AD – This post contains press samples and affiliate links
It never ceases to amaze me when I see the requests on the girl’s Christmas lists to Santa each year. Some of their requests I anticipate – others I most definitely don’t! As a parenting blogger, however, I do regularly get insight into some of the latest toy and game trends for boys and girls alike, so with that in mind, here’s my round-up of Christmas gift ideas for boys and girls for 2023. For simplicity, I have categorised them by theme so you can find some that suit every kind of child, whatever their age or personality!
*Please note -this post contains press samples and affiliate links – this means if you go on to purchase a product via one of my links I receive a small commission directly from the retailer at no extra cost to you. This allows me to continue to write content that I hope you find useful – so thank you*
For baby’s first Christmas
Just because babies are tiny and don’t fully understand what’s going on at Christmas, doesn’t mean they have to miss out on all the festivities and fun. A great gift for newborns, these GOTS-certified Dream Blankets from Aden and Anais are made from four layers of organic cotton muslin and measure a significant 120cm square. Cosy, comfortable and fully machine washable, they can be used for everything from sleepy cuddles to play time and tummy time, making a stylish and practical addition to a baby’s nursery. While there are six different colours and designs to choose from, we absolutely ADORE this striking and unique Oceanic design.
After a day full of cuddles, ripping wrapping paper and potentially their first taste of an epic Christmas dinner, your little one will be ready for a cosy and comfortable night’s sleep. It’s traditional for toddlers to get new PJs for Christmas, so why not treat your baby to a new sleeping bag too?
Designed to keep your baby cosy in the colder winter months, these 2.5 TOG sleeping bags are made from soft and insulating cotton and bamboo fabric, with a front opening concealed zip for stress-free nocturnal nappy changes. With a choice of pink blush or ribbed blue, they are available in two sizes – 6-24 months for babies or a larger 2-4 years – helping you create a familiar sleeping environment for toddlers too.
If you’re looking for an affordable yet fun toy for babies aged 10 months or above, this super cute Turbo Turtle from Hape could be just the ticket.
A teether and activity toy combined, your little one will love grabbing the soft textured handle and taking this friendly turtle for a spin round the living room. The pattern on the wheels is captivating as they spin, while the textured handle an work wonders on those achey gums.
If your baby shows the first signs of those pearly whites making an apperance, drooling and teething pain can leave them feeling a little fractious over the festive season. Treating them to a natural teacher such as this super cute Albert Bear Natural Rubber Teether is a great way to soothe their gums. at the same time, becoming a cute companion to comfort and reassure.
Suitable from birth, this 100% natural rubber teether is sustainably made, textured and has perfectly sized handles for your baby to grip and ensure control. There’s also no holes for bacteria to hide, thanks to the one piece design – great for peace of mind!
Treating them to their first ever Christmas dinner but don’t want to ruin their cute festive outfit? If your baby has a tendency to get more food on them or around them than actually in their mouths, these waterproof cape sleeved bibs are a great solution. Easy to get on and off (even on the wriggliest of babies) with a crumb tray to catch any discarded food during dinner, they give parents one less thing to worry about (and clean up) after a festive family dinner.
For toasty toddlers
The perfect PJs for lounging around in between Christmas and New Year, these super soft Snoozy Pyjamas are made from breathable organic cotton and bamboo blend, for a cosy but breathable night’s sleep. We love the stretchy elasticated waistband to ensure a comfortable fit, while little ones will love the friendly character on the chest.
For outdoor adventures
If you’re looking for an outdoor toy for an active child or a scooter for a child who is keen to start mastering some stunts, the Rampage R1 2023 Stunt Scooter makes an excellent choice. It comes in a choice of two colourways, with gusseted Y bars, a high tensile fork, IHC compression, and large 110mm super high rebounding wheels, making it ideal for riding to the park or heading to the local skatepark with friends. A comfortable (and cool!) ride for riders of all ages between 7 and 12 years.
You can check out the full range of Neochrome Stunt Scooters available for all ages at SkateHut now.
If your kids love heading out into the great outdoors but still like to look stylish in winter, the range of beautiful Chelsea boots at Start-Rite will be right up their street. With a French Navy Patent design, they are great for teaming up with dresses, tunics and leggings for a modern twist on the traditional winter boot. We love the brightly coloured check elasticated side panels and the simple zip to the one side, which make these boots quick and easy for your child to slip on without assistance.
With a sturdy rubber sole and leather linings to absorb moisture, their feet will be kept dry and comfortable, wherever their adventures may take them.
For some quality time together
If your child is starting to outgrow toys or you’re trying to avoid gifts that are all focused around screen time, experiences can be a great alternative, allowing you to spend quality time with your tween or teen whilst experiencing new things together.
Buyagift has a huge range of gift experiences, the majority of which come with 24-month expiry dates and the option to exchange, so whatever you choose, you can be sure they’ll be able to find an experience that they can take at a time and place that works for them.
We love the idea of this Harry Potter bus tour – a great way to explore the city and tick off some of the iconic Potter locations. From a hawk flying experience to meeting exotic animals, zoo experiences, llama walks, grooming ponies or even meeting meerkats, there are loads of unique animal experiences to choose from all across the UK.
With experiences available for either one or two people and for both adults and children, this voucher makes the perfect gift for any animal lover…including yourself!
For puzzle lovers
Puzzles are a great way to spend time together with your children over the festive period and are great for mindfulness and calming the mind too!
It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of The Story Orchestra, having collected all of the beautifully illustrated books over the last few years. This Christmas, you can also get the stunning Nutcracker Story in a musical puzzle format. This 48-piece puzzle features striking illustrations from the story – including the special gift Clara receives from her uncle on Christmas Eve, the wooden nutcracker soldier, to the toy’s transformation into a prince who takes Clara on a tour of his kingdom, the Land of Sweets.
With four special sound effect pieces, once the jigsaw is complete, children can press to enjoy ten-second sound bites from Tchaikovsky’s original score. A beautiful gift to cherish and enjoy this Christmas.
If you are looking for a Christmas Advent calendar or like to count down with anticipation to Christmas Day with your children, this lift-the-flap puzzle Cat Family Christmas is a beautiful gift that the whole family can enjoy together. With 76 pieces, the Cat Family’s adorable Christmas scene comes to life including twelve little flaps to lift and reveal surprises each day until Christmas Eve.
We LOVE playing board games in this house – especially at Christmas. Anything that encourages the kids to get off their screens and get the whole family involved and spending time together is a real positive, so we are always looking for fun games to add to our collection. Here are some new games you might not have played before.
We’re MASSIVE fans of Orchard Toys games, with their Christmas Eve box being bought out year after year (even now the girls are older than the recommended age). This year Orchard Toys have added a new Christmas mini-game to their collection – Elf Lotto. Suitable for two to four players aged 3-6 years (but suitable for the whole family to play together), this fun lotto game involves memory and matching skills as player attempt to fill their game board with a variety of cheeky elves. Coming in a small yet perfectly formed little box, it makes a great stocking filler too.
Never did I ever think I would write the words Hurry Up Chicken Butt in a blog post, but thanks to this game from Exploding Kittens – here we are. This fast-paced, high-energy game for two to four players can be played with anyone 4 years and above (or possibly younger if you can explain the instructions). The best part about this hot potato game – it gets everyone up and off the sofa, acting out animals, jumping, and making LOTS of animal noises as they pass the chicken around the players. Speed is of the essence here, so expect lots of fun and hysterical laughter as the timer starts to run down!
Most tweens will be familiar with Roblox and LEGO – so a block world will be fairly familiar to them, but have they ever tried to make models using blocks, or guess what other people’s block creations may be?
This creative building part game BLOCK PARTY does just that – quite challenging, and as such aimed at children aged eight and above, this guessing game involves pictionary style creation of the item on their card, using tiny little blocks that are stacked, displayed and layers to build a 3D block design. Can you guess your opponent’s creation before the timer runs out (or will your building skills leave everyone scratching their heads in confusion!)
The hit BBC show Traitors was one of our favourite programmes last year and as such, the Traitors Card Game based on the series is sure to be a popular pick for tweens and teens this Christmas. Players are randomly assigned the title of Traitor or Faithful at the beginning of the game, and the Faithfuls must work together to discover the Traitors’ identity and vote them out. The Traitor on the other hand must try to deceive the other players of their innocence to win the game.
With digital events (on your phone or tablet) to mix things up and keep players on their toes, this Ginger Fox game is a great after-dinner activity that can be played with the whole family (up to eight players) at a time.
For the fidget-obsessive
Fidget toys have grown hugely in popularity over recent years and the craze is showing no sign of going anywhere yet. This Christmas has seen the release of Quick Pops – a high-energy handheld game and tactile fidget in one. With four fun game modes, including memory and even multi-player options, Quick Pops will keep kids entertained for hours – ideal if you’re travelling to visit family during the festive season.
We love the scoring mode, with 30 different levels to try and master – and it’s challenging so your kids will need to show resilience and determination! With interactive lights and sounds, they must push and pop the buttons in order and quickly, testing their memory and reflexes as they try and outwit the game.
For creative kids
Imagination toys always go down well with my girls at Christmas. The festive period can be a bit overwhelming, so toys and gifts that allow them to sit down, get artistic and use their creative flair are always well received.
Washimals have always been a big hit with Neve – who loves getting creative before washing the characters and starting all over again. This adorable Ocean Pets sea creatures set includes four cute characters that can be decorated using the six special Washimals pens included. Not only can children create fun designs and patterns, but the designs actually glow in the dark too – great for displaying with pride in their bedroom. When they want to mix things up, simply wash off the design using the working shower included to remove the pen and leave to dry.
We only recently discovered the world of Wixels, but this creative twist on pixel art is incredibly clever and lots of fun to do.
Simply moisten the board with a damp cloth and choose from one of eight fun animal designs. Place it on top of the board to use as a template and use the markers to spot colour each pixel for use as a visual guide. Then remove the template and simply saturate each pixel with the correct coloured marker, watching as the image comes to life before their eyes.
Educational AND fun, this creative set encourages patience, persistence and concentration, with finished designs that can be displayed or washed to reuse.
All kids love slime right but if the thought of making your own breaks you out into a cold sweat, this So Slime DIY kit will be right up your street,
it may look like a miniature KitchenAid, but this fab mixer allows children to add colours, combine colours and add decorations such as sprinkles and sparkles to create their very own unique and marbled slime. Simply twist and mix to bring their slime to life, with eight different recipe cards for inspiration. There are ten bags of slime to create, making this budget friendly set great fun for siblings to share.
If ever there was a toy that was educational while still being INCREDIBLY good fun, Geomag would be it. These powerful magnetic rods make construction and creativity pretty much limitless, with the ability to create a whole host of fun designs such as towers, houses and pyramids by simply connecting the pieces together. This glitter collection adds a bit of extra sparkle to their creations, before packing the pieces away into the three indluded storage boxes.
For the memory maker
Does your little one always like to write about their adventures or keep their secrets away from prying little sisters? As a Mum of two girls, I can certainly relate to the latter.
The VTech Secret Safe Diary is a great way to encourage self-expression, creativity, journalling, photography and more. This fun lockable journal can be personalised to their preferences – from writing diary entries to recording voice notes and even saving pictures with fun filters and effects, this unique diary will only pop open with face recognition, with a number password for extra security.
For those bedtime magical moments:
If you’re planning to travel over the festive period, one of our absolute favourite gifts and one we will never stop actively recommending is the Yoto Player or Yoto Mini – fun, interactive and portable audio players for kids. With a huge range of Yoto cards to choose from, children can listen to classic stories, new release fiction or even meditations and relaxing bedtime sounds. You can even record your own voice onto a card for a unique bedtime story or check out the Yoto free daily podcast and child-friendly radio station.
Easy to operate (even for small hands) – you can be safe in the knowledge that your child is listening to age-appropriate content (whilst potentially learning a thing or two as well!) with no ads, camera or microphone.
If you’re more team Tonie than Yoto (or have younger children or preschoolers), Tonies have a huge range of characters that are ideal for the festive period. From their new Little Reindeer’s Christmas Wish advent Tonie, with a new story to listen to every day during December, to their Elf on the Shelf Tonie full of stories, songs, games, jokes or the reimagined Christmas songs and carols penguin. The festive designs are currently sold out but we’re expecting them back in stock very soon!
For the gamers
If you’re buying for a gamer or child who is obsessed with their Nintendo Switch or is hoping to get a new games console from Father Christmas, some great new games have been released in recent months that they will love to add to their collection.
All the games featured are available on a variety of consoles including Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox.
DC Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
Recommended for children aged 7 and above, children will love taking on the role of Happy Harbor’s hero and embarking on missions, exploring secret locations and battling villains with iconic super hero moves including Superman’s Heat Vision, Wonder Woman’s Truth’s Pull and Batman’s exploding Batarangs.
Rainbow High Runway Rise
Rinbow High fans will love this role play game, taking on the role of Ruby, Poppy, Sunny, Jade, Skyler, and Violet, From exploring the school and Rainbow Union, you need ti find clues to sovle puzzles, collect rainbow diamonds and unlock the very coolest outfits for your characters!
The Grinch: Christmas Adventures
A great adventure to play over the Christmas period – Take on the role of the Grinch and his faithful pup Max, solviing puzzles, throwing snowballs and using a candy cane lasoo – can you make the Grinches heart grow by three sizes and save Christmas once and for all?
For the ones with pretty hair
My girls both love beautiful hair accessories and if you’re looking for something a little unique this Christmas – go and check out Stych – the one-stop-online accessories shop.
Their team of talented designers produce accessories with the coolest designs and themes including hair clips, headbands, scrunchies, bags and bracelets, all housed in beautiful gift boxes.
With prices starting at just £6, you can pick up some really unique pieces within an affordable price range. I honestly can’t explain how beautiful these products are in the flesh and fantastic quality too – gifts that will be sure to raise a smile nestled under the tree or in their stocking this Christmas!
For those who love a cuddle
Us grown-ups may think they have far too many soft toys already, but children just can’t get enough of the soft and cuddly squishy toys – so you can always expect one to make an appearance on their Christmas wish list.
Here are some unique picks for 2023.
From the makers of Squishmallows, Jazwares, Bum Bumz are the latest craze that will soon be at the top of your tween or even teen’s wish list. With the cute themes, and soft and squishy textures we’re used to from Squishmallows, these small weighted characters look absolutely adorable on a bookshelf or as a cute room accessory. Best of all, each Bum Bumz character has their own name and ‘most likely to’ label with sticker. They’ll love collecting them all, and learning more about each character’s unique personality.
For the collectibles fan
This year collectible’s QUEEN LOL Surprise! have some amazing new collections that are sure to be a big hit with fans of the brand.
Firstr up is the LOL Surprise! Mega Ball Magic – a huge pack with 60+ surprises to reveal by smashing, squishing, crushing or even poping the balls into water like a bath bomb. Really tactile and engagnig, children will love this exciting unboxing adventure with lots of fun outfits and accessories to reveal.
The LOL Surprise! Magic Flyers have been a huge hit with my daughters – with some really impressive flying that left me actually a bit gobsmacked. Simply turn it on and tpa the ball to see it light up. Tap again and it starts to quiver and shake, tao a third time and the final shakes open up the ball to reveal your character inside. Step back and watch as she literally sours into the air, spinning and circling for quite some time before catching her in your hands. Quite robust and able to withstand a fair few eventful flights – this gift brings back major nostaligc vibes too!
For the pet lovers
No, you haven’t reverted back to the 1990s, Tamagotchi’s are back, and the virtual pets are now cuter and more interactive than ever! Kids will love raising their Tamagotchi from egg to child to Adult, including feeding it, playing with it, giving it medicine, helpng it use the bathroom and keeping him fit and healthy. An important lesson in empathy and caring for others! We love the huge range of colour schemes and designs, with a little keychain so you can take him with you everywhere you go!
Obsessed with Kitties? Then they’ll love the Smitten Kittens! Crack open the case to reveal their kitty, along with five surprises including stickers, a squishy kitten litter compound and a milk bottle for feeding. Each super soft plush kitty makes 10 realistic sounds including an incredibly lifelike purr and with eight adorable plush kittens to reveal, will they be lucky enough to find the super rare Rainbow Kitty?
For the music lovers
If your planning to gift your child a Yoto Player or Tonie box this Christmas, you may alsoi be considering teaming it up with some high quality headphones. While most ear buds aren’t suitable for children, the myFirst CareBuds are specifically designed for children from 4-13 years old with a maximum volume of 85db. They also come with a selection of diffferenet sized eartips, ensuring a comfortable fit for kids of all ages.
As if that’s not all, these intelligent CareBuds also hav a unique function that switches them to ‘transparency’ mode when they are moving. This helps keep kids safe by ensuring they can still hear their surroundings (such as traffic and other pedestrians) when listening to their music on the go.
So there we have it! From board games to books, plushies to hair clips, we really have all bases covered. I hope you’ve got some inspiration for the children on your list this Christmas!
*Disclaimer – this guide contains products which I have either reviewed or been sent press samples, however as always all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links*
