Pitt: 'We make our Christmas presents'

Brad Pitt says his family exchange home-made gifts rather than big or expensive ones.

And his children do not watch much American cartoon television, which he believes is packed with “manipulative” adverts.

The actor, who is raising six children with Angelina Jolie, was answering questions from Hello! magazine about his Christmas holiday plans.

The couple have twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon, a daughter named Shiloh and adopted siblings Maddox, Zahara and Pax.

Pitt, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, said: “We do exchange gifts, although we don’t feel any pressure to make them big or expensive gifts.

“And the kids don’t ask for big gifts for the reason that they don’t see a lot of the American cartoon television, which is packed with all those manipulative commercials for big toys that look so fantastic.

“When they do see that stuff is when they start asking for the toys, so we figure if they don’t see them they won’t know they’re there.

“So we have gifts, but we try to keep the money spent to a minimum.

“The rule is that everyone’s got to make something for someone else, you got to put time into it. Then, when they give to each other, it’s really sweet.

“The gift-giving is a very nice time for us.”

Pitt told the magazine his children have embraced the idea that they come from different countries.

He said: “As they’re getting older, we’ve been coming up with some idea for a ceremony for everyone around this time, but right now, it’s still at the ideas stage.”

Speaking about his family life, Pitt said cheerfully: “We haven’t found any reason to stop yet.”

He continued: “It’s chaos at times but there’s also such joy in our house right now. I look down at the family and I see our boy from Vietnam (Pax) and our daughter from Ethiopia (Zahara) and our girl’s from Namibia (Shiloh was born there) and our son who’s from Cambodia (Maddox), and... they are all brothers and sisters, man.

“They are all the same blood. It is such elation to see them all living together, and getting along together, and to know that we were able to give them a home – in some cases, to give them a life.

“It’s a wonderful thing that we are able to do this because of the jobs we have – and it’s a selfish thing, too, because the rewards are extraordinary.

“We’ve always said that we’ll carry on until we find a reason to stop doing this – and, no, we haven’t found that reason yet.”

And giving some fatherly tips he told the magazine: “You know the secret of good nappy-changing?

“You got to do it quick. There’s something about the air contact that makes them want to go again, so you got to get in there and get them changed before that happens, because those things stink!

“I’m pretty good at being quick, I must say – got it down by now.”

Last month, Jolie revealed plans to bow out of acting to concentrate on raising her family.

Asked in a BBC interview whether she thought the possibility of her looks fading could affect a lengthy career, Jolie said: “I don’t think about it much because I don’t plan to keep acting very long.”

Laughing, she continued: “I’m ready to do a few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day.”

But she did not rule out returning to work for interesting projects.

Pitt’s comments about gifts follow Nigella Lawson previously telling Red magazine how she once made her children give their Christmas presents to charity.

Lawson, whose husband is wealthy art collector Charles Saatchi, wanted to show daughter Mimi and son Bruno how lucky they are.

Hello! also features Simon Cowell and Sinitta, who are spending Christmas in Barbados as a treat for Sinitta’s children and Cowell’s godchildren, Magdalena, three and Zac, aged two.

The foursome flew out at the weekend following the X Factor final.

“We have friends who will be coming out at different points to join in the madness,” Sinitta told the magazine.

“Paul McKenna might pop over, and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest may also visit.”

The magazine reported that Sinitta’s husband will be spending Christmas with his family and elder children from a former marriage.