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Looking for the best stocking stuffers for kids that they’ll actually play with? Here’s you go!
Stockings are the first taste of Christmas for kids. It’s the first thing they open up on Christmas morning and at that point, they’re so excited that they’ll think anything you’ve put in it is amazing.
But these things are often just fillers that’ll only clutter up the toy bin and won’t really be used or played with.
Stocking stuffers DO NOT need to be junk.
You don’t have to fill the stocking with extra stuff to clutter your house, candy that’ll make them get a sugar rush first thing in the morning, or whatever you could find in the dollar section.
In this post, you won’t find any knick-knacks or flimsy plastic junk that’ll break the first time it’s being played with. We’ve only added items that are under-the-tree-worthy, but are small enough to nestle right into that stocking!
We hope you find the best stocking stuffers for your child below!
What are the Best Stocking Stuffers for Kids?
If you have more than one child, filling two, three or more stockings really adds up.
On top of Christmas presents, holiday food and a month of activities leading up to Christmas – December is an expensive month!
Instead of sacrificing the stocking tradition or filling them with cheap stuff crap that will be trashed, broken, or forgotten by New Years, fill them with things you need.
Personally, I’ll rather spend a little extra on things that aren’t junk and that’ll actually be used.
The best stocking stuffers for kids will be things that you can use in activities all through the year. But honestly, I usually add some things that are just for fun as well!
Popular Stocking Stuffers for Kids
Here are the top 3 selling Stocking Stuffers for Kids on Amazon. Maybe your child will love them too!
- Easy to use with amazing results: The Melissa & doug scratch art box of rainbow mini notes includes 125 easy to use rainbow mini notes which kids can use to jot down notes, etch doodles, and create cool illustrations and designs
- Brightly colored notepad: Our scratch art notes feature bright colors that hide beneath the matte coating; Kids simply use the included wooden stylus to reveal them with a simple scratch
- Multiple uses: Kids can create cool illustrations, surprise people, label items, create arts and crafts projects, and express themselves freely; This box of notes is great for classrooms, holiday treats, gift baskets, or random acts of kindness
- Gift for ages 4 and up: The Scratch Art Box of Rainbow Mini Notes makes a great gift for kids ages 4 years and up
- The gold standard in childhood play: for more than 30 years, Melissa & Doug have created beautifully designed imagination- and creativity-sparking products that NBC news called “the gold standard in early childhood play.”
- -"(Pack of 2); Creative and fun unicorn egg; simply add water to hatch your own unicorn friend" "
- "Kids toy is made of foam with magical rainbow finish; measures approximately 2.5 x 2 x 2 inches"
- "Egg shell will break slowly after 12-24 hours; continues to expand for up to 48 hours"
- "Recommended age 3 years and up; packaging varies by manufacturer availability"
- -"Contained in protective packaging; ready to be gifted"
- The descending bubbles have a soothing and mesmerizing effect that will keep kids entertained for hours. Gravity will guide the colored droplets travel down at slow motion pace. These sensory toys can help improve visual tracking skills.
- Its slow and rhythmic drops have a very appeasing effect and actually help kids with sensory or hyperactivity issues. Makes perfect autism sensory toys to sooth and remain focused.
- Endless hours of calming entertainment. Great as therapy toys and even stress relief toys. Never runs out of energy. Just flip over and start again.
- This liquid timer makes the perfect fidget toys, office desk toys and even as classroom rewards. Like a stress ball used for hands, these are perfect as adhd toys for gentle visual stimulation. This adhd timer adipose stress toy has two bright colored drops that rain down slowly when flipped, almost like a lava lamp or hourglass sand timer, making them fun children activities kids toys.
- Bubbler measures 2" wide x 5.75" inches in length. This listing is for 1 bubbler per order. Each bubbler contains two colors inside. Yours will be selected at random from our in-stock supply.
The Best Stocking Stuffers for Kids
Here are some of the best Stocking Stuggersfor Kids that aren’t junk!
1. Sticker Books
Sticker books are perfect for 3-5-year-old kids. We love the Hidden Picture Sticker Fun which promotes attention to detail and increases vocabulary.
These sticker books are a ton of fun too:
2. Smencils
This is the perfect gift for getting kids excited to practice writing or getting their homework done.
Smencils are scented pencils made from recycled newspaper (with fun scents like Bubble Gum, Strawberry Cheesecake, Jelly Donut, Jolly Watermelon, and Chocolate Milkshake) that keeps their yummy scents for two years!
Try this 5-pack of Holiday Smencils with scents like Candy Cane and Gingerbread for the stocking.
3. Kwix Stix
Does your child get paint everywhere when they want to paint? These solid tempura painting sticks allows your kids to paint without any set-up or mess involved! (genius if you ask me!)
Just twist up the Stix and use it as your paintbrush – the colors come out beautiful and can be mixed to create any color imaginable and dry almost instantly. No more brushes to clean, and they can be used practically any surface – on paper, cardboard or even wood (although hopefully not on your furniture!).
Check out these fun Metallic and Neon colors as well. Your kids will go crazy for them!
4. Play-Doh
My kids can’t get enough of play-doh – it’s squishy, bright, non toxic, moldable, and sparks imaginations.
This Holiday Pack comes with a Christmas tree and Snowman and will fit a stocking perfectly. Or throw in a few packs from this 10-pack with some small play-doh tools.
Don’t miss these fun Play Dough Kits! Any of them would be perfect to put in your child’s stocking.
5. Kinetic Sand
Bring home beach sand fun without the mess! This cool sand feels like wet beach sand but won’t stick to anything but itself. That means no sand on your hands, clothes, molds, in your hair or in your bag.
Kids will have so much fun with this squeezable sand, and these smaller-sized containers is great for stockings.
6. Mad Libs
Mad Libs is a lot really entertaining and now, kids as young as 3 can join in on the Mad Libs fun! Fill in, by filling in the blanks with stickers featuring pictures with corresponding words and coloring pages.
This All I Want for Christmas is Mad Libs is the perfect stocking stuffer for older kids. This oversize 240-page book includes five festive Mad Libs books in one, all for a bargain price!
7. Smack It Card Game
Get ready for a fun and exciting twist on the classic card games Slap Jack and War. Smack it is a card game for kids that’s fast-paced, rowdy fun.
Smack it is easy to learn, fun to play and sure to be a hit with the whole family.
Other card games we love in our family, is:
- Blink (you have to have sharp eyes and fast hands to win!)
- Skip Bo (great game to learn how to strategize)
- My First UNO (learn to play this classic card game with SpongeBob & Patrick!)
8. Stained Glass Ornament
An easy, mess-free holiday craft to put in the kid’s stockings? Yes please!
Simply peel and press stickers onto the stained glass kit while working on problem-solving skills, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination at the same time. When the pretty Santa ornament is done, you can hang it on the tree or suction it to the window.
There are many stained glass kits to choose from if you want to ditch the holiday -theme. Choose from Mermaids, Noah’s ark, Dolphins, and many more!
9. Books
We love anything mini and these miniature books are the perfect petite size for slipping into a stocking. That being said, the pieces are big enough for little hands to grasp and kids love the colorful illustrations.
Melissa Doug Soft Activity Books are perfect for babies and toddlers who like to play with (or eat) their books more than they like to listen to the stories. Our favorites include Whose Feet?, Peekaboo and Dress up bear.
It would also be fun to put a Holiday-themed book in the stockings to read on Christmas morning. Some of our favorites include:
- Peppa Pig and the Lost Christmas List (for toddlers)
- Llama Llama Holiday (for toddlers)
- Where Is Baby’s Christmas Present? (for toddlers)
- The Night Before Christmas (for preschoolers & kindergartners)>
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (for preschoolers & kindergartners)
- The Christmas Wish (for kindergartners)
10. 100 Books “Bucket List” Scratch-Off Poster
What better way to encourage your kids to read than by challenging them to read 100 of the greatest kids books around!
The Bucket List Scratch-Off Poster features 100 book titles, from classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and James and the Giant Peach to contemporary favorites like The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson.
Hang it in your kid’s room and after each book you read, they can scratch off the corresponding square. It’s the perfect way to encourage kids to read!
11. Pizza Game
This is an exciting color and shape matching game for all the family that fit perfectly in the stocking.
Spin the double spinner and choose a topping card by color or shape. The unusual and gross toppings in this game will definitely get children talking, I mean, spider, worms, and snails – yuck!
12. Construction Vehicles
These small construction cars will be well-loved by any vehicle obsessed child and you can easily stuff a bunch of them in their stocking.
13. Washable Markers
Some new markers and coloring books are sure to keep the little ones busy on Christmas morning.
For toddlers, you can get Do-a-Dot markers that are perfect for tiny hands. Match it with a do-a-dot activity book with rainbows, letters & numbers or Christmas-theme.
14. Small Lego
For your little Lego lover, put a smile on their face on Christmas morning by adding a cool Lego set to their stocking. We love the small Lego Duplo sets for younger kids where you often get cute animals or cool vehicles.
Lego Disney are also a ton of fun where you get fun characters from their favorite movies like Frozen, Moana, Toy Story or Mickey Mouse.
15. BrickStix
If you have a Lego lover, they’ll go nuts for BrickStix! These reusable stickers will add details and fun accents to their Lego creations.
The stickers are easy to take off (no sticky residue) and come in tons of different themes like Castles, Fairy-Tales, Zombies and m
16. Holiday-Themed Games
If your house is anything like ours, you’ve already played almost every available card game and board game there is.
Luckily, there is plenty of fun Holiday themed twists on our favorite games! Like the Santa Claus Go Fish, Frosty the Snowman Follow the Leader Game, Christmas Memory, and Christmas Dominos.
They would all fit in your child’s stocking and would be tons of fun to play on Christmas morning!
Don’t miss this! There’s also a Christmas-themed Monopoly game! Although it’s too big to fit in a stocking, it’s the perfect size to put under the tree!
17. Bath Bombs with Toys Inside
Bring a lot of fun and joy to your kid’s bath time with these cool fizzy bath bombs with surprise toys inside! There’s over 10 different variations – from Dinosaurs to Unicorns to Farm animals – all of which kids will love to be surprised by in the bath.
What’s even better is that these bath bombs are made of organic ingredients including natural essential oils, and don’t cause an allergic reaction, and are totally harmless for kid`s health!
18. Fold ‘n Fly Kit
The Fold ‘n Fly kit teaches kids how to make 18 unique paper airplanes and includes two-sided patterned paper, a folding tool, and stickers.
The designs are really cool and once you’re done folding the planes, you can arrange a paper plane race to see which design will make it furthest.
19. Toy Figures
Fill your child’s stocking with their favorite figurines and surprise them with some new ones. Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Avengers Super Heroes, Frozen, Daniel Tiger, and Transformers are just some ideas to choose from.
20. Useful Gear
Don’t underestimate the power of filling the stocking with useful gear like Binocular, Flashlight, Head Light or a Magnifying Glass!
Things like these will make exploring that much more fun!
Tips! Ditch the plastic toy gears that don’t really work, and opt for the real deal. You’ll have way more fun on nature walks or camping trips with gear that although designed for kids, function far beyond a toy.
There you have it! Our favorite stocking stuffers for kids that are far from junk!
Make sure to check out our other gift guides:
- +30 Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids in 2020
- 25 Of The Best Fortnite Gifts For Kids Of All Ages
- 10 Personalized Christmas Ornaments that make Great Holiday Gifts
- 20 Of The Most Magical Unicorn Gift Ideas for Kids
- The Best Play Dough Kits For Every Child’s Interest
- The Best Indoor Energy Burning Toys For Active Kids
- 10 Useful Multi-Functional Baby Products That Grow With Your Child
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