The Best Christmas Gifts for Children – 2023 Kids Gift Guide

Christmas Gifts for Children – 2023 Kids Gift Guide | AD

It’s time for the most important Christmas gift guide – the one with gift ideas for children. Christmas is the most magical for little ones and in this 2023 kids gift guide, I will share some ideas that children of different ages will get excited about. Let’s get started!

• Voxblock Screen-Free (and WiFi-free) Children’s Audiobook Player and Audiobooks

Let’s start with my favourite gift for children this year – the amazing Voxblock! It’s a screen-free and WiFi-free audiobook player for children. It’s super easy to use independently for children of all ages and there are lots of brilliant books to choose from for all age groups too. 

The audiobooks look like cute miniature books and just slot into the player. The player has a few simple buttons to select chapters, volume, and to start and pause the book. There’s also a bedtime mode that turns the player off after 20 minutes. 

The Voxblock Starter pack contains a Voxblock player, bumper and an audiobook for £59.99. Individual audiobooks start at just £5.99 and you get every 10th audiobook for free. Buy at voxblock.co.uk or via Amazon.co.uk.

• Kidoki by Kikkerland Flexible Silicone Flying Disc

Here’s a fun toy that encourages children to be active. It’s a versatile and flexible flying silicone disc from Kikkerland that children will love throwing and catching in the garden, at the park, on walks, or on the beach. There are three cute designs available (Pizza, Watermelon, and Doughnut – picked at random). With your disc, you also get an instruction sheet for games to try. It’s a great little gift that provides lots of fun! Would make an excellent stocking filler too.

• Bath Sets & Bath Bombs from Well Pharmacy

Most children love to have fun baths and bath products featuring their favourite characters make baths even more fun! Here you can see some great bath sets and bath bombs for kids from Well Pharmacy.

The Sonic Shower Wash & Fizzer Set includes a 150ml shower wash and a gold bath fizzer shaped like the Gold Rings from Sonic The Hedgehog. Perfect for Sonic fans of all ages!

For Super Mario fans, the Super Mario Yoshi’s Egg Bath Bomb is the ideal choice. It’s a green and white bath fizzer that creates a bath of sweet scented and colourful water.

A fun set for Minions fans is this Despicable Me Minions Bath Squirter Set. It includes a banana muffin scented shower gel and a banana squirter which is sure to keep little ones entertained in the bath!

• Warmies Warm Hugs Penguins

Next up, also from Well Pharmacy, is this adorable and cosy set of Warmies. Warmies are fully heatable soft toys that you warm up in the microwave to provide hours of soothing warmth and comfort. They are made from super soft plush material and are gently scented with lavender. They can be reused over and over again. You can also chill them in the freezer for cooling relief.

This set of cuddly Warmies Warm Hugs Penguins is so cute – the penguins are hugging each other and can be used together or separately. 

• Cat-astrophe Stacking Game

Next, a great stocking filler – the fun stacking game called Cat-astrophe (there’s a dog version available too!). Simply stack the 15 little cats as high as you can.

Will you be able to balance them all or will it end with a cat-astrophe? Play with friends and take turns to add a cat or challenge yourself.

Cat-astrophe is available from Oliver Bonas and giftrepublic.com.

• HeyDoodle Reusable Silicone Activity Mats

HeyDoodle is a revolutionary brand that creates sustainable and educational products that are designed to spark creativity and engagement among children aged 2-7 years. Their product range includes a fun collection of wipe-clean reusable silicone mats for doodling and learning. These offer a limitless platform for doodling, colouring, and learning as they can be used over and over again. They’re fun, eco-friendly, educational and they encourage creativity. Plus, they are great for use at home, when out and about, and when travelling.

The mats are available in different sizes (A4, A3, and a Tale book designs that can be folded up or stretched into a 60cm long mat) and in lots of different designs.

The designs are printed on premium grade silicone and the themes include:

Each set includes HeyDoodle Markers to use with your HeyDoodle mat. What a great idea and what a wonderful Christmas present for little ones!

All products come beautifully packaged in eco-friendly packaging too. Order yours via heydoodle.uk with free UK shipping!

• Story Orchestra Musical Puzzles Swan Lake

Now onto a truly special jigsaw puzzle. This beautiful jigsaw puzzle is part of the Story Orchestra series that brings classical music to life for children through gorgeously illustrated retellings of classic ballet, opera and program music stories paired with sound clips of orchestras playing from their musical scores.

This one features the magical adventure of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet. Children aged 5-7 years will love building this stunning 48-piece jigsaw, putting together the enchanting illustration.

Then, they can enjoy pressing the 4 musical notes to hear the vivid sounds of the magical adventure of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet. What a wonderful idea! On the back of the poster, children can read and learn more about the story, the composer, and how the music connects to the story.

Also available from the Story Orchestra series are: The Nutcracker, The Nutcracker: Musical Puzzle, The Magic Flute, I Can Play (vol 1), Carnival of the Animals, The Sleeping Beauty, The Hall of the Mountain King, and Four Seasons in One Day. Stockists: Available from Waterstones, Amazon.co.uk, and all good bookstores.

• Squishmallows Take 4 Family Card Game

Squishmallows is the best-selling, super popular brand of soft toys and is now available as a brand new game too. Squishmallows Take 4 is a quick-thinking and fast-paced family game that is perfect for Squishmallows fans (aged 8+).

In the game, you race to collect four of a Squad before your opponents. Choose which of the four cards you want from the ones in play, but watch out! If you reach for the same as someone else, you have to race to grab the exclusive Benny The Bigfoot Squishmallow from the centre of the table!

Squishmallows Take 4 is available from WH Smiths and Game.

• Orchard Toys Elf Lotto Mini Game

Orchard Toys are the experts when it comes to fun and educational games for young children. Orchard Toys Elf Lotto Mini Game is the perfect little game for the festive season! It’s a festive-themed matching game that features 24 elf character tiles and 4 different Christmas houses to choose from.

It’s simple to play and lots of fun. Children aged 3+ will enjoy filling their lotto boards with the cute elves while developing matching and memory skills. It’s a great travel sized game that would make an excellent stocking filler! This mini game is available directly from Orchard Toys and via Amazon.co.uk.

• The Happy Puzzle Company Jigraphy United Kingdom & Ireland

For geography-loving puzzlers age 4+, this 100-piece educational jigsaw from The Happy Puzzle Company would be a perfect present! It’s a puzzle that builds into a beautiful, illustrated map of the United Kingdom and Ireland by counties. The pieces have strange shapes, making it more difficult and more fun too!

You can follow the poster or simply use your geography knowledge to build the puzzle. It’s a great way to learn more about the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Jigraphy United Kingdom & Ireland is available to purchase directly from The Happy Puzzle Company and via Amazon.co.uk.

• Kikkerland Newton’s Lab Wind Energy Kit

For teens interested in science, Kikkerland Newton’s Lab Wind Energy Kit makes a great gift! With this set, you learn about wind energy by making your own windmill, blow on to the blades and see how it lights up the house. The set is recommended from age 14 years+.

The set includes: Die-cut Cardboard pieces, fan head, velum paper, sticker sheets, electric motor & LED light. Kikkerland Newton’s Lab Wind Energy Kit is available to buy directly from Kikkerland.

• Fungi Frankie

Fungi Frankie is the ideal toy for a bit of festive fun! With this funky Fungi, you can turn any room into a dance floor this Christmas! Fungi Frankie is an interactive plush toy that comes to life with mesmerising movements and sounds. Watch the dancing mushroom show off its best freestyle dance moves as it shakes its body to the rhythm of your favourite music (or one of the three loaded party songs)!

It’s got posable arms, a harmonious blend of melodious tunes and engaging phrases, and it can repeat what you say if you want it to. Fungi Frankie comes ready to party with batteries included and is available from WH Smith.

• ASDA Photo Personalised Gifts

There’s a huge range of great personalised gifts that you can create with ASDA Photo. Above are my two top picks for children – a Personalised Money Box and a Personalised Keyring. Moneyboxes provide a great tool to teach children about money and savings and your very own piggy bank that’s been personalised with photos, pictures, or characters for you is sure to be a popular gift! You can add a name or message to – I chose “My Savings” for this cute Owl Twit Twoo design.

Kids love keyrings for their schoolbags (and keys when they’re old enough) and these glitter ones from ASDA Photo are lovely! Choose between blue or pink and circle or heart shaped. Then add your own photo or design to one side.

• Cheatwell Games Charades for Kids

Charades is a great classic game that is fun and easy to play. If you don’t know it, the players have to mime and communicate words and phrases to their team-mates with actions instead of words. This Kids Charades game from Cheatwell is a great version for children aged 6 years+ as the words and phrases are things that kids will know and be able to act out.

The game includes three decks of card games, a sand timer, dice, scoring tokens and a rule book that includes handy hints about how to make the game as inclusive as possible if you have younger players (under 6) who want to join in too.

• Plus-Plus Sets

Plus-Plus! Plus-Plus is an award-winning creative constructive toy from Denmark that provides many hours of play while stimulating fine motor skills, creativity, focus and patience. Kids can use the same Plus-Plus shape to build pretty much anything which is amazing! 

There are lots of different sets available in different colourways and for specific builds but kids can of course free-style, mix and match sets, and create their own designs too – the possibilities are endless. There are also larger Puzzle by Numbers sets available, such as the Rocket design and further down is the Rainbow design.

Plus-Plus Tubes are available at Smyths, toysrus.co.uk, amazon.co.uk and Toymaster stores. Plus-Plus Puzzle by Numbers are available at Amazon.co.uk and Toymaster stores.

• Find the Fairies – A Memory Game

Memory games are great fun for children and adults and this Find the Fairies one is an exceptionally beautiful memory game. It’s based on the popular book from the Folklore Field Guides series A Natural History of Fairies. The cards feature naturalist illustrations of fairy species from different regions of the world. Each pair consists of two friends of the same fairy species. Can you reunite the fairies? Since the two parts of each pair are not identical, it’s a bit more challenging than other memory games which is great!

The game also includes an illustrated booklet with the game rules, fairy facts and fun tips for how to find them yourself.

Find The Fairies: A Memory Game is available from Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookstores.

• Educational Books from Prestel

I love giving and receiving books for birthdays and Christmas – you can never have too many books and you’ll always learn something new from each book you read! Here you can see some wonderful books from Prestel that all focus on different interesting topics.

Books and the People Who Make Them by Stéphanie Vernet, illustrated by Camille de Cussac, is a book all about the world of books! Learn how books are created and how they reach the reader – with details of all the steps between. Explore the world of authors, editors, illustrators, graphic designers, sales representatives, printers, book sellers, critics, librarians, and readers and learn lots of interesting facts about the journey of a book, from an author’s idea to the reader’s hand. Perfect for young book lovers! For stockists visit prestel.com.

The Wonderful World of Water by Sarah Garré, Marijke Huysmans, illustrated by Wendy Panders, is an engaging book about our planet’s most important resource – water! Dip into the lively double-page spreads that explore different water topics and learn lots of cool facts and trivia. An excellent guide to all things water. For stockists visit prestel.com.

By the Sea by Martin Haake, Judith Homoki, illustrated by Martin Haake, explores all things by the sea. Come along on a coast-to-coast journey through time and across continents to learn about the historical and cultural importance to the world’s seashores. With detailed spreads and lots of interesting things to spot. Find out about coastal habitats, the ebb and flow of tides, the whaling industry, climate change, and more. For stockists visit prestel.com.

Wheels by Tom Schamp. In this book, illustrator Tom Schamp, is a guide to all the ways wheels have rolled through history. The book is full of quirky and colourful illustrations, lots of information and humour too. It’s an educational and charming book that children will love to explore again and again. For stockists visit prestel.com.

An Atlas of Legendary Places by Volker Mehnert, illustrated by Claudia Lieb, is a book that lets you explore the magic of myth, culture, natural beauty, and history, and visit eighteen of the most fascinating places in the world. We get to discover the unique histories, physical characteristics, and cultural lore of these incredible places. An excellent way to encourage an interest in the world around us, travel, geography, wonder, and history. For stockists visit prestel.com.

• Where’s Supertato? A Search-and-Find Book

Keep young Supertato fans entertained over the holidays with the new Where’s Supertato? A Search-and-Find Book. In this new book, little ones can enjoy searching for Supertato, the veggies, and Evil Pea. They are on a mission to tidy up the toys in the supermarket but also put on a party and play hide-and-seek on a supermarket snow day! Also keep your eyes peeled for Banana who’s hidden on each spread.

There are lots of Supertato books available but this is the first TV tie-in title based on the popular BBC CBeebies TV series.

Collaboration. Features samples provided for this guide. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.