gift ideas that won't collect dust

I really love Christmas, but let's face it, it can be a stressful time with lots of social events, never ending to-do lists and overwhelm. If you've got kids this is times a thousand! To combat this inevitability I try to be organised (doesn't always work!), prioritise what's right for us as a family and not get carried away with trying to keep up with the endless ideas for how to make Christmas more fun. There can be a lot of pressure to create this perfect festive period for our kids but this doesn't really come from them, it's all external noise from social media and commercialism. So I try my best to keep this in mind to ease the overwhelm and concentrate on making memories.

Our absolute traditions are writing a letter to Father Christmas and firing it off in a rocket, making a photo advent calendar (more about how to do this here), leaving Father Christmas a letter with mince pies and a tipple (he gets asked questions so he has to answer!), a present under the tree from Father Christmas to all of us (these have included games, personalised books and last year a waffle maker). I also always make my own crackers with a personalised gift for everyone. Anything else changes each year depending on our budget, time, capacity and preferences.

To help you out with the present conundrum I've put together a list of Christmas present ideas that have the potential to span a wide age range. My kids are now 3 (June) and nearly 9 (Frank) and have recently enjoyed or still enjoy these gifts. Plus there are a few recommended that I haven't tried out but look ace. As we're in Black Friday period during the time of writing this there are lots of great offers on a lot of these items!

my 25 top christmas gifts

• Magnatiles These are just great. I love them so much that I'm going to gift a pack to one of my Instagram followers - see here to enter! I'm also going to gift the same pack to Wood Street Mission - a fantastic charity based in Manchester helping children and families affected by poverty.
• Magazine subscriptions. Frank has had What on Earth! magazine this last year which he's loved. Loads of interesting facts, puzzles, history & science. I actually only ordered it for 6 months but forgot to cancel the subscription! 🤦🏽‍♀️ So remember to set a reminder as these often auto-renew! This year I'm looking at The Week Junior Science & Nature for Frank and Okido for June. While researching I came across this list with useful info on different options for kids.
• Kinetic sand. I was really amazed by this when I first came across it when Frank was younger. It's real sensory fun for all ages. A tad messy but easy enough to hoover up! June loves diggers so the construction kit would be a brilliant gift for her!
• Indoor hammock swing. We bought this for Frank a few years ago now and it's been such a hit, not only with him but any kids that come over to play. Both our kids use it every day and June would love one in her own room instead of having to ask Frank but her room isn't big enough! It does require space as once they get confident they can throw themselves around quite a bit. This also has to come with a safety warning and June knows she isn't allowed to use it without one of us being there.
• Books. You can never go wrong with a book! They get used time and time again and passed down. Charity shops are a great way of topping up cheaply with a few book gifts. I also really like Books for Bugs - family run and really reasonably priced.
• Personalised books. I really love these and have bought from both Wonderbly and Librio as gifts for other children as well as our kids. We really love this Wonderbly personalised one Our Twelve Days of Christmas which Father Christmas left us last year.
• Yoto/Toni Box. We've got a Yoto Mini and Toni Boxes also have also been recommended. I love the fact that you can buy blank Yoto cards and record family members or friends reading favourite books.
• Board games/cards. We love board games and it's really great now June is just about an age where she can start to play. Her favourites at the moment are The Shopping Game and Sea Creature Bingo both Orchard Games which are just great for preschoolers. We try to do a 'Games Night' with Frank each week if we can - usually just 30 mins of playing a game together once June is in bed. We love Zeus on the Loose, Word Stackers and Labyrinth, which is s firm favourite (there are even Pokemon, Disney & Super Mario versions) Frank has put Labyrinth 3D on his Christmas list.
• Dressing up - available everywhere but Vinted and charity shops are a treasure trove for bargains. June dressed up as Sir Gadabout the Great from Zog for Halloween and I only thought last minute of ordering her a dress up horse. It didn't arrive on time so my £3 bargain will get washed and wrapped up for xmas.
• Jigsaw puzzles. Again loads in charity shops but also sites like Kidly, Argos & The Works.
• Lego. We inherited a lot of lego and have also bought a fair bit. It's always a hit.
• Talking points cards These cards stood out to me as Frank loves to ask similar questions so although we haven't got a set I think it would be a great gift for families with junior age and above kids.
• Excavations kits These are always really fun for the kids and we've given quite a few as birthday gifts too. We've had the gemstone and fossil ones and I've just come across the bugs in amber one while researching this and will be adding it to the kids list!
• Sea Monkeys Frank loved receiving this a few years ago. They didn't last long, and having recently seen my mate Lucy's at her house realise that ours were probably very neglected!
• Scrunch bucket and spade. Useful and avoids buying plastic everytime you go on holiday or visit the beach. Our kids love searching for shells and rocks so it's really handy to collect them in.
• Writing tablet. I only came across these a few years ago and they're really handy for car journeys or when eating out (not that that happens but occasionally on holidays!)
• Water pen books. Another really useful toy that we used this year on the flight on holiday. A client told me here 1 year old loves them and Frank still plays with June's so really versatile.
• Snow globe - This is such a a fun festive little gift and appealing to a wide age range from babies up. You can get all sorts of lovely designs. We've bought photo ones like this one here before.
• Slippers/pjs/onesie/oodie - a classic but always needed (except for my kids who inexplicably refuse to wear slippers!) I love good old M&S for these items!
• Something to decorate their room. I love the embroidery kits from Cotton Clara - I've bought the bird and horse garlands as well as the rainbows and some of the slogans. Posters are great at any age as are functional items. We did Frank's room up last year as part of his birthday present with items from climbing wall holds, magnetic boards, photos on his wall and an under bed cosy nook and his reaction was just brilliant he loved it so much! Etsy is great for prints.
• Cyanotype paper to make sun prints. This is a lovely activity to do with any age 3 upwards - really magical but incredibly easy. You can find more info on my blog here.
• Leap frog adventure globe. This was a recommendation and it looks like something Frank especially would love. Although it's advertised as 5 upwards I also think it would appeal to June at 3. A globe in itself is a great present idea, but this is interactive and they can use the stylus to reveal thousands of facts, interact with BBC videos and games.
• Craft supplies are always used. I know our craft drawer needs a tidy and update plus remember to buy pots/trays/files to organise and make them easy to access.
• Adopt an animal. This was something I loved as a kid and think Frank would like. I got a dolphin adoption from the WWF when I was around his age and got updates about how she was doing. We visited Muncaster Castle this year and loved the bird displays so think he'd really enjoy this. His favourite was Pumpkin the Eurasion Owl.
• Wooden toys. These are always well used and great to pass down. Aldi and Lidl do really lovely affordable options in their promotions.

10 Stocking ideas

• bookmark
• fidget toys
• Play in Choc/chocolate coins/chocolate coins (we always had one at the bottom of our stocking as kids!)
• socks & knickers/pants
• bath bombs
• pencil case filled with stationary
• stickers
• card based games - top trumps, uno, playing cards
• invisible pens
• yoyo
• whoopee cushion

I've tried where possible not to use Amazon links for this list. I'm no saint and do order from there but try where I can not to! There are a few good sites where you can find some great gifts for both presents and stocking gifts and get a few items ticked off in one go (and one delivery charge). Rex London, B&M Bargains & Sostrene Greene are fab for stocking gifts. Kidly, Jacques of London and Argos are great for bigger gifts. I've also just come across My First Years which I haven't used but looks great.

I hope this has been useful for ideas and helps with the overwhelm! Below is a downloadable scavenger hunt for kids which is great whether indoors over the festive period or while out on a frosty walk. There's also a link to my brochure in case you fancy gifting a family shoot either to your partner or something for the grandparents. Gift vouchers are available!