Gift guide
Things Worth Buying This Christmas
Written for the grown-up doing the buying. A short list rather than a long one, where everything earns its place either by getting used all season or by still being around in ten years.
Free things first: you can write a letter to Santa and cook something together without spending anything at all.
For the letter-writing
A wax seal kit
Good for a child of about 7 upwards, with you on wax duty
Nothing turns a sheet of paper into a proper letter faster than melting wax onto the flap. Buy one with a spoon and a tealight rather than a glue-gun style stick; it is slower, which is the entire point. An adult holds the flame.
Look this up on AmazonA wax seal kit, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A first fountain pen
Suits a child of about 8 upwards
A letter to Santa is worth writing slowly. A cartridge pen with a forgiving nib makes handwriting feel like an occasion instead of homework, and it is the sort of present that still gets used in February.
Look this up on AmazonA first fountain pen, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.Christmas writing paper and envelopes
Anyone in the house who can hold a pencil
Decorated paper does a surprising amount of work: children who claim they have nothing to say will fill a festive sheet without noticing. Look for a set with lines, because unlined paper and small children end in disappointment.
Look this up on AmazonChristmas writing paper and envelopes, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.
For baking together
A Christmas cookie cutter set
Your child can help from about 3, supervised
The one piece of equipment that genuinely changes what you can make with our gingerbread stars. Metal cutters give a much cleaner edge than plastic, and a set with a few sizes means everyone gets a turn without arguing over the big star.
Look this up on AmazonA Christmas cookie cutter set, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A child-sized rolling pin
Small hands from about 3
A full-sized rolling pin is unwieldy in small hands and the dough ends up thicker at one end. A short wooden one solves it and costs very little. Worth having two so there is no queue.
Look this up on AmazonA child-sized rolling pin, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A silicone baking mat
Everyone doing the washing up
Reusable, so it pays for itself over a season of baking, and biscuits lift off it without the sticking and swearing that greaseproof paper can involve. Get one marked with measurements and it doubles as a rolling guide.
Look this up on AmazonA silicone baking mat, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A gingerbread house kit
A family afternoon, children from about 4
Building one from scratch is a two-day project and the walls fall down. A kit skips to the decorating, which is the part children actually want. Treat the picture on the box as aspirational.
Look this up on AmazonA gingerbread house kit, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.
For the film night
A hot air popcorn maker
Family film nights
Kernels cost almost nothing compared with microwave bags, and the machine is loud and dramatic in a way that makes putting a film on feel like an event. No oil, which also means no pan to scrub afterwards.
Look this up on AmazonA hot air popcorn maker, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A large soft throw
All ages
The unglamorous purchase that gets used more than any toy. One big enough for two people beats two small ones, and fleece washes better than knitted when someone inevitably spills the hot chocolate.
Look this up on AmazonA large soft throw, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A Christmas film box set
Whoever owns the remote
Streaming rights move every year and the film you planned the evening around disappears. A disc does not. Worth it for the handful of films your family watches annually without fail.
Look this up on AmazonA Christmas film box set, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.
Stocking fillers
Wooden decorations to paint
Children from about 4, with you supervising the paint
Cheap, quiet, and they end up on the tree for the next fifteen years getting steadily more sentimental. Write the year on the back in pencil before anyone paints over it.
Look this up on AmazonWooden decorations to paint, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A make-your-own snow globe kit
Children from about 6
Half an hour of concentration from a child who normally has none. The results are usually cloudy and slightly wonky, which is exactly why they get kept.
Look this up on AmazonA make-your-own snow globe kit, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.
Keepsakes worth keeping
A Christmas Eve box
Any age, and it grows with them
A wooden one you refill each year rather than a printed cardboard one you throw away. It gives the evening a shape: pyjamas, a story, something small, and then bed. Buy it plain and let them decorate it.
Look this up on AmazonA Christmas Eve box, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A Christmas memory book
Started as early as you like
One page per year for photographs, a note about what they asked Santa for, and how tall they were. Deeply boring to buy and the thing you would grab in a fire fifteen years later. Tuck the printed copy of their letter inside it.
Look this up on AmazonA Christmas memory book, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.A refillable wooden advent calendar
All ages
The chocolate ones are gone by January and you buy another next year. A wooden one with little drawers lets you decide what goes in, which can be a sweet, a note, or a job like choosing tonight's carol.
Look this up on AmazonA refillable wooden advent calendar, opens in a new tab. Affiliate link.
Why there are no prices here
Amazon prices move daily, and a price printed on a page like this one is wrong within a week. Rather than show you a number we cannot keep honest, we send you straight to the listing. Check it there before you buy.
See what to make with the baking kit