Christmas looks different for every family, and people give gifts in various ways. This year, I want to share our kids’ presents, their reactions, and some things I learned. The gifts brought a lot of happiness, but I’ll admit I spent too much and got a few things that didn’t go over as well as I expected.
As I think about next year, I aim to focus on presents that will deliver the most fun and worth. I hope my lessons can spark some ideas for your gift choices or help you sidestep some blunders I encountered! Each item below has a “Kid Rating” showing how much they adored (or didn’t adore) it, plus my take as a parent.
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For Our 8-Year-Old
1. Poppy Playtime Figures
- Link: Poppy Playtime Figures
- Kid’s Reaction: He ADORES them! These tiny figures go with him everywhere.
- My Thoughts: These are popular with him, but the quality isn’t great—they’re just small plastic figures that seem overpriced for what you get.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
2. Spiderman Suit
- Link: Spiderman Suit
- Kid’s Reaction: He loves this! He hasn’t taken it off since he opened it.
- My Thoughts: The material is good, it fits well, and it made him feel like a superhero—it’s worth the money. Also, the muscles are awesome!
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Spiderman Watch
- Link: Spiderman Watch
- Kid’s Reaction: This didn’t excite him much, he put it on once and since then it’s been sat on his bedside table.
- My Thoughts: I expected this watch to be a hit, but it failed to catch his eye when under the shadow of the Spiderman suit, next time I will whittle it down to one Spiderman gift.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
4. Minecraft Annual 2025
- Link: Minecraft Annual 2025
- Kid’s Reaction: He felt thrilled at first because he does enjoy Minecraft, but since he doesn’t read much, it couldn’t keep his interest for longer than a single flick through.
- My Thoughts: This book would a good present for kids who like Minecraft and reading. It’s not the best choice for our child who would rather watch paint dry than interpret those strange markings on paper.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
5. Paint Your Own Neon Dinosaur Set
- Link: Paint Your Own Neon Rocks Set
- Kid’s Reaction: He can’t wait to start this project, but we haven’t begun yet!
- Side Note: We’re keeping this fun activity for a calm afternoon, when I have time to clean paint splatters off the wall.
- Kid Rating: TBD
6. Avengers Figures
- Link: Avengers Figures
- Kid’s Reaction: Had a burst of excitement for two minutes then they joined his collection and the novelty wore off.
- My Thoughts: He owns similar figures already so this didn’t add much value to his collection. It’s worth checking how many they’ve already got before buying. My fault for impulse purchasing!
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
7. Wolverine Figure
- Link: Wolverine Figure
- Kid’s Reaction: He enjoys it but claims it’s not “Wolverine.”
- My Thoughts: It fits his collection well, but it didn’t create the excitement I expected because I wasn’t expecting him to refuse the little guys identity! He just calls him a ‘superhero’.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
8. Lego Race Car Set
- Link: Lego Race Car Building Set
- Kid’s Reaction: Toyed with it for a short time, but lost interest in constructing them, he just wanted to race cars immediately – not build anything!
- My Thoughts: It’s my opinion that with Lego, the construction part has the most appeal. If they don’t enjoy that, it might not keep their attention.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
For Our Almost-2-Year-Old
1. Remote-Controlled Police Car
- Link: Remote-Controlled Car
- Kid’s Reaction: He enjoys saying “wow” as he watches his older brother use it!
- My Thoughts: He’s still grasping the idea of what a controller does, but the older child enjoys it.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
2. Sensory Star Plushie
- Link: NYOBABE Sensory Toys
- Kid’s Reaction: So cute! He snuggles with this during quiet moments.
- My Thoughts: He doesn’t want to use it as a nightlight like we thought he would, but it’s still a top pick.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Hedgehog Bricks
- Link: Hedgehog Bricks
- Kid’s Reaction: Kid played with it for a short time but didn’t show much interest, his dexterity isn’t really good enough for this.
- My Thoughts: I think it might grab his attention when he grows a little and gets better with his hands, hopefully .
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
4. Musical Dino Toy (Favourite Gift)
- Link: Disco Dinosaur Toy
- Kid’s Reaction: This toy tops his list coming in second to the helium balloon from Granny!
- My Thoughts: I actually love this toy, but the batteries run out fast. I’m talking less than 2 hours of opening the gift, without it being on constantly cause this thing is LOUD (but awesome). I will definitely have to grab some rechargeable batteries for this bad boy.
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Cleaning Set
- Link: Cleaning Set
- Kid’s Reaction: He enjoys it but isn’t sure about its purpose.
- My Thoughts: I hate this one, the small parts prove tricky to keep track of. He has fun throwing them about though, it needs supervision as ‘choke hazard’ parts do come off the components like the mop!
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
6. Henry Mop & Bucket Cleaning Toy
- Link: Henry Cleaning Trolley
- Kid’s Reaction: He ADORES this and uses it to “clean” just like Mummy!
- My Thoughts: He sees the style matches his toy Henry hoover making it even more enjoyable for him. This is a decent size and he can actually see that it’s meant to be a broom/mop etc. I have a little helper now!
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gifts to Share
1. Christmas Wreath Decoration Kit
- Link: Christmas Wreath Kit
- Kids’ Reaction: Both kids had a blast decorating these!
- My Thoughts: This easy festive craft worked well for both my kids, the little one loved sticking the little foam pieces all over the Christmas Tree!
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Christmas Bauble Decorating Kit
- Link: Bauble Decorating Kit
- Kids’ Reaction: My 8-year-old had a hard time with the small parts, which made him feel frustrated and upset.
- My Thoughts: This kit works better for kids who are older or feel more sure about doing detailed craft projects. Even so, it’s a nice concept, I enjoyed doing these!
- Kid Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Picking the perfect presents always involves understanding what your children like and a bit of good fortune. Some of our selections were spot-on, while others gave us thoughts to remember for next time. In the coming year, I intend to simplify my gift-giving approach to prioritise quality instead of quantity aiming to make the best use of my money and select presents that make kids happy.
Have you given any of these gifts a try? What did your kids love this year? Share your thoughts in the comments or suggest your top gift ideas to inspire others (particularly me)!
