AD | Buying Christmas gifts for children is usually fairly easy. Traditionally, you can fill their stockings with candy, a selection of small toys, and novelties, and they’ll be happy. But with the cost of living beginning to bite, if you want to give them something that’s fun but also a little bit different, here are 15 classic stocking stuffers for kids they’re sure to love. And, more importantly, will actually play with and use beyond Christmas Day!
The Best Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids
Firstly, what is a stocking stuffer? Received wisdom (aka Google) says it’s a small, usually inexpensive, gift that’s placed with others in a Christmas stocking. But of course, “small” and “inexpensive” are both open to interpretation. Some children get sacks instead of stockings, whereas others do indeed get socks, or even clogs. This year, our daughter Flora will be 12 and I’ve been taking inspiration from Wicked Uncle, the home of fun, unusual, and different presents for children of all ages, including some of their classic stocking stuffers for boys and stocking stuffers for girls below.
Sock It To Them
Socks are such useful stocking stuffers for kids. They’re practical, inexpensive, and can be used for any age, from babies through to teens to adults. Parents often say socks are one of the most-needed gifts on their lists every year. Whether you go for plain ones or crazy patterns and colours, cosy knee high tube socks, or even fuzzy slipper socks, foot warmers like these make perfect presents for children.
Hands In Gloves
Not just for keeping warm in Winter, gloves are a fun way to accessorise any outfit. Especially if you go for some awesome LED gloves with 6 colourful light modes to help them light up the night! Tip: they’re very useful for those darker evenings when kids are walking home from school too.
More Than Chocolate
Christmas food gifts are always welcome and chocolates make great edible stocking stuffers for children and adults alike. All things in moderation though, so give the gift of nostalgia too with a healthy, juicy orange at the bottom of their Christmas stocking. During hard times such as wars or the Great Depression in America, often the only Christmas gift many children received was a Christmas orange, which was a luxury in itself.
Tooth Be Told
Toothbrushes make great stocking stuffers for kids, and they’re also an excellent way to encourage good dental hygiene. Brushes come in all shapes and sizes: some are shaped like animals, others have fun colours and designs, while others use electric vibrations to clean teeth. Whether you choose a battery-operated brush or manual with bristles made from natural materials like bamboo or wood, a fun toothbrush encourages a child to care for their teeth at an early age so they don’t develop cavities later in life.
Pucker Up
Lip balms were stocking-stuffer staples throughout my childhood and are firm favourites of Flora’s now. With a range of fun flavours and colours to choose from (although I’m not too sure about Salted Pretzel), lip balms aren’t only for girls either – they make great small gifts for boys too.
Bath Bombs Away
What better way to relax at the end of a hectic, fun-filled Christmas Day than in a warm bath, coloured and scented with a festive bath bomb? With a range of Christmassy shapes to choose from, this little treat is a perfect stocking filler at Christmas.
Play Your Cards Right
Other inexpensive gift ideas are playing cards, one of the most traditional stocking stuffers for kids. They can be used for games, crafts, magic tricks, and more. Portable, versatile, and easily themed (Star Wars Top Trumps, for example) they’ll always be a hit. Come on, who doesn’t love a good game of Snap? Or Flora’s current favourite, Uno.
Welcome To The Board
Board games are fun and educational, especially for younger kids. They’re also a great stocking stuffer, since you can find them in all price ranges. We love Mancala, a fast, simple yet addictive two-player game that’s been played worldwide since the time of the Pharaohs. And of course there are the old favourites like Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Draughts, Cluedo, Snakes and Ladders, the list is endless (although technically these are probably too large to be classed as stocking fillers, I suppose).
Toys That Last – The Original Collectibles
Hands up who remembers these from their childhood – Matchbox Cars, Slinky, Silly Putty, Magnetic Putty, Dominos, Rubik’s Cube (the original fidget toy)? I still have most of these knocking around somewhere. And something that’s destined to be a future must-have novelty is this brilliant fun 3m tape measure featuring sixty incredible scientific facts. Find out how high a pig can jump, how fast a snail can travel in one hour, and more – made to measure fun for all kids!
Lost In A Good Book
Books are a great choice for stocking stuffers for kids. They can be educational, fun, and silly — or all of the above. One of Flora’s all-time favourite sets is Cressida Cowell’s How To Train Your Dragon series, closely followed by the Harry Potter box set. But a good collection of Christmas jokes and funnies always goes down well too – even if you’ve probably heard most of them before. Or, for younger children, how cute is this picture book with carrot seeds cleverly embedded in the pages? Read, plant, and grow.
Write On It
Pens are the perfect stocking stuffer, because they’re useful for writing notes, doodling and drawing, and keeping track of things like lists. Plus, they come in all shapes, sizes and colours so kids can get really creative. We love this clever set of magical pens that can change colour, erase colours easily, and even write invisible messages. Oh yes, mums will love that they’re washable too 🙂 And there’s no such thing as too many notebooks, be they lined, squared, dotted, or plain. Lastly, a few packs of stickers will finish off any stationery bundle perfectly.
Bubbles Ahoy
Because bubbles are so versatile, they’re a fantastic choice for children of all ages who can have hours of fun with this one simple item. This soapy science kit contains an illustrated 45-page activity book, packed with fun bubble experiments. Create honeycomb bubbles, snake bubbles, bubbles inside bigger bubbles, make your own wands, and conduct experiments exploring surface tension and water molecules too. An exciting kit for any budding scientist – prepare to be blown away!
Forever Friends
No child is ever too old for a soft plush toy, and they’re absolutely classic stocking stuffers for kids, as well as being mercifully plastic-free gift ideas for young ones. When I was a child, I used to get a small teddy every Christmas, but nowadays the choices are much more varied. Harking back to her Scottish ancestry, Flora would love this super cute Highland Coo, who even moos when you press his hoof, which is sure to horrify all our cats…
Sign Me Up – Subscription Box
As well as being lots of fun, subscription boxes also offer huge educational and developmental benefits – from literacy and learning about science, to encouraging creativity and boosting fine and gross motor skills in the littlest testers. Earlier this year, one of our favourite subscription boxes for kids, Mud and Bloom, scooped the Independent’s best overall box award. And I’m not surprised, they are BRILLIANT boxes, suitable for little ones and big kids too, and we adored all our boxes.
Show Me The Money
If all else fails, you won’t go far wrong with putting money in a child’s stocking. Or better yet, gift cards are another good choice, especially if you get them for stores they like. If you’re not sure, think about what they spend most of their pocket money on and go from there. That way, you know they’ll be treating themselves to something they really like, and their follow up thank you card will be truthfully grateful 🙂
Stocking Stuffers for Kids This Year
At the time of writing, a recent survey for the charity Barnardos suggests almost half of parents who celebrate Christmas are likely to spend less on presents for their children this year. Which is a rather sad statistic, don’t you think? However, I hope these Christmas gift ideas for kids have given you some useful pointers for presents they’ll love and use. Because having a well-stocked stocking can feel like getting a whole Christmas present, and whether they’re young or old, there’s something fun and a bit different for any child on this list. In the meantime, may I wish you some happy shopping, and a happy Christmas too!
What do you think of my round up of 15 classic stocking stuffers for kids? Did you ever get any of them for Christmas when you were a child? What, if anything, would you add to this list now?
* This is a sponsored post – please see my Disclaimer.
These are fantastic ideas of stocking stuffers for kids! My daughter would especially love the bubbles ahoy kit and the plantable children’s book is really interesting!
Thank you, Karalee – I think your daughter sounds just like mine in terms of her interests!
LOVE the light-up gloves! Thanks so much for the ideas, Lisa.
They are SO cool, aren’t they!
I think I love doing stockings more than gifts. So much goes into it and all of the thought is so lovely. I won’t be doing a baby stocking this year but my husband will get one filled with socks, chocolates and funny bits!
Rosie
You and me both, it’s so much fun curating all the individual gifts – I hope your husband gets you one as well this year 🙂
So many great ideas, I don’t know which one I would choose. But planting definitely wins..
Thank you so much, I’m very happy you like my choices.
Some great stocking stuffer ideas here! I can imagine for your own kids it’s hard because they want everything but probably won’t use everything so these more practical ideas are great!
Thank you, Jenny, practical is exactly what I was aiming for, with a good dash of fun 🙂
This is cool, the hand in gloves look nice in the dark. We love glowy things in the dark. I agree, kids always love plush toys too.
You can’t beat glow in the dark items, practical and cool in one 🙂
These are great stocking fillers for children, I can’t believe we’re at the point in the year where we’re talking about Christmas! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you, Lucy – and yes, I know, it’s come around so fast! x
Those led light-up gloves would be an amazing gift and that carrot book with seeds is super creative and cute. Board games are always a hit because it’s not just for the kids but for the whole family also. Even though I’m not a kid, some of these are pretty fun and interesting for adults!
Thanks for sharing
The gloves are my favourites too, they are so cool! I know what you mean, I’d quite like a lot of these stocking fillers myself 🙂
Classic indeed, and as someone who has worn the t-shirt, they get used. Time and time again.
Thank you, Bev, good to hear that!
This is such a great list of practical stocking stuffers that kids can enjoy all year round. I love the socks, gloves, toothbrushes, and lip balms. I’ve never heard of Mancala before but it looks like a fun game!
Thank you, I’m glad it was helpful – and Mancala is FAB, so easy to play!
Oh this is great. My wife and I were actually toying around with idea of socks and these stocking fillers for children are great. The glowing LED gloves look way cool. kids will love them. Thanks for sharing
Thank you, that’s very good to hear, and I agree about the LED gloves 100% 🙂
Brilliant ideas! I love that there are some plastic-free options in here. I often give lip balm, chocolate and socks as gifts because I know they are always used and appreciated! Board games are a great shout, too 🙂
Coralle
I don’t think you can ever have too many lip balms or socks – or chocolate, come to that 🙂
These are lovely ideas. I run out of ideas for Christmas gifts. The bath bombs are a great idea.
Thank you, I’m so pleased this was helpful.
These are great stocking filler ideas! I’d be happy to get some of them myself x
mia
I know, me too! x