Here’s a round-up of subscription boxes that make great Christmas presents for all members of the family.

Mandira’s Kitchen – Indian food subscription boxes

Mandira’s Kitchen provides high-end, award winning (Surrey Life Food & Drink and Great Taste) Indian freezer meals.

The family recipes contain no additives or preservatives and provide plenty of vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options. Mandira’s Kitchen offers more familiar dishes such as masala (chana), biryani and samosas but also lesser-known ones including dhania murgh, chicken xacuti and meen moilee.   

I was worried that freezer meals would lose quality. However, that wasn’t the case and everything tasted freshly made. The vegetable samosas were perfectly crisp and flaky, and full of flavour as was the palak dal. The chicken biryiani was, without doubt, the best I’ve ever tasted. I’m a massive fan of paneer and this palak (spinach) version was delicious. The cheese was beautifully tender and the spinach, ginger and garlic liquor had fantastic depth making the dish incredibly moreish. The kaja dhania murgh (chicken in a cashew, coriander and coconut sauce) is something I’ve never had before. It was outstanding.

I also sampled the delectable gelatos. Fig & Almond was my favourite and the Mango & Cardamon was my husband’s. I couldn’t leave the spiced Indian crackers alone and polished off the lot on their own!

Subscriptions are very flexible. The recipient can choose the same or different meals every month, pause the subscription or even exchange for a weekend thali or cookery lesson at any time.

A self-selected six dish (each dish being two portions) box is £55 per month. This comes with a free box of vegetable samosas and a mini chutney. The eight-dish option is £65 a month and also comes with a free box of vegetable samosas and a mini chutney. Finally, the 10-dish box is £75 and includes a free box of vegetable samosas, naan bread and mini chutney.

Website: https://www.mandiraskitchen.com/

Subscriptions: https://www.mandiraskitchen.com/pages/monthly-subscriptions

Popupblooms – flower subscription boxes

Flowers in the house immediately lift my spirits so these are wonderful. I received two different subscription products from Popupblooms: a ready-made, hand-tied bouquet and a box (bucket also available) of flowers to arrange myself. They both consisted of beautiful, high quality autumnal blooms and foliage and arrived in pristine condition via courier.

The hand-tied bouquet was pretty much ready to pop straight into a vase and looked lovely. It comes with a letter detailing how to care for and get the most out of the bouquet.

It’s not something I’ve done before, but I really enjoyed arranging the box of flowers using the well-explained hints and tips provided (see my efforts below). Also included was a ‘menu of stems’ listing exactly what was in the box. This was a lovely touch.      

Popupblooms offers a number of options. There’s a ‘taster’ (one off), three-month and six-month plan for both the bucket/box of flowers and the hand-tied bouquet. These can be paused at any time. 

Prices start from £50.00 per month. 

Website: https://www.popupblooms.com/

Craftiosity – adult crafting subscription boxes

Craftiosity are award-winning subscription boxes of modern, limited edition craft kits. The crafts range anywhere from macrame and ceramics to cyanotype and bookbinding. The one I received was to make a parquet clock.

The boxes contain all the tools, materials and instructions you need so you can dive straight in. There’s also access to online tutorials, but the step-by-step photo instructions were so clear I didn’t need them.

Crafting (when not with the kids) is not my normal thing. Most evenings – when the children are in bed – I’m more likely to be glued to one screen or another so this made a very pleasant change. I really enjoyed it and found it extremely relaxing especially coupled with a glass of wine!

I know it’s not perfect but I was actually pretty impressed with my final product. My eldest liked it so much she’s now got it in her room.

Subscriptions are £24.95 per month (with free UK postage) and you can gift a one, three, six or 12 month subscription.  

Use Craftiosity discount code PARENTSOCIAL10 for 10% off the first craft kit.

Website: www.craftiosity.co.uk

Subscriptions: https://craftiosity.co.uk/gift/

The London Sock Company – men’s sock subscription boxes 

Socks might be a Christmas cliché, but my husband (and brother) is a huge fan and particularly loves putting on brand new ones. I took out a six-month subscription as a Christmas present.

You buy the Sock Club Subscription gift card, which comes in a nicely presented box complete with details of the subscription. The recipient activates their own subscription where they can select their size and choose whether to receive specific styles or be surprised each month.

You can choose to gift one or two pairs of socks per month with the minimum term for subscription being three months. One pair a month for three months comes in at £42 and two pairs for the same period is £75.

The company is also making great strides in becoming a more responsible and sustainable brand. The socks truly are a quality product and very attractively packaged. My husband loved his monthly delivery. 

You can currently get a 10% off discount code for your first The London Sock Company purchase.

Website: https://www.londonsockcompany.com/

Subscriptions: https://londonsockcompany.com/collections/gift-cards

Mysteries in Time – children’s history subscription boxes

Aimed at children aged 6-11, each Mysteries in Time box contains the ingredients to take children on an immersive journey through different periods in history. These include: Ancient Egypt (the first box), Elizabethan Era, Evacuees in WW2, Ancient Greece, Wild West, Aztecs, Ancient Rome, Victorians, Vikings, Ancient China, Space history and Stuarts.

The base box, which can be personalised, is £11.95 per month (if purchased for 12 months) plus postage and includes:

• Mystery/adventure story
• Glossy history magazine full of interesting facts, puzzles, recipes and activities (including colouring sheets)  
• Bookmark  
• Themed sticker sheet
• Lovely, large world map with timeline (this comes in the first box)

This can be upgraded for £6.95 plus postage, so in addition to all of the above the box also includes a hands on activity inspired by history and a history-related gift. You can cancel subscriptions at any time.

My children really enjoyed all of the different components and I thought it was very good quality. Read our full review here.

Use discount code PS10 to get 10% off any three, six or 12-month plan.  

Website: www.mysteriesintime.com 

Noble House Prepared – gourmet frozen meal delivery service

Noble House Prepared is a brand-new venture from a team that’s been working in the fine food industry for over a decade. They offer a national delivery service, which provides award-winning, restaurant-style prepared meals all created by a chef with Gordon Ramsay pedigree. 

I was sent a sample of spinach and ricotta cannelloni (with an arrabiata sauce) and beef bourguignon mains; two sides and desserts of chocolate fondant and passionfruit cheesecake. All the dishes are for two people and include tasting notes from the chef.  

The beef bourguignon and accompaniments were first class and absolutely not what I was expecting from a frozen meal (in a good way!). The beef was beautifully succulent and packed with flavour and the mash was perfect. I wasn’t sure roasted carrots would translate well as a frozen dish, so was particularly surprised at how they’d retained such a great texture.

I’m half Italian and shun preprepared pasta dishes as they’re normally way too sloppy with far too much sauce, and overwhelmingly bland. This dish was so flavoursome and had the perfect level of sauce. The arrabiata gave a lovely little kick and balanced the creaminess of the dish perfectly.

Then it was the desserts… The passionfruit cheesecake was beautifully balanced with rich, buttery crumb, delicious cream and a tart jelly top layer. The fondants were a chocolate lover’s dream. We let the kids loose on these and they gave a huge thumbs up too.    

Use Noble House Prepared discount code: WELCOME10 to get 10% off your first order.

Website: https://noblehouseprepared.com/

Gift voucher: https://noblehouseprepared.com/collections/gifts/products/online-gift-voucher 

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In our house, we do stockings first thing in the morning and big presents later in the day. With great timing, Wicked Vision has sent me three products – in the stocking fillers price range – to review.

The stocking fillers

First up is The Duncan Yo-Yo priced at £10 (Duncan claim to be the original and number one yo-yo brand). It’s a light-up yo-yo so looks cool and instantly got Sofia’s interest despite being recommended for six years plus. The great thing is, it comes with batteries already installed and also replacement batteries.

It’s incredibly difficult to photograph a yo-yo in action…

It’s well made and the blurb reliably informs that it is a perfectly balanced, ball-bearing yo-yo. It certainly seems a lot smoother and slicker, and not the tangled mess I remember yo-yos being from my playground days.

so here’s a pack shot.

Sofia couldn’t do the tricks. However, the slick movement coupled with the light and colour made it a big hit. My two-year-old twins were mesmerised by changing colours and loved watching their big sister play with it. They were very entertained minus the tricks. This would definitely be a winner for those with a bit more skill.

The Chameleon Flying Disc (£6) is a Frisbee with a thermo active technology twist: it changes colour with just the heat of your hands!

Chameleon Disc in green

The kids liked it. Whilst it doesn’t change colour quite as dramatically as the website picture shows, it did noticeably alter when they touched it, which they enjoyed.

I like the fact that it’s made of soft foam so can be used indoors – as well as outdoors – safely.  It comes in four different colours. It says suitable from three years but, at two, the twins were more than capable of chucking it. The textured surface made it much easier for them all to grip, and even catch sometimes!

* The Chameleon Disc is no longer available on the site, here are some alternatives from Wicked.

Socker Boppers 

Wicked Socker Boppers are inflatable boxing pillows (£10). I initially had mixed feelings about these, as I wasn’t sure I should be encouraging my eldest daughter to box. However, they are fantastic fun and all three girls absolutely love them; I love them! In my opinion they are safe, but certainly require proper supervision.

They are very padded, featuring a ‘double cavity air chamber’, which provides extra cushioning. All four of us could comfortably get our hands into the gloves and even the two-year-olds could bop without them falling off.

They are made from heavy-duty vinyl and have taken quite a pounding without any hint of a puncture, but they do come with one repair patch just in case. They have also stayed fully inflated for the week we’ve had them, and Sofia was able to blow them up herself without any help.

There are only two soccer boppers in a pack; it would be a lot more fun to have two sets so you can have a proper little spar.

All perfect stocking fillers.

Read: Good games for four to eight year olds

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