The Empty Box Christmas Story: Free Printable

The Empty Box Christmas Story is a touching story about an experience she had with a special student. Perfect for gifting with empty boxes for a thoughtful holiday season story and gift.

When I first started blogging many moons ago, I shared a similar series with printable Christmas stories and a craft. The stories are still there for printing off, but just try not to look at the pictures (facepalm), I’ve learned a lot about taking pictures over the years. That series was a great learning experience and over the years those stories have received a lot of love, so I’m glad to include more printable Christmas stories in this year’s 12 Days of Christmas Printables. These are great to read around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to remember the true meaning of the season and the love of the child.

Here is the story. The printable version is great for giving with gifts to neighbors or friends, sharing at family activities, and more!

The Empty Box

Anonymous (Author Unknown)

“Even though it was only September, the air was crisp and children were already whispering about Christmas plans and Santa Claus. It made the already long months until Christmas seem even longer. With each passing day the children became more anxious, waiting for that final school bell. Upon ringing everyone would run for coats, gloves, and the classroom door, racing to see who would be the first one home: everyone except David.

David was a small boy with messy brown hair and tattered clothes. I had often wondered what kind of mother could send her son to school dressed so inappropriately for the cold winter months without a coat, boots, or gloves. But something made David special. It wasn’t his intelligence or manners for they were as lacking as his winter clothes, but I can never recall looking at David and not seeing a smile. He was always willing to help and not a day passed that David didn’t stay after school to straighten the chairs and clean erasers. We never talked much, he would simply smile and ask what else he could do, then thank me for letting him stay and slowly head for home.

Weeks passed and the excitement over the coming Christmas grew into restlessness until the last day of school before the holiday break. I can’t recall a more anxious group of children as that final bell rang and they scattered out the door. I smiled in relief as the last of them hurried out. Turning around I saw David quietly standing by my desk. 

“Aren’t you anxious to get home David? I asked.

“No.” he quietly replied.

Ready to go home myself I said, “Well, I think the chairs and erasers will wait why don’t you hurry home.”

“I have something for you,” he said. He pulled from behind his back a small box wrapped in old paper and tied with a string. Handing it to me he said anxiously, “Open it!”

I took the box from him, thanked him and slowly unwrapped it. I lifted the lid and to my surprise saw nothing. I looked at David’s smiling face and back into the empty box and said, “this box is nice David, but it’s empty.”

“Oh no it isn’t,” said David. “It’s full of love. My mom told me before she died that love was something you couldn’t see or touch unless you know it’s there…can you see it?”

Tears filled my eyes as I looked at the proud dirty face I had rarely given attention. “Yes, David. I can see it.” I replied. “Thank you.”

David and I became good friends after that Christmas and I can say that with the passing years, I never again let the uncombed hair or dirty faces bother me, and I never forgot the meaning behind the little empty box that sat on my desk.”

Ideas for Using this Story:

There are a variety of ways to use this free printable story. Here are a few ideas:

1. Christmas Gift: All you need to do to send someone the precious possession of love is to use a small gift box (or a large box will work too) and a copy of the story. Then let them see the love inside the perfect gift.
2. Sunday School Story: One of the best things about this pdf file printable is that you can easily share it with your friends or a Sunday School Class. A small golden box or gold container pairs perfectly with this story. It is one of the best gifts we can gift to human beings, the reminder that they are loved.
3. Neighbor Gift: Feel free to pair this story as a reminder of unconditional love with a story of a young man who knew that Christmas wasn’t about gifts, but about love. If you want to gift something with the story, a roll of gold wrapping paper or a small gold box would work.

My Favorite Printable Supplies:

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• Printer: I love my HP Home Printer, it prints beautifully everytime no matter what projects I am working on.
• Paper: Depending on the durability you want with your printables, consider printing on white card stock or high quality paper.
• Laminator: For printables you are planning to use over and over again, simply laminate and use dry erase markers to mark up the printables.
• Paper Cutter: I love my CARL Paper Cutter. It makes trimming and cutting out printables a breeze.
• Sticker Paper: When printing tags or other free printables, sticker paper can make it easy to attach to gifts, boxes, or to make your own stickers.
• Cutting Supplies: You’ll want a great pair of paper cutting scissors and I love using an Xacto Knife for intricate details.

Download the printable story here:

Please remember my printables are free for classroom use or personal use only. You may not sell or distribute the printable or digital file. If you wish to share the digital files, please refer friends to the link of this blog post where they can sign up to receive the free printable directly in their inbox.

All you have to do is enter your email address in the link above and then print off the story from the email sent to your inbox. Then you can laminate it or save it in your own Christmas files. And be on the lookout for all of the other fun 12 Days of Christmas printables. Keep track of all of them here.

More Free Christmas Stories to Print:

• A Christmas Orange
• The Towel
• Kisses Story
• Keep Making Pancakes
• M&M’s Christmas Poem

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Originally Posted November 13, 2019 // Updated November 5, 2024