Gift Guides | Gifts We Gave

What We’re ACTUALLY Giving Our Kids for Christmas 2025

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Every Christmas, one of the biggest gifts I give myself is having all my kids’ presents decided, purchased, and mostly wrapped well before Christmas Day. Life just always gets so busy and it’s way less stressful for me to decide in advance when things have plenty of time to arrive and I can enjoy the season.

Here’s what we’re giving our kids for Christmas 2025. The kids’ big gift again this year is a family trip that we had planned but will reveal to them on Christmas – they have no idea we’ll be leaving just a few days later! We also already gave them our annual Christmas pajamas.

In addition to the family gifts, we decided that each kiddo would receive two gifts and a book. We also have been planning to see a few shows as a family next year, so we figured we’d keep those a surprise and put them under the tree, as well. I hope our kid Christmas gift ideas are fun to read and that they give you some ideas, too!

Family Gifts for Christmas 2025

Family Trip

This will be the main, final gift we share. We always do some sort of fun activity like a scavenger hunt or escape room for them to guess what it is, and I can’t wait for them to figure it out.

This year, we’re heading off for a quick few days of skiing at our favorite little cabin that we’ve stayed at a couple of times before. We don’t really need any new gear for this, so we’ll just put together some sort of word puzzle for them to figure out the location. Happily, we got really cheap flights since we’re flying back on New Year’s Eve!

Azul Family Game

This is a game I’ve had on my list for about 4 or 5 years, so I figured this year it was time! I’ve heard great things about it.

Apples to Apples Family Game

Another family game! We love having something to play after opening gifts on Christmas Day and this is a great one. I loved it years ago and this version will be perfect to include our younger kiddos.

Waffle Iron

Our birthday breakfast tradition in the US was always homemade waffles, but we haven’t had a waffle iron since moving to the UK. I decided it was finally time, especially since several of the kids have asked about getting one. I found THIS one secondhand, which I was thrilled about (with a UK plug, of course) (Also available HERE)

Craft Supply Refresh

We’re running low on several craft supplies so I’m boxing up just a few for general use (works better for us than gifting them to an individual kid and asking them to share).

Here’s what I’m including:

  • Giant Pom Poms – always fun for a variety of play and crafts.
  • Jumbo Test Tubes – I’ve been meaning to add a set of big tubes to our craft area for experiments, mixing, or for fine motor practice with baby S.
  • Big tweezers – another thing I’ve meant to add in for fine motor practice, as well as handwriting practice for the older kids

Christmas Pajamas

We actually gifted our kids their Christmas pajamas at the start of the season – we love enjoying them throughout festive season. We did a these cute and super stretchy & soft bear pajamas from Primark here in the UK this year. (THESE family matching pajamas in the US are similar, affordable, and from the same brand as my favorite summer nightgown.)

I shared lots of suggestions for where to get matching family Christmas pajamas right HERE.

Christmas Gifts for a 15 Year Old Boy (N)

EXPERIENCE GIFT (Shows): Hercules, Oliver, Hamilton, Operation Mincemeat

Our main gift to the kids for the last few years has been a special experience and we love it. It’s so fun to be able to something special and exciting with them. This year, we’re taking each kid to the theatre for a few shows as a family and I can’t wait. Hercules is a new show to London that we’ll all go see together – our first full-length teatre experience with everyone. Then the primary school kids performed in Oliver last year for their school production, so we thought it would be great to take them to see the professional version. We somehow haven’t managed to see Hamilton yet since moving to London and and K has been itching to see it for ages, so we’re taking her, N, & T to that – think they’re the perfect age for it. Finally, Operation Mincemeat is one of Dan and my favorite shows we’ve seen here – such a fantastic cast and fascinating and funny. I think the older two will love the humor in it!

GIFT 1: Electronic Drum Set

N has been asking repeatedly to start taking drum lessons at school, so we decided to finally make it happen with this electronic drum kit that he can use headphones to practice (really, a gift for us, too). We’re getting it secondhand for much less, but this set from the same brand is similar.

GIFT #2: Paris Map Print

N is a giant Francophile, and we loved visiting Paris together a couple months ago. I thought he’d love this print of an old Paris map with various monuments on it! I got it from this small shop with lots of terrific prints, but a similar one is available on Etsy.

BOOK: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This one is a smart fantasy book with some political intrigue and wit mixed in and it sounds right up N’s alley. I hope he loves it – and it’s a series, so he’ll be able to continue to read! I purchased this one secondhand.

15 Year Old Boy Stocking Stuffers

  • Lip balm – my new absolute favorite that is so healing – perfect for his bike rides in the cold
  • Gel pens – N needed some new ones for school and these are my very favorites
  • Air glider toy – even big kids need a toy!
  • Personalized leather magnetic bookmark – I had one of these beautiful magnetic leather bookmarks engraved for each of the kids with their initial

Christmas Gifts for a 13 Year Old Girl (K)

EXPERIENCE GIFT (Shows): Hercules, Oliver, Hamilton, Operation Mincemeat

K is getting the same shows as N – they have similar interests and think they’ll both love these ones (as will the grown ups).

GIFT #1: “The Book Was Better” Sweatshirt + “So Many Books, So Little Time” Socks

These were a special request from K, so figured I could grant that! She actually asked for a t-shirt but I figured I could upgrade that a bit to a nice sweatshirt. I did the jade color with cold lettering and it is beautiful – I kind of want to borrow it!

GIFT #2: Personalized Affirmation Bracelet Cuff

K loves simple jewelry and this looked perfect. I personalized it with a favorite Maya Angelou quote, “nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”

BOOK: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

A library meets fantasy meets mystery? RIGHT up K’s alley and I think she’ll love this one. (Available on Amazon, Target, Walmart)

13 Year Old Girl Stocking Stuffers

Christmas Gifts for an 11 Year Old Boy (T)

EXPERIENCE GIFT (Shows): Hercules, Oliver, Hamilton, Bluey’s Big Play

I think T will also love the first three! He loves Greek mythology, and his year did a long of the singing for their school production of Oliver. And he’s a huge history buff for Hamilton, plus who doesn’t love it? Bluey was really for the younger kids but we’ll take him along and honestly he always loves watching it with the younger ones, too. But we’ll also ask him if he’d like to join us for Operation Mincemeat and can grab a ticket for him for that if he’s interested.

GIFT #1: Soapstone Carving Kit + Wood Burning Kit

T is 100% my tinkerer and builder – I think he’ll be absolutely DELIGHTED to make some really cool wood and other creations with these sets. For the latter, I found a gently used secondhand one, but this one is really similar.

GIFT #2: Cyanotype Sun Art Kit

T is 100% my nature lover in addition to loving a hands on project, so I think this will be a massive hit. I’d never really heard of them until recently, but you can put things like leaves and other objects on the paper and it leaves an imprint from the sun. Nature + science + a project = a surefire win!

BOOK: The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay

Never have I met a kid who asks “why” and “how” more often than T. He also adores encyclopedic sort of books. I’m positive he will spend the rest of Christmas Day poring over this.

11 Year Old Boy Stocking Stuffers

Christmas Gifts for a 8 Year Old Boy (A)

EXPERIENCE GIFT (Shows): Hercules, Oliver, Paddington, Bluey’s Big Play

The Paddington musical has gotten rave reviews; I can’t wait to take the younger 3 kiddos to see it! And A has been really wanting to see Oliver, as well.

GIFT #1: Bike

A has needed a new bike for a little while as his is getting quite small. He’s been asking for one regularly, and I think he’ll be so excited!

GIFT #2: Pocketknife

A’s older siblings got a pocketknife around this age, and despite not being able to use it very often (we’ll just pull it out when camping), I know he’ll be so excited to have one of his own.

BOOK: Mysteries of the Universe DK Children’s Anthologies

We love these DK books and this space one is no different. It’s absolutely gorgeous inside and out and filled with interesting info.

8 Year Old Boy Stocking Stuffers

  • Mini pocket microscope – think A will love the keychain version! (Also sourced secondhand)
  • Mini waist pack – A was so into this mini waist pack from the second he saw it when I got it this summer. I think he’ll be thrilled to find it in his stocking!
  • Harry Potter mini wizard chess – Unfortunately I can’t find the same thing online, but I found this cute mini wizard chess at a museum here and I think A will love it so much!
  • Scramboozle – we gave A Kanoodle in his stocking last year after T had loved it for a few years, and I think this will be similarly loved
  • Personalized leather magnetic bookmark

    Christmas Gifts for an almost 6 Year Old Girl (M)

    EXPERIENCE GIFT (Shows): Hercules, Oliver, Paddington, Bluey’s Big Play

    I think my little theatre lover will be thrilled about these shows!

    GIFT #1: Bike

    M’s little bike is tiny on her but A’s old one is too big – so she’s also due for an upgrade!

    GIFT #2: Karaoke Set

    Jury is still out on whether I’ll regret this immensely but at least I’m confident that M (who sings about 90% of every day) will love it. It will also be so fun with friends!

    BOOK: The Corgi & The Queen + Fuzzy Unicorn Diary

    I got this book ages ago and think M will absolutely love it. It’s so sweet!

    I also included a fuzzy unicorn diary similar to this one – we got it ages ago in Portugal and it’s been waiting to go to a good home. 🙂

    Almost 5 Year Old Girl Stocking Stuffers

    • Unicorn sparkle bath foam – I found this in a local shop
    • Ring cap markers – these will be so great for travel, especially since M is constantly drawing. I’m glad I got them on big sale – they’re kind of pricey!
    • Color changing markers – such a blast from the past and so fun!
    • Mini scratch art book – speaking of blast from the past! I got a big pack of these to give out as favors for M’s bday next month and am popping one in each of the little girls’ stockings
    • Personalized leather magnetic bookmark

    Christmas Gifts for a 3 Year Old Girl (S)

    EXPERIENCE GIFT (Shows): Hercules, Paddington, Bluey’s Big Play, Dear Zoo

    Baby S absolutely loves Bluey, Paddington, and also the book Dear Zoo, so I think she’ll be absolutely starstruck to see them all on stage!

    GIFT #1: Wooden Ice Cream Play Set

    A few weeks ago, I was debating between this wooden ice cream play set and this wash and play animal set and asked for recs on Instagram. You would not BELIEVE the number of gushy messages I got about this ice cream set. It seems like it lasts years both in terms of durability and play, and is just so sweet. I can’t believe we haven’t owned it over the previous 5 kids, but I think she’ll love it! (To be fair, people also loved the scribble scrubbies, but not nearly as many were super devoted to it as the ice cream.)

    GIFT #2: Counting Surprise Party

    I just learned of this recently, and it looks SO sweet – 10 little present boxes to count, open, stack, and use for pretend play (I think she’ll have a ball having birthday parties for her stuffies). S is very into pretend play right now, so I think she’ll be so happy – and it goes along perfectly with the ice cream!

    BOOK: Magic Painting London Board Book + The Littlest Yak

    This little board book is so fun – you paint on it with water and it turns colors, and then disappears so you can do it again. Plus, it’s an actual book to read and is London-themed. 🙂 I also found the other one – a true classic – secondhand, so I’m excited to give that to her, too. We’re aging out of board books, but these are so sweet that I couldn’t resist!

    3 Year Old Girl Stocking Stuffers

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