Christmas Gift Guide for Kids 2021 + GIVEAWAY
AD* This post contains review items and press samples
The days seem to be absolutely flying by at the moment and with just over a month till Christmas, it’s time for us all to start thinking about those Christmas wish lists, writing letters to Father Christmas and circling your favourite items in the toy catalogue. 2021 however, has been a funny old year, so like many parents, I’ve really struggled to know what to get this kids from Father Christmas. It feels like they’ve missed out on so much, so whilst a lot of our gifts will be focused around days out and experiences, they are still of the age where they love to find toys and games to share under the tree.
Whilst the list of must have toys for Christmas doesn’t have the usual stand out items we might usually expect at this time of year, as a parenting blogger I try and keep up to date on some of the best toys for Christmas and love to share ideas for every age child on the run up to December. If you’re struggling to know where to start, here are some of my favourite gifts, toys and games for children this Christmas.
For the perfect Christmas Day Outfit
There is always a bit of a debate about what to wear on Christmas Day. Whether it’s matching family pyjamas, coordinated party outfits, or Christmas Jumpers, we personally love to dress up for special occasions.
When it comes to Festive Fashion (that is also eco friendly and sustainable too), then you can’t really go wrong with Frugi. We absolutely LOVE their NEW Frugi Party Skater Dresses which are ideal for twinning with siblings. Available in green, red and blue festive themed designs for ages from 0-3 months to 9-10 years, these dresses have some SERIOUS spinning power, which means they are perfect for twirling under the festive lights. They also come with a detachable bow which can be removed and replaced as required. Check out the girls forest foxes design below!
For Family Fun
We absolutely LOVE to bring out the board games at Christmas and unlike some toys which can get forgotten or discarded before the tree has even come down, board games are a great option for getting the whole family and different generations playing together. The best games get bought out year after year, during every holiday or half term and hence are great value for money too!
If you’re looking for a fun game the whole family can enjoy, then Drumond Parks’ The Best of Kids (part of the LOGO board game family) is a really great option. Suitable for 2 teams and kids ages 7+, The Best of Kids is a super fun trivia game where they can show off how much they know, With fun and entertaining questions such as What four words to fairy stories start with? and Which day of the Christmas holidays sounds like it was named after a sport? and themes from sport to music, Disney films to dinosaurs and even snacks, this is a fun and educational game where kids can battle it out together (and no boring trivia in sight!)
We are also huge fans of Orchard Toys games (having played their Christmas Eve Box game almost every year since Neve was born). Their mini games are ideal Christmas gifts for preschoolers and younger children and are excellent quality too.
We love the somewhat festively apt named Pigs in Blankets Orchard Toys mini game which makes the perfect stocking filler or advent gift. Great fun for the whole family and a simple concept that allows you to skip straight to the fun part, children must race to find the most adorable piggy pairs. With 2-4 players this game is aimed at children ages 3-7. It also comes in a compact and portable sized box, making it a great option if you’re on the move between friends and family over the festive period too.
Of all the games I played myself as a child back in the 80s and 90s, I will never forget Go For Broke! This game brings back SO much nostalgia for me, so it’s really lovely to see that it is still going strong and JUST as I remember it!
Great Uncle Edward has popped his clogs and his billion-pound fortune is us for grabs. To get hold of his riches however, you must accept the challenge set in his will – to spend one million pounds faster than any of the other potential inheritors!
Play against family members as you live the high life, trying to squander the cash as fast as you can by chartering a yacht, buying and selling antiques, even bet wildly on the stock exchange!
Go for Broke is the game you win by losing a million and the only game I know where you grown when you win the lottery! Loads of fun for children (and grown ups!) aged 8+.
Another great game that serves as fun entertainment for the whole family is Pass the Pud from Gibsons – a festive themed, action-packed team game for four players or more.
Players take it in turns to draw a card from four categories – ‘clues’ ‘things’ ‘connections’ and ‘words’.
Next, the button on the Christmas pudding timer is pressed and players have a short amount of time to think of an answer to the question on the card before quickly passing the pud on to the next player who must also come up with a suitable answer. The pud jingles away until the time runs out and the pud lets out a huge ‘burp!’
The player who is holding the Pud when it burps loses and the rival team receives a sixpence. Once all the cards have been used, the team with the most sixpences in the winner!
This game really puts you under pressure and manically trying to think of an answer can leave everyone in fits of giggles!
If it’s traditional games and toys for the whole family that you’re after, then Jaques of London is a treat place to start. We love this Let’s Learn Classic Animals jigsaw set and at just £6.99, this is an ideal stocking filler or treat that wont break the bank too. Not only is does it come with a range of zoo animals to piece together including a giraffe, zebra, elephant, bear, tiger, lion, frog, crocodile and kangaroo, but it helps teach phonics too! Each piece of the jigsaw has it’s animal name written on the back, encouraging children to learn the visual phonetic spelling of each word. The set also comes beautifully packaged in a bright and engaging box!
Everyone loves a tumble tower game and Jaques sell this traditional wooden toy in a variety of different sizes, from the small table top tumble tower to a larger garden sized toy. Children will love trying to pull out a piece and place it back on top whilst preventing the tower from tumbling. You’ll need steady hands and a calm demeanour for this one! As above, Jaques products always come really well packaged and are excellent quality. We love the traditional boxes and printed logo on each brick.
For the creative kid
Some of the best received gifts the girls have received in recent years have been along the creative theme, such as art and craft sets, stationery, beads and jewellery. Whilst we might not always find time to sit down and get creative during the average week at home, Christmas is a great time to stop, relax and make things together as a family; having loads of fun in the process.
If you haven’t already heard of them, definitely check out Zoinks Aqua Gels sets – they are so much fun (even for the grown ups!).
Simply chose your template mould and create your animal or shape using a range of different coloured gels (including glow in the dark and glitter gelz!). Then, dip your design in the water tank and watch it peel away and magically transform into a super cute squishy toy! The reaction from the kids when these toys transform is really fun to watch! It will also keep kids entertained for hours with the potential to make up to 40 designs!
The girls are BIG fans of Fuzzikins – the adorable washable characters that can be coloured in and bought to life with special pens to create unique and colourful designs. When they are finished, they can rinse these fuzzy little friends in warm water to wash the colours away and create a blank canvas for round two!
New for this year are the Fuzzikins Home Makers Family Home sets – a modular home to build, decorate and play! These spacious Fuzzikins Home Makers Family Home comes with 2 rooms and a garden, a Fuzzi Bear and 10 different accessories. Children can assemble the house in multiple different ways and even add on other Homemakers sets such as the Koala’s Kitchen to extend it or create a little street!
The best part of the Fuzzkins Home Makers sets is the fact once you’ve decorated the rooms, you can easily wipe off the walls to clean and re-decorate! (If only it was that easy in real life!).
The girls also love Aquabeads and again, in terms of value for money, these sets have the potential to keep kids entertained for whole afternoons before as they bring their fairly intricate designs to life!
If your kids have never used Aquabeads before, then you really have missed a treat. The Aquabeads Fairy World set comes with a range of tray templates and guide sheets to help children create super cute and creative designs. Simply place all the beads in the right place on the tray, then add water using the spray bottle provided to bring the designs to life. When wet, the beads fuse together and seal the design into place. Kids can then peel it away from the reusable template and create wearable accessories such as broaches, rings and bracelets in adorable designs such as fairies, bunnies and flowers! So therapeutic! There are some small parts with these, so stick to children aged 4 and above.
Another creative gift with a twist, is the One & Only Orbeez Challenge. These orbeez water beads are an AMAZING sensory toy – and if you’ve never felt the sensation of running your hands through a vat of Orbeez, trust me when I say that its completely and utterly captivating!
This huge Orbeez set comes with some ready made orbeez, orbeez seeds to create your own and a variety of tools so kids can squish, squash, cut, mould and shape the orbeez into stress release sensory toys. Keeping it completely real here, Orbeez can be a little on the messy side, but nothing that a towel laid beneath it wont fix! Again in terms of entertainment time to product value, these are also really versatile toys, with 15 different ways to play! Get yours at Very here.
An ideal stocking filler for crafty kids, the Crafty Surprise Mystery Craft Kits from John Adams are really cute. With 6 different sets to collect, these surprise reveal craft kids come hidden in a pencil pot container. Open it up to reveal a kit with all the supplies you need to make one of 6 different craft projects – the ideal Boxing Day entertainment! Will they find the Panda bag charm kit or the dream catcher kit? What about a glittery kitten purse or even a clay donut bowl? My girls love surprise reveal toys, and this one ticks a hell of a lot of boxes!
For Interactive Fun
My two absolutely love interactive toys and games and there are some really, really clever toys these days that I kind of wish I’d had myself as a child!
First up are these adorable Squishy Little Dumplings – I mean have you ever seen anything cuter? Not only do they remind me of the Disney Pixar Short ‘Bao’ but these cute squishy dumplings pop out and come to life when squeezed!
Dot the dumpling can become children’s super new BFF! Depending upon how he’s treated, Dot responds in different ways – whether you shake, squeeze, toss or even hold him upside down, there you interact the more you will get to know him!
Each Squishy Little has its own unique personality and comes with two accessories to match! With 50 different reactions and emotions, these dumpling characters make cute sounds and unique animations when you interact with them, with their head lighting up and cheeks turning bright red with every squeeze!
Did you have a Tamagotchi as a child? Admit it – did you cry when it died after you forgot to feed it and wait for your next new pet to hatch? Tamagotchi’s are BACK but not as we knew it!
The brand NEW Tamagotchi Pix come with LOADS of new features including an interactive colour screen, built in camera, games, customisation options and loads of social fun to make raising their very own virtual pet even more fun than it was for us!
Children will LOVE using the inbuilt camera to take photos with their Tamagotchi character, as well as playing with them, cooking for them, washing them and customising their pets, before connecting with friends and even sending their Tamagotchi on playdates!
I’m a proud child of the 80s, and its not often that I admit that newer versions beat the toys I remember from my youth, in this case however, the Tamagotchi Pix may just have to claim that accolade!
For Role Playing Fun
MIf your kids absolutely love playing with dolls and acting out their own scenes (just like their fave youtubers!) then his super-modern Barbie Dream Summer Villa from toysandbears.com will be a dream come true to find under the tree!
Measuring at a substantial 70cm tall and 79cm wide, the Barbie Dream Holiday Villa is set over two floors with a veranda and even it’s very own pool. Barbies can be moved from room to room and play around a variety of 3D furniture, all of which is perfectly sized for the dolls!
With the added bonus of one Barbie being included in the box, this house is compatible with a variety of dolls to create hours of role play fun.
Another flash of nostalgia and a twist on a classic toys I grew up with are Polly Pockets. These adorable miniature play sets are great for kids to take with them on the go and encourage quiet creative role play.
New for this year, is the adorable Polly Pocket Corgi Cuddles compact case. This super-cute dog shaped case opens up to reveal a pet-themed hotel including micro Polly and Shani dolls and 2 dog friends (a poodle with hair and a husky). From racing the obstacle course, spinning the fire hydrant and even running on the treadmill, there are lots of activities to explore in this micro playset. It even comes with a wrist strap for taking with them on their travels!
The Polly Pocket Corgi Cuddles compact case is available at Very.
On a similar theme if your kids love miniature play, these Disney Doorables Beyond the Door playsets will be right up their street. These Frozen and Little Mermaid themed Disney playsets open out to become a little world to act out stories and scenes from their favourite Disney movies. Each Beyond the Door set comes with 8 accessories and 3 Disney Doorable themed collectible figures. The mini figures are super cute – with additional Disney Doorables available to purchase and collect separately.
If it’s a larger doll you’re after, then I can definitely recommend the Dream Seekers dolls – we reviewed some of the earlier editions in the range earlier in the year, but their latest edition Stella really is a sight to behold!
Stella the Dream Seeker is a magical looking rag doll style fairy doll wearing a beautiful rainbow outfit. With possible long arms and legs, she also has something extra special – GLOWING WINGS! With five different coloured light modes, her wings change colour and glow to express her feelings! Rainbow indicates positivity, pink indicates caring, yellow indicates happiness, purple indicates courage and blue means calmness!
Also, who wouldn’t want to be a fairy with purple hair and a rainbow dress?!
For the TV Favourites
My two absolutely love toys and merchandise from their favourite TV shows and superheroes tend to be right up there with the best of them.
In recent months, Miraculous – Ladybug in particular has been a big hit in this house, so it’s great to see that Bandai have released a range of 26cm dolls to support the TV series. With removable outfits, superhero masks and completely possible arms and legs so they can act out even the most complicated of superhero stances, the girls are going to love bringing this one to life! Available at Very.
The girls have also grown up with PAW Patrol and the novelty shows no sign of wearing off any time soon. Each Christmas you can rely upon Spinmaster to bring out a new twist on the PAW Patrol rescue mission toys, and this year is no exception. New for 2021 is the Transforming City Cruiser.
This police car style vehicle pops open to reveal a projectile launcher and protection canopy, before firing Chase out the front on his escaping motorcycle! With loads of fun lights and sound effects from the PAW Patrol movie, and 3 projectile discs to take down obstacles, there is loads of adventurous mission play to be had with this larger than life set!
If it’s not PAW Patrol, then it’s Blaze and the Monster Machines, which any parent will tell you, has one of the most catchy theme tunes known to man. The Monster Dome playset is another brand new toy for 2021 and lets children recreate Race Day and create a side by side race between Blaze and Crusher! Kids will love launching the monster machines through the ‘ring of fire’ and past the chomping Sharkbot! There’s even a loop the loop stunt! Hours of fun (additional play vehicles available separately)
There is also a BRAND new game out for Blaze fans – Blaze Axle City Racers – available on PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox 360. Children will LOVE racing with Blaze and his friends to try and win the championship at the Axle Grand City Grand Prix, the Monster Dome and many more exciting tracks! You can even race with up to 4 friends in split screen mode. For younger players the game comes with auto driving mode, so no matter how small they are, they can feel completely involved in the thrill of the race!
For the tween
My daughter is getting to the age where she absolutely loves jewellery – whether that be bracelets and bangles or chains and charms. This Beauty and the Beast Belle Jewellery Box from Enchanting Disney is ideal for keeping all her favourite bling safely stashed away – even when she’s on the move.
With a large zipped compartment with mirror, ring slots and spacious compartments for all her accessories, this is a beautifully illustrated leather jewellery box which will look great in her bedroom.
Get yours at giftgivingallwrappedup.
For the Book Worm
If you have followed my account for a while now you will know that I am a pretty big book worm and if you ask my opinion on some underrated but gratefully received gifts, then books will always rank pretty highly on the list!
Books2Door have a great range of festive boxsets or collector sets which are ideal for Christmas gifts – something that children can continue to enjoy long after the tree has been put back in the loft.
For younger children and babies, this That’s not my Christmas boxset is so super cute. With 5 different books from the collection, each book has lots of textures to touch and explore whilst helping bring the story to life. My girls both grew up loving these books and I can’t recommend them highly enough. Chunky board books that are easy for little hands to hold, they’ll love exploring every page before they finally find the ‘right’ character at the end!
For picture book lovers, you really can’t go wrong with Julia Donaldson – she has written so many beautiful rhyming books for children that are great for a read aloud bed time story. This Story Collection pack from Books2Door comes with a huge selection of her best books to date including Room on the Broom, The Gruffalo and The Paper Dolls (which is one of my personal favourites!). It even comes in a handy carry along reusable bag, making it a great option for travel or visiting friends and family over the festive season.
For middle grade festive reads, then Matt Haig is a brilliant place to start. Another fab book bundle, this 3 book set of festive reads includes A Boy Called Christmas, Father Christmas and Me and The Girl who Saved Christmas. Set the scene – Boxing Day, blanket forte, slippers and Cadbury’s chocolate selection box – this little bundle is perfect for cozying up for a calm cozy afternoon!
Books make the ideal gifts, especially ones that are interactive or have something unique. I love the idea of gifting books that can be passed down to future generations too. For some extra special books this year, I can recommend a few from Prestel. The first up is The Weather – a pop up book by Maike Biederstaedt. All about weather and climate change, this is an educational non fiction book, which comes with the most epic pop up pages I have ever seen. If you want to see this in action head over to my book insta WhattheKidsRead to see my reel!
Prestel also have you covered for younger readers too – we love Where is Everyone? A beautifully illustrated lift the flap board book by Tom Schamp – this book has characters perfectly hidden to match the shape of their homes. Neve loved seeing a monkey on a surfboard and an elephant in a bowler hat!
Last but my no means least is The Day Time Stopped – a book about one minute in time across 26 countries and a great way to showcase diversity and introduce children to the concept of time zones, climates and differences across the globe.
Fancy winning a fab Blaze and the Monster Machines prize bundle?
Thanks too the team at Outright Games we have an AWSOME Blaze and the Monster Machines prize bundle to giveaway to one lucky reader! This fabulous prize includes:
- A copy of Blaze and the Monster Machines Axle City Racers on PS4
- 1 x Blaze Monster Dome Playset
- 1 x Blaze and AJ Monster Machine Set and some extra goodies thrown in too! 🙂
To enter, use the Rafflecopter app below. Good luck! Our standard giveaway terms and conditions apply. UK entries only. Giveaway closes Friday 10th December at 11.59pm. Prize will be posted as soon as possible after this date, but due to current postage delays, pre Christmas delivery will be attempted but can not be guaranteed. GOOD LUCK!
