Gift for dad: 9 ideas he will really use, and one that opens in July

When does a dad really open his gift? On Christmas morning he tears off the paper. The real moment comes half a year later, on the first morning at the coast, when he walks into the sea with his son in the same short.

Below, first nine gifts a dad will actually use. After that comes our own idea, told through the months as a journey with four stops: the parcel in December, the question of whether it fits in January, the son's growth until summer, and the day you leave.

What do you give a dad who has everything?

Something he would not buy for himself and that brings a moment with it. A gift that is an appointment outlasts one more object.

A dad who has everything rarely lacks a thing and often lacks a day. A day at the sea only gets into his diary when somebody writes it in.

Which gifts for dad actually get used?

The ones he uses with somebody, or that somebody made for him. These nine suit a dad of any age; the first one is ours.

1. A father and son set with a boarding cardTwo swim shorts in the same print, with a card for the first day at the sea that the son fills in himself. The parcel opens in December, the gift in July.
2. A day together, with a dateA walk along the coast, a match, a day's fishing. Write the date on the card and it stops being an intention.
3. A lesson in something he always wanted to trySailing, surfing, diving or cooking. Booking two places turns it into a day together.
4. A photo book of last summerNobody scrolls through photos on his phone; everybody leafs through a book on the table.
5. Something with their names on itA watch, a pen or a pocket knife engraved with the names or birthdays of his children.
6. A framed drawing or letter from the kidsOften the only gift still on the wall in ten years, precisely because nobody could buy it.
7. A breakfast the kids make themselvesWhat is on the plate matters less than who brought it.
8. A book about his next destinationA guidebook or a novel set there, for the months when the trip is still a plan.
9. A free SaturdayA voucher for a day without chores and without a schedule.

December The parcel

What can a child give his dad?

Something he has a part in himself: a drawing, a card, a plan. Give him one task that suits his age and let him say what is inside; then it is his gift, whoever paid for it.

Two swim shorts are clothing; with a boarding card for the first day at the sea they become a travel plan. Choose the departure yourselves: the first day of the summer holidays, the first weekend of the first warm spell, a trip already booked. As an example to copy, from Christmas Day to 1 July 2027 is 188 days.

January Does it fit?

How long can you exchange a gift after Christmas?

That is up to the shop: in the EU you have 14 days after delivery to cancel an online order without giving a reason, and exchanging is on top of that a choice the shop makes. At Sanwin Beachwear you can exchange for 100 days after delivery, so a set that arrives on 22 December can still be exchanged until 1 April.

Both periods start on the day the parcel arrives, not the day it is unwrapped; the Your Europe page on returning a purchase explains that the 14 days run from delivery, as does the European Consumer Centre on the right of withdrawal. Delivery takes 3 to 7 working days within Europe and 6 to 14 to the US and Canada, so the calendar below counts from the slowest delivery. Someone who orders in mid-November can no longer ask for a refund by early December, three weeks before the gift is opened. So with an early gift, ask about the exchange period, not the cooling-off period.

At Sanwin Beachwear you choose a different size or a credit within 100 days of delivery. The short must be unworn and not have been in the water, only tried on over underwear, with the hygiene strip and the labels still attached. So let Dad try it on that evening, before the short goes into the suitcase. The full terms are on the returns and exchanges page.

December to July He grows

What size do you buy in December for a son in July?

The size he will fit in July: measure him in December and add 4 centimetres, about an inch and a half. A boy between four and six grows about 6.6 centimetres a year, so roughly 4 between Christmas and early summer.

That figure comes from the US CDC growth charts for boys (stature-for-age data file), whose median line runs from 102.5 centimetres at four years to 115.7 at six. If he is 110 centimetres in December, he is about 114 in July and you choose the 6/116; the 4/104 is already too small for him. That sum belongs in the height box on the boarding card. The numbers are the size of the short in centimetres of body height, so measure him barefoot against a wall.

And Dad's size?

That sum is simpler, because he has stopped growing. If you are between two sizes, take the bigger one; Sanwin Beachwear advises the same for the Venice.

If you do not know his size at all, have the son read the label in the swim trunks his dad wears most. That is his first job as an accomplice.

July The first day at the sea

What is an original gift for a father and son together?

Two swim shorts in the same print, one for him and one for his son. Pick the set in which your son still finds his July size; the colour comes after that.

Sanwin Beachwear has three sets with the same print for big and small, all of them the Venice, with an elastic waistband with a cord, a mesh brief inside and quick-dry peach polyester.

Under each photo are the sizes in stock when this was published, on 11 November 2026. A size with a line through it is sold out.

If you are still choosing a print for Dad, all his shorts are in the Venice swim shorts and the wider range of men's swim shorts. A set is two items, so within Europe it ships free; to the US and Canada free shipping starts from a set order value, which the shipping page shows. Orders placed before 2 p.m. on a working day leave the same day. The sets that now exist in only a few sizes are behind the button below.

Choose the set in his July size

Frequently asked questions about a gift for dad