This gift guide is jam packed with awesome toys, games and activities that children of all ages will absolutely love to open this Christmas. There are plenty of items under £10 if you have a more limited budget going up to bigger money items so however much you have to spend this should provide some inspiration.  

*This guide contains gifted items I specially requested for the guide and some affiliate links*

I have broken this guide down into age groups for anyone in a hurry, but there are lots of brilliant toys that will be loved across the ages so check out the whole guide if you have time. For each item you can find out where to buy it as well as why I think it makes a good Christmas gift idea. 

As always if you are giving toys for Christmas or opening presents with children it is worth having batteries and a screwdriver on hand. Some of the electronic games below have batteries included, but others will need AA or AAA batteries so make sure you have plenty.

Toys, Games And Activity Gifts For Children Of All Ages: From Tots To Teens

Head straight to:

• Gifts for Toddler and Preschoolers (18m+ to 4 years)
• Gifts for Kids (5 to 8 years)
• Gifts for Tweens (9 to 12 years)
• Gifts for Teens (13 years plus)

Remember if you are buying online to shop around for the best deals and see if you can get cashback too. Whether you are buying in store or online you can also save money at stores like Argos, Amazon and Tesco by prebuying vouchers with JamDoughnut (read my post about how JamDoughnut works here).

Great Gifts For Toddlers and Preschoolers

Bath Barista Bath Toy

Age 18m+ TOMY Toomies
Available from Smyths, Amazon, Argos, Very, The Range, John Lewis, Ocado and Independent Toy Shops

Why it makes a great present for toddlers:

Some times children can be a little reluctant to get in the bath, but bath toys are a great way to encourage them and distract them enough to be washed. With this TOMY toy bath time will be full of role play as children happily make you cup after cup of coffee. This is great for imaginative play, communication and fine motor skills. 

The coffee machine attaches to the edge of the bath or a tiled wall using the suction cups on the back. There are 3 cups which you stack on one side of the machine, but when you want to make the coffee place it on the shelf and pour water through the water wheel using the jug. Fancy some froth? You can pour water and bubble bath into the frother and pump to create foam. Remember to add sprinkles too. 

TOMY Toomies Bath Barista bath toy

Kidoki Catch a Bug Wooden Fishing Game

Age 3+ Kikkerland
Available from Kikkerland and Independent Toy Shops 

Why it makes a great present for preschoolers:

This is a lovely game for encouraging focus and hand to eye coordination. It can be played as a 2 player game or children can play on their own. In the box you get 2 wooden frogs with a magnet on the end of their tongue (a piece of red string) and you have to catch the 11 bugs and plant pieces picking them up with the magnet. 

I love that the pieces are wooden, the packaging is recyclable and you turn the instructions over to get a pond background to place the pieces on to play the game. You can also store everything away easily back in the box when you aren’t playing with it.  For younger children you could put a bow in the tongue to make it easier while they get the hang of it. It also encourages maths skills as they can guess who has won and then count up the pieces to see if they were right. 

Bath Paint Sticks

Age 3+ Little Brian
Available from Amazon

Why they make a great present for preschoolers:

Mark making is an essential part of preschool development. It’s not about letter formation or drawing to look like a specific object, it’s more basic than that. Children need to get used to holding writing tools, moving their wrists and applying the right pressure. Painting is a great way to do this and if you like to avoid mess I recommend checking out Little Brian Paint Sticks. 

Paint Sticks look like a glue stick, but have paint inside. You paint directly on to paper or surfaces without the need for water, twisting up to get more. They are definitely a less messy approach, but if it’s still too much for you, then their paint sticks for the bath could be a good gift. They are designed to allow painting on the bath, tiles or glass and to easily wipe clean (they can be harder to get off grouting though). Children will love decorating the tub while they have a soak and you’ll love how easy it is to clean up.

Little Brian Paint Sticks that can be used for bath time fun

Boppi Marble Ball Run 

Age 3+ boppi
Available from Amazon and Independent Toy Retailers

Why it makes a great present for preschoolers:

Marble runs are a classic toy which work for a wide age range. Initially you might be building them for your child, but over time they learn how to connect them and start to understand the physics and even structural engineering required to make a great design.  I would always recommend a wooden toy over plastic where they are just as good, but the wooden ball runs I have seen in the past have been difficult to use. The boppi Bamboo Marble Run is really well designed. The pieces connect together so the finished structure is pretty stable meaning preschoolers will be able to race marbles down without knocking it down. I think it is a little bit harder to assemble than some marble runs, but the pay off is in the stability.

The boppi Marble Run comes in different size packs and has optional extras like the cool musical set which adds metal pieces, like bits of a xylophone to the design and the marble will play notes as it hits them on the journey down. 

This Marble Run is also an eco conscious choice: the rail tracks are wood, the cylinders and spiral are made from bamboo fibres and the connectors are made from 100% recycled plastic.

boppi Bamboo Marble Run Advanced Pack, Musical Accessory Pack and Seesaw Accessory Pack

Feelings Family™️ Hand Puppets

Age 18m+ Learning Resources 
Available from Learning Resources

Why they are a great gift for toddlers and preschoolers:

Like many children, when my eldest was a preschooler she would get very angry and upset. It took me a while to realise that she didn’t know what those emotions she was feeling were or why she was feeling them which made her feel even worse. Helping her name the emotions, explaining what she was feeling and things she could do about it really helped her manage her emotions much better. This is why I love the Feelings Family™️ Hand Puppets from Learning Resources. They are a great way to help explain and explore different emotions. They can also help children to talk about how they are feeling in an indirect way using the puppets to explain what’s happened. 

There are 5 puppets in different colours with expressions showing: happy, sad, surprised, angry and scared. They are designed to fit children's hands and most adults. The puppets can be used in many ways and you can have lots of fun with them, but they are also great for helping children to understand moods and feelings.

Learning Resources Feelings Family™️ Hand Puppets

Great Gifts for Kids (age 5 to 8)

Cry Babies Magic Tears Stars: Jumpy Monsters 

Age 3+ IMC Toys
Available from Argos, Tesco and Smyths 

Why they make a great gift for children:

The Stars Jumpy Monsters range from Cry Babies Magic Tears has 6 different characters to collect. You can choose your favourite from Bubu, Fuzz, Jojo, Momo, Nunu and Zippy or collect them all.  Unlike the original Cry Babies you can see which one you are getting so no need to worry about duplicates.

Each character comes with a cute little monster outfit, a vehicle, dummy and bottle. Feed them with the bottle to see them cry colourful slime tears which can be collected on a pouch at the back of their vehicle.  They make a fun addition to the Cry Babies range and fans will love adding to their collection. 

Cry Babies Magic Tears Stars: Jumpy Monsters doll featuring Momo

BFF by Cry Babies Talents 

Age 3+ IMC Toys
Available from Argos, Tesco, Very and Smyths

Why they make a great gift for children:

The BFF series of Cry Babies dolls are the Cry Babies Magic Tears characters who have grown up and become teens. There are 6 to collect in this series. Each doll is 20cm tall, which is about twice the height of the Cry Babies Magic Tears dolls. Each doll has a different talent which influences their clothing and accessories. They also have long hair and an articulated body. Unlike Seasons 1 and 2, the Season 3 packaging allows you to see your doll before you open her with just the accessories to be revealed. She comes wearing clothes, shoes and hair accessories. 

Coney from the BFF Talents Series by Cry Babies

Baby Paws

Age 18m+ IMC Toys
Available from Smyths and Argos

Why Baby Paws makes a great gift for children:

Baby Paws are really cute, super soft puppies that children will love interacting with. There is a choice of different dogs (Cocker, Husky and Dalmatian), but all of them come with a blanket which can be folded up into a shoulder bag you can carry your pup around with. Put the dummy in and the pup will make a yawning sound before closing its eyes and making sleep sounds. Take the dummy out and pup wakes up and yaps hello. They are great for encouraging role play and nurturing skills. 

Baby Paws uses 2 AAA batteries which are included. There is an accompanying app (available on Google Play and the Apple App Store) which turns the device into equipment to look after the pup like a stethoscope, but it’s absolutely not required for either set up or play if you don’t want to use it. 

This interactive puppy can be carried around in it's bag

Cutie Climbers

Age 3 + IMC Toys
Available from Smyths and Tesco

Why they make a great present for children:

Cutie Climbers are sweet little animals that climb. They are available in 2 different size packs and the smaller "Tree Pack" (featured in image) is a great stocking filler size. There are 12 different animals to collect in this series and 3 different family packs (which have a house, climber and baby). 

You make the animal climb by pulling on the string and they will move up to their food. You can also attach the strings from other packs together to make a necklace, key ring etc. 

Help the little Cutie Climbers climb to their food

Voxblock Starter Pack - Screen Free Audio Player and Audiobooks

All ages Voxblock
Available here 

Why it makes a great present for children: 

Everyone knows the benefits of reading with children, but as parents we don’t always have the time to read to our children so it's no surprise audio players have become really popular in recent years. There are a few on the market, but I really like Voxblock and I think the Starter Packs are brilliant value. In the Starter Pack you get: the audio player, a protective bumper (in your choice of orange, green or red), a charging cable (USB C cable, no plug adaptor) and 3 audiobooks. There are 4 different book bundles you can choose from with the starter packs. I chose the Bedtime Stories pack, but it was a hard choice as Family Favourites has classics: Pinocchio, Peter Pan and Alice Wonderland and Young Listeners has Paddington, Pippi Longstocking and Little Wolfs Book of Badness. The Older Listeners set has longer books which are great for age 8 plus.

I love that this audio player has no screen, it is really easy to use and the audiobooks all look like miniature story books (they are solid and don’t open though). The books look really cute on a shelf, but as they don't look like toys they are less likely to get played with and go missing. They are also large enough they won’t get lost falling down the side of beds.  The books are held on to the audio player with a magnet and you can move the player around without worrying that it will come off. If it does get pulled off though the narration will restart in the same place when you put the book back on. You can easily go back or forwards a chapter at the touch of a button if you want to and there is a sleep mode you can enable which turns the player off after 20 minutes. The speaker has a good range of volumes and it can be used with headphones if you are in the car or don’t want to disturb others.

A Voxblock Starter Pack makes a lovely Christmas present which is great for improving children's literacy skills, imagination and it can help children to relax.

The Bedtime Stories Voxblock audioplayer Starter Pack with 3 audio books.

Connetix 120 Piece Pastel Creative Pack

Age 3+ Connetix
Available here

Why it makes a great present for children:

The open ended possibilities with magnetic toys mean they are played with over and over again. Magnetic tiles are very popular with my children and while there are several brands on the market Connetix are well made, durable and contain strong enough magnets that builds stay together well. It is still inevitable that builds will fall down at times, but that is part of learning how to build well supported structures. 

There are lots of different size tile packs and several colour options available from Connetix, but the 120 piece pastel set is beautiful and contains enough tiles for a big creation, or a few smaller structures if siblings are playing independently.  

Connetix tiles are great because although you can follow instructions to create something, no one needs telling what to do with the tiles and as soon as you give them to children they will start experimenting how they connect together, the power of magnets and how different shapes go together. They will be learning huge amounts without realising. The pastel set contains 7 different shape tiles in 8 beautiful pastel shades.

Connetix Pastel Magnetic Tiles Creative Pack

Round World Map Jigsaw Puzzle

Age 5 to 8 boppi
Available from Amazon

Why it makes a great present for children:

I love jigsaws and as my children get older they are increasingly enjoying the pleasures of the quiet time together or on their own sorting through pieces and gradually bringing a picture to life. Jigsaw puzzles encourage focus and attention to detail.  

This jigsaw is one of a number of round jigsaws from bobbi. I love the world map design because it helps build an understanding of different countries around the world. It's not just about putting the jigsaw together, the finished jigsaw has lots of things to talk about.  

The jigsaw has 150 pieces made from recycled cardboard and they are a good size for the target age. It's not complicated to put together, but due to the number of pieces it will take a little while. In the box there is a picture of what the design looks like to help them put it together.  

boppi World Map jigsaw puzzle

KLiXX Spider

Age 4+ Brainstorm Toys
Available from Wicked Uncle

Why it makes a great present for children:

The KLiXX Creaturez range has: spiders, scorpions and cobras with 2 colours combinations for each style, but the spiders are my favourite. Their legs are bendable and can move one click at a time making them perfect for stop animation, but the appeal goes beyond that. They are really satisfying to play with and move around so work well as a fidget toy too. If they like fidget toys check out this gift guide for more ideas.

There is a free Zing Studio app which can be downloaded on Apple or Android to help create stop animation movies, with built in music and sound effects. This is the same company behind Stikbot and Klikbot so they have a lot of experience supporting children in developing stop motion animations.

KLiXX Spider

Space Rover Deluxe Coding Activity Set

Age 4+ Learning Resources
Available from Amazon

Why this makes a great gift for children:

Coding is such a useful skill to know and introducing the basics to children in a fun way is a good way to get them learning how to code. But for me coding is more than that. It’s about breaking down an end result into steps and working out how to get from a to b. This encourages problem solving and logical thinking which are essential life skills. 

This great STEM toy introduces children to coding in a screen free and playful way. Children build a maze, plot the coding path with cards and then send the space rover out to grab magnetic space rocks and bring them back to base. Children will love building different adventures for the astronaut to go on. There are more ideas for STEM toys for Christmas gifts in this post.

Space Rover Deluxe Coding Activity Set

Great Gifts for Tweens (age 9 to 12)

Super Mario™️ Mushroom Mega Plush

Age 3+ Club Mocchi-Mocchi TOMY
Available from Amazon, Costco, Smyths, Game and Independent Toy Stores

Why it’s a great present for tweens:

This super cute plush will be loved by Tweens whether they are Super Mario fans or not. It is really soft and squishy so you can use it to cuddle or even as a pillow. The gaming theming ensures it won’t be considered too babyish meaning it will appeal to older age groups too. It works great as a decoration and as a cuddly toy.  

Officially licensed by Nintendo this mega Mario plush is 40cm across. 

Super cuddly, Super Mario plush from Club Mocchi-Mocchi

Chicken vs Hotdog

Age 8+ Big Potato Games
Available here and other retailers

Why this makes a great present for tweens:

This game will instantly grab your teens interest when they see the rubber chicken and hotdog peeking out of the box. Chicken Vs Hotdog is a party game where 2 or more players form teams and have to compete to complete challenges. One team is a blue rubber chicken, the other a hot dog. 

To play a challenge card is turned over, both teams bid for it and who ever bids the highest attempts the challenge. If both teams make the same bid you have to flip your chicken or hotdog to take on the challenge (or make the other team do it). If they complete the challenge that team gets a character card, if they fail the other team does. Complete 6 challenges and collect all your character cards to win. 

Chicken Vs Hotdog is a hilarious game that will bring out their competitive side.

Flip a rubber Chicken or Hotdog in the Chicken Vs Hotdog action party game

Aardman Obey The Clay

Age 8+ Big Potato Games
Available here and other retailers