Stocking Stuffers for Children

One of the things I put in my children's stockings that has become a treasure is a personal note from me about how much I have seen them grow in the past year- I want to make sure my children know how unique each one is and how much I love them and Christmas is the perfect time to do it. The note doesn't have to be long and you can get really creative- Family Fun magazine has a website with some great home-made card ideas.

I have 3 children- 17, 16 and 5

1 mom found this helpful

You would be surprized how the traditional things are remembered, when they grow up. They count on the traditions you have set. But if you are looking for something new, try a store that is special to whatever their own intrests are. Or go to a dollar/or five below and find unusual things. There are mall stores that deal with the obsurd too. But I always thnk that the stocking is an added bonus, but the kids have always looked forward to starting the morning in our bed with them. We have six kids so it was cozy and I could rest a little bit longer after often being up all night. Only you can know what intrests your child has and it can be a challage, so maybe the traditional with a few surprizes thrown in. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas filled with those things that make you happy.

Well, P., you hit most of my bases.. I don't know how you feel about make up for your girls at thier ages, but when my niece lived with us I put nail polish and lib gloss and even the little eye shadows in her stocking... she was a bit oler than your girls though... I think the nail polish would be good and they have the little ones at Wal Mart for like .88 so you could get them each quite a few colors. I have four sons and one thing I put in my kids was sport cards for their favorite teams. One of my sons is an 'artist' so I try and get him colored pencils and the special eraser for pencil drawings a markers etc. He is not a painter but if you have one brushes or tubes of paint.... oh and the big one is batteries... everyone needs batteries on Christmas day so they are always loved...

good luck and thanks for getting me thinking about it
S.
Upper Dauphin PA

I am going to piggy back this question.

I have 4 step-sons, and I have no problem buying for the 5 and 6 year olds, basically anything makes them happy, but I also have two that turn 14 and 15 in December plus Christmas gifts to get gifts for. I have no idea what to get these guys. If I had an unlimited budget, it would be simple(shoes ipods, cell phones, skateboards, paintball guns etc.), but I'm not spending more than $50 on gifts for the birthdays, or more than $70 per child for Christmas. We always have a special birthday dinner and birthday cake and they have relatives who send cards and give them money, so it isn't really necessary to spend more for their birthdays. Besides, with a daughter, a husband and all the other family members, the cost of Christmas adds up too quickly.

My husband is getting them an Xbox. I'm not too thrilled with the idea of the boys having one more reason to sit in front of the tv instead of interacting or playing outside, but I know they will love it, and it will be good for winter. I've thought of some gifts that will force them to be creative, but in a way that each of them will enjoy, like plain t-shirts and iron on letters for the 14 year old, a wood burning kit for the pyromaniac 15 year old, and they are each making a gift for one of their brothers, like a pollyanna. I bought "hot chocolate" mugs and ceramic paint markers for them to decorate. As both groups of boys are born so closetogether they aren't used to having anythign for very long that is just theirs, it doesn't matter waht it is, it is either broken, damaged, or just used by someone else very quickly after receipt.
So, while my husband is getting them the big expensive fun gift, I would like to get them multiple less expensive and more personalized gifts, but I have to stick within my budget.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi P.,
We have 2 girls 11 and 14, a 16 year old boy and a toddler girl. Last year I put magazines in the the older kids stockings .My step son is into astronomy so I got an astronomy mag. The girls I used teen mags. They loved them. We also get school supplies. Cool pens etc. I tunes gift card and cards for barnes and noble. Hope this helps.

Ok so , I too have pondered this problem for years. I have found that Magazine subscriptions are fabulous gifts! I usually put either one of the subscription cards neatly wrapped or a gift card supplied by the mag co. Also my 15 and 9 yr old and even my 3 yr old loves gift cards, even ones for Burger King, the Pizza shop, the dollar store, Walmart the sports store for my 9 yr old boy and the mall for the 15y/o girl. Good Luck!!!!!

My friend put a whole bunch of origami animals in her son's stocking...but that does require knowing how to make them! You might also try little books (they usually have swivel racks of tiny hobby or inspirational books at book stores or grocery stores) homemade coupon books with "get out of x chore" or "trip to get ice cream" coupons, art supplies like pen sets, crayons, or mad libs, small travel games like barrel of monkeys or pocket checkers ("pass the pigs" is an awesome pocket sized travel game) diarys or journals, coupons for all sorts of cheap things like the Wendy's frosty booklets etc.

How about webkinz? Or shinning star. It is the same line as a toy but something a little more. A book that they wanted.

Maybe an IOU. Like one on one time. A treat to go out for a dinner. Extra t.v time. Something that they would like.

How about gift card to there favorite store, restuarant,or Coupon booklet for wendy's for free frosty. And you can get them free movie tickets or favorite show they want to see. And the can get coupon booklet that you make up. That let them get out of doing chords,get there favorite food for dinner, or going to the toy story.

Some additional things I've included in stockings are small craft kits, puzzle books, novelty sticky notes, pen/pencil sets, bubble bath, 3-D brain teaser puzzles, keychains, trading cards, disposable cameras.

My sil put together coupon books for her kids one year. She included things like "a date with mom", "stay up 30 minutes past bedtime", "pass a chore to someone else", "breakfast for dinner". She inlcuded fine print at the bottom to spell out rules as neccessary. For example the "date with mom" needed to have 72 hours advance notice. "Pass a chore to someone else" couldn't be used to get your sibling to clean your room.

How about GC's to McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Friendlys

P.,

I love stocking stuffers! One of the things my husband and I like to do is go to the Hobby stores. I'm not sure where you live, but there is a real nice one by the Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh. They have a ton of fun things you can use for stocking stuffers, and they aren't expensive. We have gotten things like - harmonica's, jacob's ladders, squishy see through things, etc. The kids love the little things and look forward to their stockings each year. Another thing we have done is gone to Walmart, in the toy section. They have a whole section of 88 cent items that work well for stockings - floam, crazy teeth, slinky's, balls, hand-grabbers - the list goes on and on.

Good Luck!

L.

I think that some gift cards for their favorite store or fast food restaurants is a good idea. I usually do stockings full of personal items, little toys, chocolate, and gift cards. My kids open their stockings last because after all their gifts are opened, they say, "Oh yeah, we still have our stockings" and it's like an extra treat.

I too deal with the same dilemmas each year, but now that the kids are older (just around your childrens ages)I use them for hard to wrap gifts such as CDs, DVDs, scarfs, gloves, watches, etc. I try to avoid the candy since there is too much around the house...haha. And I even use them for a years worth of Mag. subscriptions geared for them...buy the yearly pkg. and just buy the first edition...a gift that keeps coming all year long. Just a thought.
Good luck.

Mother of 4.

How about little craft kits? A.C. Moore and some dollar stores have small ones. www.livingreenathome.com

a special christmas ornament, a gift card to somewhere they like(mcdonalds,toys r us, borders...), a magazine subscription(put one of the mags in to show what it is), art stuff(crayons, markers etc), gosh I could go on an on. good luck.

How about pencils and other art/school supplies? My kids love to draw and write (ages 3 and 8). Small games like card games and other small handheld ones (not Nintendo or such... the cheaper ones that only play one game or two like sudoku, uno, or 20 questions) is another idea. One more idea would be a disposable camera and a gift card for getting the pictures developed. Then your kids could take their own pictures of the holidays.

Good luck and enjoy the holidays.

How about crayons for the little ones and pens or stickers for the older ones. I don't know if you do Chuck E Cheese, but you could even place some Chuck e Cheese tokens in there. My kids are 2 and six and I haven't done stockings yet, but I am getting to the point where I am not going to get away with that any more. Hope you have a great Christmas season.

Hi P., my daughter is 9 years old and this year i am selling Avon and opted to stuff stockings with perfume, minature bubble bath, minature lotion, and chap sticks and little jewelery sets. Maybe you know of someone that sells it in your area. Good luck, Happy Holidays