I’ve done a post before with ideas for Christmas gifts based on things that have gone down really well with my family. For Christmas 2024, here’s a round up featuring a mix of recent favourites and past presents that have stood the test of time.
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.
