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Now, I don’t know about your kids, but mine have been pointing out every toy in the adverts with a ‘Can I have that for Christmas?’ for a while now, and it will only be a couple of weeks until they are writing their letters to Santa.

Luckily, I have an idea of what they will be getting this year already, but if you’re lacking for inspiration, here are some of my picks for the best gifts for kids this year. If you need further inspo, check our Becky’s round up of gift guides – you’re sure to find something for everyone there!

Phonics Dominoes

This set of 84 brightly coloured short vowel dominoes will help kids identify and learn short vowels and have fun at the same time! The colour-coded plastic dominoes encourage kids to create hundreds of different words. This set is ideal for word formation games and other literacy activities – and it all comes in a handy plastic storage tub.

Buy it now: Gifts For Little Hands £16.95

Slime Kit

Kids can make their own slime with almost no mess – just add glitter, confetti & slime powder to the shaker, add water & mix to create the most colourful slime ever.  Once they’ve finished, they can pack it all away in the handy plastic carry case.

Buy it now: Amazon £14.99

Lully Bear

Lully Bear makes a lovely wonderful gift for babies and young children…. he’s a lovely soft, premium-quality teddy bear and he also sings lullabies, and is an innovative soothing sleep aid. It plays23 live-recorded lullabies played on real instruments by professional musicians, providing an uninterrupted hour of calming music for quiet time, bedtime and relaxation.  Lully’s playlist includes best-loved classics like ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’, ‘You Are My Sunshine’, ‘Any Dream Will Do’ and ‘Over the Rainbow’ so he’s a pleasure to listen to for all the family. He really is gorgeous!!

Buy it now: Lully £59.95

Police Breakout Play Set

This super police truck transforms into a thrilling jailbreak toy with fun
sounds, and includes a barrier, escape ramp, helipad, working car
life and three vehicles.

Buy it now: Amazon £23.99

Gund Sleepy Seas Light and Sound Whale

This is perfect if you have tiny ones – it’s suitable from birth! Press the fins to hear one of five gentle sleepy sounds, including Brahms’ lullaby, whale sounds, and ocean white noise. You don’t have to keep getting up to press it – it plays repetitively until either pressed again or has remained inactive for 20 minutes, making it the perfect toy to help babies sleep.

Buy it now: Gund £29.95

Superhero City Memory Game

Perfect for kids age 3+, this simple match the pairs game features everyone’s favourite superhero’s who are here to save the day! The Superhero City Memory Game includes 36 tiles and players must match the pairs.

Buy it now: Gibsons Games £6

2-in-1 World Tour Puzzle and Game

This is a super 2-in-1 game. It’s a 100 piece world map jigsaw puzzle as well as a game with four wooden figures, where you race around the world, learning more about the individual countries, their landscapes, nature, and landmarks. It also includes a fascinating double-sided poster.

Buy it now: Amazon £25.12

Harry Potter Heat Changing Mug

Whilst cold, the super cool mug shows a maroon background with footprints, just like the infamous Marauders Map, but when you add hot water, it reveals it’s secrets…

Buy it now: GB Posters £9.99

Stib Inspirational Colouring Pencils

These chunky, high-quality colouring pencils come in a fabulous storage tube complete with sticker sheet and pencil sharpener. The pencils are designed to inspire children to feel good – they’re each embossed with a positive ‘spark’ word or phrase, such as ‘good listener’, ‘great leader’, and 10% of each sale goes to charity. They’re the perfect stocking filler for kids of all ages.

Buy it now: Stib £9.95

Harry Potter Wand

This is the perfect gift for any would-be wizards or witches! With 11 spells to learn and master and 5 different modes of play, this interactive training wand can bring hours of fun and is a great accessory to any Harry Potter costume.

Buy it now: Amazon £14.99

Hot Wheels Mega Carwash

The Hot Wheels Mega car wash has all the features of a real car wash, with an automated conveyer belt that transports cars through the set with real water action and a magical colour-changing feature. The Mega car wash has multiple connections points to connect to other Hot Wheels sets for a customizable world of track and play. ​

Buy it now: Amazon £31.38

Harry Potter Notebook

Whether off to Hogwarts, or back to school after Christmas in the Muggle world, this Harry Potter Notebook is the perfect way to add a bit of magic to a stocking.

Buy It Now: Wilko £4

Johnson’s Cotton Touch Gift Set

For the very youngest members of the family, this CottonTouch toiletries set from Johnson’s makes the ideal gift. It’s blended with real cotton to be super gentle on newborn skin. The set includes a 500ml face and body lotion, 500ml 2-in-1 bath and body wash, pack of 56 extra sensitive baby wipes and a cotton changing mat.

Buy it now: Boots £12.49

Mini Backpack

Perfect for nursery, days out and all the adventures in between, this adorable mini backpack is available in a range of designs, from spaceships to flamingos and plenty of others. There’s also a range of matching lunch accessories and stationery available as well.

Buy it now: Rex London £12.95

Cash Register

This solar-powered (so no batteries needed!) cash register has a real working calculator, so it is perfect for introducing maths skills while having hours of fun at the same time. It comes with realistic notes and coins and a credit card, so children can have hours of fun playing shops.

Buy it now: Learning Resources £36

Stationery

Stationery always makes an excellent stocking filler, and Stabilo are one of our favourite brands. From metallic markers and colouring pencils to highlighters and fine liner pens, there’s something to encourage kids of all kids to get a little creative.

Buy it now: Amazon

Smiggle Mega Box of Fun

All kids love Smiggle – and they’ll love this mega box of fun! The set has markers, pencils with fun toppers, erasers, scented stickers and much more!

Buy it now: Smiggle £28

The Gruffalo Deep Dark Wood Game

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. A fox, an owl and a snake saw the mouse and the mouse looked good! Can you help your mouse to get home safely? All you need is a little luck of the dice and a good memory! If you find the image of Gruffalo under the trees you will scare the hungry animals away. 

Buy it now: Amazon £7.99

Medieval Cloak and Cape

Make playtime more fun and creative with a realistic get up. Encourage your kid’s imagination. Let them be wizards who will always believe in magic or warriors and knights that will always uphold justice for the common folk. All it takes is a little switch up in their costume.

Buy it now: Medieval Collectibles, from £13.00