What’s a cool Christmas present or stocking filler for kids? This a question which every year creeps up on me. Well luckily for you, I’m here to help save your Christmas with some fantastic Christmas present ideas which my kids love. All of these presents have been road-tested by a 4 and 6-year-old to help you decide what to put under the tree.
Pixie Dixie Pyjamas
What Is It:
This family-run small British company is adding their wonderfully cute designs to Pyjamas and Nightdresses for kids with a strong sustainable ethical pledge. They vow that the garments will never travel more than 200 miles before they get to you. Everything is made with the highest quality sustainably sourced cotton, hypoallergenic, vegan-friendly, plastic free, perfect for sensitive skin and covered in Micro Fresh protection to help keep them clean and fresh. It also means they don’t need washing as often and will have a much longer life than traditional clothes.
What We Thought:
With a mountain of plastic toys often adoring our living room it feels great to get something properly sustainable and ethical for our girls. Arriving in eco-friendly bags, they adored the matching nightie and PJs with a cute unicorn design. The material was soft, luxurious, high quality, thick warm and classy. To quote our six-year-old, ‘it feels like I’m wearing a cuddle.’
Where To Get It: pixiedixie.co.uk with prices starting from £9.99
Love Ocean
What Is It:
A range of bath-time products to be loved, refilled and refused all of which help protect the oceans from plastic waste. A mum-founded company whose sustainable products are all refillable, produced from recycled plastic and fully recyclable. Inside the bottles, you’ll find a 99% natural bubble bath and hair/body wash all made with no nasties and with a signature scene. For the holidays you can get gift packs with a super cute whale cuddly.
What We Thought:
We loved their signature whale tail bottle, with the girls asking for a whale bath again and again. The smell is lovely, ocean fresh and for Disney Theme Park fans will remind you of the ride Soarin! Our mermaid-obsessed daughters loved it and our eco-conscious minds were delighted that the cuddly was made from 14 recycled bottles and that over a kilo of plastic is removed from the ocean for each pack purchased.
Where To Get It: loveocean.com
Squishmallows
What Is It:
The best-selling fan favourite with over 2 billion TikTok views if you’ve not seen a Squishmallows where have you been? Cute, cuddly and a huge range of everything from Baby Yoda and Pokemon to Reindeer and a Hufflepuff Cow.
What We Thought:
Huge smiles flashed over the girls’ faces as they unwrapped their Squishmallows. They use them as pillows, to cuddle and won’t go to sleep without them sat at the end of their bed. Even as adults you can’t help but be charmed by their cuteness. Also pro tip, they’re a great little back pillow for story time on the kids’ bedroom floor!
Where To Get It: Smythstoys.com
Spirograph
What Is It:
Your childhood stationary toy comes full circle as you give it to your own child. Put the pen in the circle thing, spin it around and make captivating patterns. Created in 1965 it’s been a perfect gift for inspiring artists ever since.
What We Thought:
Us parents loved the retro tin set, taking us straight back to our youth and it was amazing to see how something so simple still connects so well with kids. Our little ones loved making ’snowflakes’ of spirographs and were happily entertained for ages with the set.
Where To Get It: PlayMonster.co.uk
Puffy Charms
What Is It:
An adorable and trendy craft kit to make your own puffy charms. The sets come with all you need to make puffy charm bracelets, necklaces and shoe ties. Influencers are going wild for these, they’re easy to make – simply stick two puffy stickers together to make a charm! Wear them share them or mix and match them.
What We Thought:
A great way to express creativity the set had loads of bits so the kids went back to it again and again.
Where To Get It: Argos.co.uk
Adopt Me! Neon Unicorn 30cm Plush
What Is It:
The unicorn you never knew you needed, you now need. Press its ear for a neon light display and light up the night as the tail, horn and feet come to life.
What We Thought:
For our unicorn obsessed 4 year old this was everything. She loves letting it glow as she falls asleep, it’s actually strangely calming.
Where To Get It: Smythstoys.com
Plus-Plus Puzzle By Numbers
What Is It:
An award-winning STEM educational toy that stimulates fine motor skills, creativity, focus and practice. It’s eco-friendly and recycled plastic helps your kids match colours and numbers on the temple to build their own mosaic creation.
What We Thought:
When we opened it we were a little daunted by 500 pieces in ten different colours but the kids quickly worked out exactly what to do. Following the template to make a beautiful rainbow without the need for heat, glue or ironing. An activity that lasted us all week and created some great family bonding time.
Where To Get It: Available at Amazon.co.uk
PopHeads®
What Is It:
Easy to assemble 3D posters with your favourite Disney and Marvel characters. A fun craft activity which gives you all you need to make 3D posters at home.
What We Thought:
Disney Princesses always go down well in our house and this was no exception. Belle, Moana, Ariel and Jasmine were all there and after a bit of parent help the kids were more than happy to make their own 3D poster and play with the crafts and other activities in the pack. The posters are now proudly hung in their bedroom and look pretty cool with their 3D heads!
Where to buy it: £9.99 from selected major retailers including WHSmith.
Find The Fairies
What Is It:
An enchanting family fairy game based on the Folklore Field Guides series A Natural History Of Fairies. This card game puts memory skills to the test as you try to gather more pairs than your opponents.
What We Thought:
We loved the illustrations and it really brought our kids’ imaginations to life with them learning about new types of fairies and adding them to their own imagination play. They particularly enjoyed learning fairy facts and tips to try to find them and constantly go on fairy hunts around the house.
Where to buy: Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookstores with a RRP of £14.99
My First Adventure
What Is it:
A child-friendly choose-your-own-adventure game. Award-winning, playful and interactive books which are different every time. You can pick your character as each page divides into three options and you attempt to add things to a spinning wheel. With thousands of combinations, it makes bedtime stories truly interactive.
What We Thought:
Our kids adore these books and go for them time and again, the new Argonauts story is a perfect addition to the collection as they attempt to find the hero Jason’s helmet. There really is nothing like these books!
Where To Buy: thirstymeeples.co.uk
MINI U
What Is it:
Since 2010 Mini U have been creating good clean fun with a range of no-mess, no-stress bath actives. Created around a cute cast of sea creatures these colourful bath bombs, crayons, bubbles, shampoo, fizzy plops and more add fun and excitement to bath time. They’re made in the UK, good from birth, vegan cruelty-free and free from gluten soy and dairy – with no artificial nasties.
What We Thought:
What a brilliant way to make the kids want to get into the bath. These made the bathtime routine a joy for everyone. The kids loved practising their newly learned writing skills with the crayons on the bath, and I loved how quickly it washed away. The fizzy plops give them colourful baths to pretend to be mermaids in and the look of excitement when rainbow colours exploded out of the cloud bath bomb was priceless. You fill your tub with water and Mini U fill it with fun. These have gone straight out on our list for presents for kids and friends throughout the year, what a great brand!
Where To Get It: www.miniu.co.uk
MessyWeekend Sun Glasses & Goggles
What Are They:
Affordable eyewear brand MessyWeekend is based out of Copenhagen with a philosophy that fashion should be an expression of individuality and affordability should not compromise quality or give back. Creating stylish, high quality and affordable eyewear with a pledge to use proceeds to help clean up the oceans. They stock a huge range of sunglasses for men, women and older kids along with new snow goggles with anti-fog, anti-scratch and UV400 protection.
What We Thought:
We loved the huge collection of designs and retro shapes. The sunglasses we got for our kids are going to be perfect for next summer. Their mini-adult rather than child design is great for slightly older children who have grown out of pink unicorns and green dinosaurs and who want to start getting into fool fashion. MessyWeekend glasses have a lux feel, quality packaging and feel high quality. To quote our daughter ‘I love these sunglasses, they’re like mummy and daddy’s.’
Where To Get Them: MessyWeekend.co.uk
