Gift of time ideas for December: coupon lists you can copy

Why a jar of time lands better than another thing

Most people already own enough objects. What they run short of in December is company without a schedule: someone to walk with, cook with or simply answer the phone for an hour. A jar of coupons turns your good intentions into something you can hold. It also takes the pressure off the receiver, because they are not asked to come up with a plan. They pull a slip, or tick one off a list, and the plan arrives with the promise.

The format works because it is specific. More time together is a wish. One lift to anywhere in the city, any time of day is a promise someone can actually use. Keep each coupon concrete enough to picture and small enough to keep, and the jar will be the gift people remember.

How many coupons, and how long they last

Choose between 6 and 30. Six slips make a neat gift for a busy person, and thirty fill a proper jar for a whole season. Twelve to twenty is the sweet spot: enough variety that the jar feels generous, few enough that you can really deliver every one.

Decide on three things for every coupon before you print:

• The wording. Start with a verb or a noun the receiver can picture, and add one detail that makes it theirs, such as the good coffee or the long route home.
• The limit. Treats like breakfast in bed work best as a single use. Things that are easy to repeat, like a walk or a call, suit three or five. Anything you would happily do at any time can be left without a limit.
• The expiry. A date makes the promises real. If you pick 31 December, the coupons are good right to the end of that day, which suits a gift handed over in the first half of the month. For a present given on Christmas Day, 31 January leaves room to enjoy every slip.

A worked list for a partner

For a partner, aim for a mix of cosy, practical and a little romantic. This list has twelve coupons, with the number of uses in brackets, and it fits the small slips on one printed sheet.

• Breakfast in bed (once). The weekend of your choice, with the good coffee and no tidying up.
• You pick the movie (3 times). No vetoes and no phone in your hand.
• A walk together (5 times). Route chosen by whoever holds the slip.
• Chore swap: I do one of yours (twice). Hand me the job you dislike most.
• A one-hour call, no rushing (any time). For a long trip or a bad day, with nothing else on the screen.
• A lift somewhere you need to go (twice). Station, airport or the far side of town.
• Your favourite meal, cooked by me (once).
• Ten-minute back rub (3 times).
• A lie-in while I handle the morning (twice).
• A screen-free evening (once). Candles optional, board game encouraged.
• I drive, you nap (once). On any journey over an hour.
• A handwritten letter (once). Read it aloud or keep it for later.

Suggested expiry: 31 January. If the two of you enjoy cosy ideas like these, the couples jar chart ideas have forty more labels to borrow.

A worked list for parents

For parents, the gift is attention and a bit of help with the jobs that quietly pile up. Keep the wording warm and practical, and avoid anything that sounds like a favour they have to ask for. A single sentence of detail is enough.

• A one-hour call, no rushing (3 times). I ring you, you choose the topic.
• A lift somewhere you need to go (5 times). Appointments, shopping or a friend's house.
• Fix one thing on your list (3 times). The shelf, the squeaky door, the lamp that flickers.
• Sunday lunch, cooked by me (twice). You sit, I wash up.
• A photo album evening (once). You tell the stories, I write them down.
• Teach me one family recipe (twice). We cook it together and keep the card.
• An hour sorting out your phone or computer (twice). Patient, no jargon, tea provided.
• A walk in the park (4 times). Your pace, and a bench stop if you like.
• A morning in the garden or the garage (once). I bring gloves and a flask.
• A shopping trip where I carry everything (twice).
• A coffee and cake out, my treat (once).
• A handwritten card (any time). Each time you tick it, I post one.

Suggested expiry: none, or a date in spring. Parents often save good presents, so give them a long runway and ask them to tick each coupon as they use it. The tick list makes a lovely fridge sheet, and you will be able to see at a glance which promises are still waiting.

A worked list for kids

Children love coupons because they are small, visible and entirely theirs. Use short words, keep each promise to something you can do in an hour, and let the child choose when to spend a slip. The large slip size suits younger readers, because the text is bigger.

• You pick the bedtime story (5 times). Even the one we have read forty times.
• You choose dinner (once). Within reason, and with ketchup allowed.
• Stay up twenty minutes later (twice).
• A trip to the library or the park (twice). Your choice of which.
• A blanket fort, built together (once).
• A baking afternoon (once). You choose what we bake and you lick the spoon.
• A hot chocolate date, just us (twice).
• You choose the music in the car (3 times).
• A game of your choice, your rules (5 times).
• Skip one small chore (once). I will do it for you.
• A bike or scooter ride (3 times).
• A picnic anywhere in the house (once). Rug, sandwiches and a torch.

Suggested expiry: 31 January, and keep the limits low so that nothing feels like a chore for the grown-up. For children who can write, reverse the idea. Let them make a small jar for a grandparent with promises like I will draw you a picture, I will read you a story, I will help lay the table and a hug whenever you ask. That last one can have no limit at all.

Wording that sounds like you

A coupon should sound like the person giving it. If you joke a lot, let the slip joke too. If you are more reserved, keep it plain and warm. A few guidelines help every list:

• Be specific, not grand. A walk to the harbour and back beats quality time.
• Add a detail only they would care about. The bakery they like, the song they always request.
• Stay inside what you can deliver. A promise you can keep on a tired Tuesday is worth three you cannot.
• Keep it short. Slips hold up to ninety characters, and the shorter ones read best when you pull them from a jar.
• Mix sizes. A few big treats, a handful of medium ones and plenty of five-minute favourites.

Printing and presenting the jar

Open the gift of time coupon jar, pick your coupons, choose one of four colour palettes and decide between the small and large slip. It lays the slips out on A4 or Letter with cut marks in the margins, and each slip has a dotted fold line down the middle. Print at actual size, cut on the marks, fold each slip with the print on the outside, and drop them into a clean jar.

The jar label and the round lid tag print on their own sheet, with the names and the number of coupons already filled in. Stick the label on the glass, loop the tag over the neck with string and the gift is wrapped. If the jar is going into the post or travelling to a family dinner, add a paper tick list to the printout so the receiver has a record that does not depend on a screen.

Tracking what gets used

The page includes a redemption log. The receiver ticks a coupon when they enjoy it, and the log updates how many uses remain. Coupons with a limit show as used up when the last use is ticked, and if you set an expiry the log tells them how many days are left, then marks any coupon as ended once the date has passed. Ticks stay on the page unless the receiver chooses to keep them on their own device, and they can erase them whenever they like.

You can also download a CSV that lists every coupon with its limit, uses left and the dates it was used, handy for a family spreadsheet or for a bit of friendly bookkeeping in January. To share the jar digitally, copy the receiver link and send it in a message. It opens the same coupons with a clean log.

Promises between people

These coupons are playful promises. Nobody is keeping score, and that is the charm. If a coupon runs past its date, nothing terrible happens: the giver says shall we pick another day? and the jar carries on. The slip is only a nudge, a way of making sure the walk, the call and the lift actually happen in a month when everyone is stretched thin.

If you are looking for other ways to share the season, the advent activity jar counts down December together, and a November gratitude jar is a lovely warm-up for a month of giving. Whichever you pick, the best gifts in a jar are the ones someone actually opens.