Christmas Gifts for the Family

The 1% Percent Club

We love this show as a family. My eldest and I are a little bit competitive when watching and this translates brilliantly at home. It’s all about logic and reasoning skills and has nothing to do with general knowledge. The gameplay is simple, but it’s highly entertaining. Some of the questions are so infuriating, and this often leads to heated ‘discussion’ but that’s all part of the fun. If you’re a fan of the TV show, this is definitely for you.

Buy the 1% Club for £25 at The Entertainer. Suitable for 3-6 players ages 8+.

Traitors card game

This a new addition to our game repertoire, but it has cemented itself as a firm favourite. The Traitors Card Game brings the suspense and duplicity of the hit BBC show to your living room, making it a perfect choice for festive fun (and indeed fun at any time of the year). Designed for 4-8 players aged eight and up, this immersive game challenges participants to uncover the Traitor/s while collectively building a prize pot of gold. Its simple rules, engaging twists, and option for digital gameplay (highly recommended) create a unique mix of collaboration, bluffing, and deception that appeals to both kids and adults.

Read the full review here. You can buy it on Amazon for £11.99.

Mystery Guides

Mystery Guides turn UK cities into giant outdoor escape rooms where you discover lots of history and hidden gems whilst solving a mystery (and stopping off at a couple of pubs). You can read my review of the City of London Mystery Guide, which I bought as a family present last Christmas. We loved it. Coincidentally, my mother-in-law bought me a Mystery Guides voucher for my birthday. We opted for the Cambridge one and enjoyed a wonderful day out exploring a city we’d never visited before.

Buy one of the the 37 city Mystery Guides (£19.99) here.

Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride is an engaging strategy game, which is perfect for older children and adults. The goal is to build railway routes across North America, Europe or London (depending, which version you have) by collecting various train cards and claiming sections of track to connect cities. The more routes you complete, the more points you score, with longer routes offering higher rewards. Bonus points are awarded at the end of the game for the longest continuous track, often shifting the final outcome. Be prepared for some sabotage—whether intentional or accidental!

Ticket to Ride – Days of Wonder (North America version) is priced at £33.57 on Amazon.

Christmas Gifts for the Creative Child

The Photo Creator Instant Pocket Printer

The Photo Creator Instant Pocket Printer is a great gift for creative teens or tweens. This compact Bluetooth device prints black-and-white photos directly from smartphones without needing ink, thanks to thermal technology. Pair it with the Tiny Print app to add personal touches or generate unique designs and special effects. It’s ideal for scrapbooking, journalling, or decorating, and comes with extras like stickers and pens for added creativity. Read more about this pocket printer.

The Photo Creator Instant Pocket Printer is available at various retailers including Amazon & Smyths (prices vary).

Instax Smartphone Printer

The Instax Mini Link 2 is a sleek and nifty gadget, which combines tech and nostalgia perfectly. It links to your smartphone so that you can print your digital pictures in seconds. All too often, precious memories stay trapped on phones hardly ever seeing the light of day. I love how the Instax printer brings back the now old school process of printing so that your photos can be permanently displayed and enjoyed.

I particularly like the retro-style borders of the Instax mini instant film, which you use for the printer. My daughter loves it. As well as using it for her treasured memories, she also uses it for her GCSE art coursework and to create gifts for friends.

The Instax Mini Link 2 is currently on offer at Boots (£99 from £119).

Christmas Gift for the Tween and Teenager

LED Armoire Storage Mirror

We bought this white LED Armoire Storage Mirror, which has great theatre dressing room-style lights, for my daughter (now 16) quite a few years ago. The mirror opens to reveal ample storage for all those bits and bobs. It also has a handy holder for hairdryers. It’s still a favourite fixture and continues to house her constantly expanding jewellery and toiletry collection. It’s currently on sale at £66.99 on Amazon.

The Big Christmas Gift

Playstation 5

We bought the Playstation 5 last Christmas and it has been used almost every single day of the year since they received it. The PS5 loads a lot quicker compared to its predecessor, has improved graphics and provides an all round enhanced gaming experience, which is more immersive due to the superior audio and DualSense controllers. It also supports all the PS4 games. My husband plays a lot of two-player games with each of the girls and they play against each other. Favourite games include: Rocket League, Uncharted and Fortnite.

It’s pricey at £399 (Amazon), but for the usage it gets and entertainment it provides the whole family, I’d certainly recommend.

Subscription Boxes

Subscription boxes are a versatile gifting solution and there truly is something for everyone. Here are a few ideas that have been popular…

Mysteries in Time

You can give the joy of history and mystery this Christmas with a Mysteries in Time subscription. Aimed at children aged 6-11, each box contains everything needed to take children on an immersive journey through historical periods such as Ancient Egypt (the first box), the Elizabethan Era, WW2, Ancient Greece, Wild West, Aztecs, Ancient Rome, Victorians, Vikings, Ancient China and Stuarts.

Read the full review here.

Mandira’s Kitchen – for the foodie

These are Indian ready meals, but not just any Indian ready meals. Mandira’s Kitchen frozen meals are authentic, made with the finest ingredients and are the sort of dishes you’d expect to be served in a high-end restaurant. You’ll find familiar dishes such as masala (chana), biryani and samosas but also lesser-known ones including kaju dhania murgh, chicken xacuti, meen moilee (fish) and the intriguingly named railway mutton curry.

Mandira’s Kitchen offers a range of monthly subscription boxes of varying sizes and you can pause at any time. More details here.

The London Sock Company

Ok, I know they’re a Christmas gifts cliché. However, my husband, dad and brother all love to put on brand new socks.

With the London Sock Company Subscription, you buy the gift card and then the recipient activates their own subscription where they can select their size and opt for specific styles or choose to be surprised each month. There are different levels of subscription (starting from £42) and time period options.

These are a real quality product and very attractively packaged. My husband loved receiving them.

The Sporty Gift

NET1 Portable Netball System

All three of my girls love netball, playing for school and in a league. I bought the NET1 Portable Netball System  (£109.99) from Little Big Sports for our garden quite some years ago as they were developing their interest. It has remained consistently popular and with five different height settings has grown with them. It is on wheels so completely portable. You then fill the base with water or sand and it becomes fully stable. It is extremely durable and has survived many winters without being covered. I can thoroughly recommend it.

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I’d love to hear what your tried and tested gifts of Christmas past are. Let me know in the comments below.

The post Top Christmas Gift Ideas for 2024: Tried, Tested, and Loved appeared first on The Parent Social.

However, Christmas 2019 we nailed it. So many presents are being used very regularly or even daily. I separated the wheat from the chaff on their Christmas lists and came up with some ideas they hadn’t even thought of but love.

Here are some of the most successful Christmas presents from last year…

Successful Christmas presents for my 11-year-old daughter

The make-up case

Sofia is only allowed to wear discreet make-up on special occasions. Nonetheless she has mountains of the stuff. It was no surprise then that she asked for a make-up storage box.

I found this lovely rose gold one from Beautify (£29.99). It’s almost like a toolbox – albeit a very pretty one – and has three tiers, umpteen compartments and loads of room. It folds away nicely and is a feature in her room.

The Armoire Storage Mirror

On the same site I came across an LED Armoire Storage Mirror (£67.99). It’s a beautiful looking white cheval mirror with theatre dressing room-style lights running all around it. The mirror opens to reveal storage for a ton of lotions, potions and jewellery. It also has a handy holder for her hairdryer! She absolutely loves it.

Successful Christmas presents for my 8-year-old twin daughters

Handmade fairy house

When browsing at The Holly and Laurel Emporium in Dorking, Maria found a fairy house. She fell in love with it immediately. It’s handmade from apple wood, uses logs reclaimed from a condemned orchard and is furnished with handmade accessories. It also has small fairly lights wrapped around it.

I wasn’t sure at first about buying it, but it remained a constant on her Christmas list so we got it. I’m glad we did as it’s her favourite present and her sisters love it too. It’s also a great antidote to electronic devices. I think it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Our Generation doll

Another more traditional present, which stood the test of time on the Christmas list, was an Our Generation Anya doll (£35.22). Our Generation is a range of healthy looking, nicely proportioned dolls that are quite tall at about 46cm. Anya has pierced ears and comes with a complete outfit – interchangeable with other dolls – two necklaces, three pairs of earrings and a jewellery stand. I bought a hairbrush and spray bottle set to go with Anya, which keeps her hair in good condition. It’s great to see Gabby playing with her beloved Nintendo and doll in equal measure.

Smart watches

The girls love gadgets, games and taking photos. They are also obsessed with the step count on my FitBit. Therefore a smart watch each seemed like a great idea. I did some research and went with the Vtech Kidizoom Smart Watch (£39.98). Since getting them they’ve got more interested in telling the time and knowing what the date is. The pedometer is a massive hit and they’ve both taken A LOT of photos. I can tell these are going to stand the test of time.

The joint presents

NET1 Portable Netball System

My three have all started netball club this year at their junior school having never played it previously. They’ve developed a real passion for it so I thought a netball post for our garden would be perfect. It is! They’ve been out rain or shine practising with each other or alone. They even keep saying what a great present it is! The NET1 Portable Netball System (£89.99) has great reviews and I can thoroughly recommend. It is completely portable – on wheels – until you fill the base with water or sand.

CRAYOLA Light Up Tracing Pad

This is a lovely simple present that has brought so much enjoyment and is used very frequently. It’s robust as you’d expect from Crayola and comes with one tracing pencil, 12 coloured pencils, six sheets with traceable items (everything from fairies to treasure chests) and 10 blank sheets. I think it’s great value at £24.47.

And let’s not forget dad

My husband loves cooking and baking, and we’re also on a bit of an economy drive. Enter the Panasonic SD2511 Breadmaker (£169.99). He makes several loaves (different styles) a week. He’ll still make bread from scratch, but this can’t be beaten for convenience. It takes just a couple of minutes to load in the ingredients and then away you go. It works out to about 40p a loaf. All of the different breads we’ve had so far are delicious.

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