid-1900s once affordable plastic ribbon reached most department stores. Before that, gifts were often tied with plain string or paper strips, so the addition of colorful curled ribbon added a festive final flourish that made a wrapped box look finished rather than just closed.

Why This Scene Skips the Wider Room

Many Christmas morning illustrations pull back to show a full tree, stockings, and a whole living room, but this scene stays close on just the box and the two children, cropping out everything else. That tighter framing puts all the attention on the two faces and the single gift, which is a technique illustrators use whenever the emotion of a moment matters more than showing the full setting around it.