What kind of Christmas shopper are you? Are you like me and have half your holiday shopping done already because you started in July? Or are you more of a well-into-December-before-I-start kind of person? Either way, I’ve got ya covered with gift ideas for the whole family. I’ve rounded up a list of items comprised completely of things I personally have bought (for myself or others) or things my family and I have received as gifts and have loved. Some of the gifts are from lovely small businesses (I’ll denote those with a ‘SB’ tag) but remember their shipping is not usually as fast as, say Amazon, so buy early with those! For the books in the gift guide, I’ve provided the Amazon link but you can always buy them from a bookstore in your area to support local businesses too.
Currently, our kids are 5, 3 and 19 months, so most of the gifts here are for the 0 – 8 year old age range, but all of these items get a lot of use in our house.
- All of our kids are really into backpacks right now and our daughter received this oh mint backpack a while ago and its holding up great. It comes in many pastel color options and can be personalized with a monogram. The backpack comes in several sizes so you can find one for any toddler, preschooler or big kid on your list.
- Who doesn’t love some warm and fuzzy slippers? These make great house shoes for kids during those chilly evenings and come in lots of colors and styles – even a glittery cat style! My kids have already dug these lands end slippers out of the closet to wear again this year. And they can also be monogrammed 🙂
- I like this personalized Christmas Wishes book because it not only personalizes the name of the child in the book, but you can also personalize the wishes (you pick from a list of options) to best match the personality of the child you are gifting the book, almost like a choose your own adventure.
- This National Parks book is full of fun facts of 21 of our nation’s sacred places. This would make a great gift for any explorers you know.
- Letters made from crayons?! What could be more fun than writing letters with crayons shaped like letters? These name crayons will make anyone’s eyes light up. (SB)
- It took me three children before I learned the magic of a pacifier clip. These Loulou Lollipop pacifier clips come in tons of styles – rainbow, avocado, strawberries, and even some more neutral muted styles. They are made of high quality silicone and ours still looks brand new after almost a year of use.
- One of my favorite baby gifts I’ve received over the years is this name puzzle stool. My husband had a similar one as a toddler – my in-laws still have it and my kids use it when they are visiting the grandparents. There’s just something about another generation using the exact same item that gives me the warm and fuzzies. So when a family friend gifted us one for our third child, I was over the moon thinking how it will last long enough for my grandchildren to use too.
- Okay, two words. Roller. Skates. Want to win Parent/Aunt/Uncle/Grandparent/Friend of the year? Here’s your ticket. These adjustable roller skates grow with the child and adjust to 4 different sizes. Our 5 and 3 year old can both wear these right now (adjusted to different sizes) so they’re serving double duty in our house. We’ve had this pair for two and a half years and they are still holding up great. The quality is great for the price.
- To continue with the personalized theme here, I couldn’t pass up buying matching monogrammed leopard shirts for all the little girls in my family this year. The material is lightweight and slightly stretchy – perfect for kids – and you can choose from tons of thread colors for the monogrammed pocket.
- I feel like everyone has rekindled their love of puzzles in 2020 due to Covid so this list wouldn’t be complete without one. These Primo puzzles come in a set of 3 for varying level of difficulty. They’re great quality (so they’ll last through several kids) and the pieces are big enough for little hands to maneuver – our 3 year old loves these! There are different variations of difficulty and of animal critters, so you can find the right puzzle set for the little on your list.
- I know I already put a pair of slippers on the list, but these are too cute to pass up. These Garnet Hill slippers come in the most whimsical animal designs – fox, moose, owl, shark – you’ll be sure to find a favorite for the child on your list.
- Digger Dozer Dumper is the cutest book of poems for your construction site fanatic. Its fun to read as an adult and when my husband (who sees machines in action everyday at work) first read this book, he was pleasantly surprised how in-depth and accurate the content was for each machine. We love to give this book as a gift any time of year.
- Every child needs a train set to play with, right? This is another one of those gifts that will last a lifetime. My husband has one from when he was a child and our kids play with it now. Kids can recognize letters and even spell different words with these wooden name trains. And bonus, it works with all of our other train pieces, so the kids can mix and match the tracks and train cars leaving endless possibilities.
- Have any kids on you list that love little dolls and imaginary play? Our daughter received a set of these matchbox mice as a birthday gift to represent the three children in our family (big brother, big sister and baby sister) and to say they were a hit would be an understatement. The quality is great, they’ve held up well, and I love that there are so many options of mice to choose from.
Do you have any gift ideas that you can’t stop giving? Or ones that are sure to last through the next generation? I’d love to hear about them. Comment below or connect with me on instagram @elleandjaydesign. And don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the rest of the family, I’ll be back next week with gifts for the grownups on your list!
