The 53 best gifts for kids that they asked Santa for this year
Buying gifts for kids is harder than you may initially suppose, but if you’re already thinking about Christmas 2023 or your child has a birthday approaching, you can trust us to pick some of the best things they’ll definitely want.
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As we enter into the months of extended and intense gift-giving, you might already be thinking about who you need to buy for. Perhaps there is an adult friend here or a grown-up relative there that could make do with a card, but if there are any children in your life then stocking up on presents for them is — of course — an absolute must. You may think that the abundance of gifts for kids will make this a breeze, but as with any saturated market, it actually makes it a challenge.
If your child is a little bit older then head to our guide to gifts for teenagers – or indeed our picks of the best gifts for men and best gifts for women – but should you know or have a toddler to pre-teen, you might well find The One among our picks of the best things to gift children this year.
What are the best gifts for kids?
While you may think trends have changed beyond comprehension in the past forty years, there are still plenty of coveted toys that you yourself would have loved to play with. Sure, there are some tech-enhanced picks such as the innovative Spacetalk smartwatch, but the creativity that is sparked from a set of wooden blocks or, for an older child, a plasticine selection that doubles as a circuit-building set, is still a number one choice. Failing those, a toy built for outdoor play such as a scooter, or a comforting stuffed animal will always delight.
If you’re on the hunt for a smorgasbord of gifts, these are some of our favourite places to shop: Not Another Bill for personalised and unusual choices, Amazon for independent sellers, Uncommon Goods for out-of-the-box games and Hamley’s for every shiny new toy you can think of.
In a hurry? Some top picks:
An impossibly soft little friend with special ear-embroidering powers.
A deceptively simple-looking fellow, this is a Rubix cube-adjacent puzzle with a friendly final form.
Popcorn a must in your house for movie night? The next essential is a bowl with the little one’s name on it.
- Best overall gift for children: Jellycat personalised soft bunny, from £23 at notanotherbill.com
- Best for machine-mad children: Scalextric Back To The Future vs Knight Rider race set,
£160£120 at uk.scalextric.com - Best for children who love film night: Amazon Handmade personalised Popcorn Bowl, £15.49 at amazon.co.uk
- Best for children who are always on the move: Young driver lesson, from £20 at youngdriver.eu
- Best for intrepid explorers: Spacetalk smartwatch, £189 at currys.co.uk
- Best for brainiacs: Cubebot, from £10 at areaware.com
MORE GIFT GUIDES…
Advent calendars | Alcohol Advent calendars | Gifts for women | Gifts for men | Gifts for mums | Gifts for dads | Gifts for girlfriends | Gifts for boyfriends | Gifts for friends | Best hampers | Gifts for sisters | Gifts for brothers | Gifts for teens | Gifts for kids.
Shop GQ’s edit of the best gifts for kids 2023…
1/53Crack The Code Brainteasers
We all had one. We all loved one. And now it’s time to gift the children in your life with their very own themed brainteaser book. Employing puzzles, spywork and organisation, you have the choice to inspire with either space, zoo or explorer-themed manuals.
- Price: £20
- Available at: uncommongoods.com
2/53Chocolate Hedgehogs
Anyone who has visited Fortnum & Mason’s home on Piccadilly will know there’s a certain amount of magic to be found there. Its products, too, come imbued with it, and that’s certainly the case with this little duo of chocolate hedgehogs finished with hundreds-and-thousands ‘prickles’.
- Price: £6.50
- Available at: fortnumandmason.com
3/53Kids vs Adults Trivia
The premise is simple: it’s kids versus adults. A perfect family gathering game, this affordable trivia trip allows you to put Are You Smarter Than a 10-Year-Old into practice in your own living room.
- Price: £5
- Available at: johnlewis.com
4/53Tonies
Aimed at younger listeners (but we’ve been caught enjoying the audio after hours too), these Tonie boxes are highly tactile squares that only offer audio. By taking away screen action, kids do focus more attention on the story being told – just place the relevant character on top and let the story happen. From classic tales including Little Red Riding Hood and Pinocchio to Clangers, Mr Bean and Shrek, there are so many stories that Tonies want to tell. Starter sets make for a pretty perfect gift and come with a creative Tonie onto which you can load your own content.
- Price: £79.95
- Available at: tonies.com
5/53John Lewis Christmas advert snapper
This year’s John Lewis Christmas advert is an odd one, but creative – it features a young boy who grows a 15-foot-or-so, sentient venus flytrap (“Snapper”) who provides much excitement and chaos during the festive period. The plush version of Snapper is considerably cuter than his or her onscreen counterpart, and less likely to try to eat the family Pomeranian.
- Price: £18
- Available at: johnlewis.com
6/53Guinness World Records 2024
A Christmas institution as important to the younger part of the family as the King’s speech is to the older portion, the Guinness World Records book continues to dominate tree real estate the country over. As well as the usual slate of boggling achievements, the 2024 edition comes with an oceanic theme, so expect some impossibly big fish too.
- Price:
£22£11 - Available at: waterstones.com
- Price:
7/53SpaceTalk Smart Watch
If your child is getting older and staying out to play within the parameters of their road or block, it may be time to allow them to make quick communications home. If you’d rather not supply them with a phone and all of its potential for damaging social media access, the SpaceTalk Smart Watch is a great alternative. This smartwatch comes with 4G and GPS, so you can track where your little one is and allow them to call you with ease, all while offering them a genuinely cool gadget that will make them feel like a secret agent.
- Price: £189
- Available at: currys.co.uk
8/53Pinball Machine
There has been a resurgence in the popularity of pinball recently and as a result, prices of machines have gone multi-ball crazy. There are some pinball machines at this cost, but this one is simply genius. The selling point? This 68-piece set lets you construct it from scratch.
- Price: £20
- Available at: argos.co.uk
9/53Eberjey Pyjamas
In the United Kingdom, it is illegal to celebrate Christmas without gifting a pair of pyjamas to someone in your life. Not really, but doesn’t it feel that way? Thankfully, Eberjey makes it an easy win with its impossibly soft tencel separates coming in a slew of festive patterns for bigger and smaller frames.
- Price: £82
- Available at: eberjey.com
10/53English Heritage castles Monopoly
For the boys and girls who dream of knights and dragons but whose parents can’t take them as far afield as Yorkshire or Herefordshire to visit a castle every week, English Heritage has designed a wonderfully historical take on Monopoly. Featuring 28 of the old castles under the organisation's stewardship, you can forget electricity bills with this one: now, crenellation repair is your biggest outgoing, while taxes are replaced by tithes. Spend your groats wisely.
- Price: £35
- Available at the english-heritageshop.org.uk
11/53Impala Skate roller skates
Anyone with memories of the 1970s will appreciate these chunky vintage-looking roller skates, which are appropriate for ages 4-10 (with the correct protective gear, of course, and perhaps a supporting hand). Made by Australian brand Impala Skate, they’re comfortable and also vegan-friendly. Groovy.
- Price: £120
- Available at: selfridges.com
12/53Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans
Rotten egg. Earthworm. Vomit. Earwax. Dirt. When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour. Luckily, there are also more appealing beans in the Harry Potter-inspired bag, meaning you can let the little ones delight in the (actually quite tasty) “gross” flavours while you steal the green apple and tutti frutti sweets for yourself.
- Price: £5
- Available at: hamleys.com
13/53Trip to Lego House, Denmark
Chances are that if you've got a budding architect on your hands, you've already made a trip (or ten) to the UK's very own Legoland. Onto bigger things, then: Lego House, which can be found in Billund, Denmark, contains structures built from 25 million Lego bricks. There's also a museum and gallery of builds by international Lego devotees. Get those tickets booked and prepare to say “Hej” to the final boss of Lego experiences.
Available at: legohouse.com
14/53Jellycat Personalised Soft Bunny
Jellycat plush toys are the absolute softest on the market, with this bunny design boasting ears that are more velvety than the top of a newborn’s head. Coming in eight colours on Not Another Bill, this little companion is available for embroidering so that the mini-me you’re buying for can lay legitimate claim to the most comforting item in the house — without it being stolen by other members of the family for a cuddle.
- Price: from £23
- Available at: notanotherbill.com
15/53Dig a T-Rex skeleton kit
It might look like a solid brick of baked clay, but inside the Dig a T-Rex kit lie the bones (well, “bones”) of a terrifying prehistoric killer. Recruit a small, budding archaeologist to help dig them out, fix them together and display them proudly to wowed onlookers.
- Price: £18
- Available at the nhmshop.co.uk
16/53Horrible Histories
Horrible Histories have been a mainstay of British children's reading habits for 30 years now, which give them that special aura of a series that is both fun to discover for kids and a nostalgia trip for their parents. This, the Horrible History of the World, is a 100-plus page annual packed with bloodthirsty and gruesome facts spanning the Neolithic to the 20th century.
- Price: £9.99
- Available at: waterstones.com
17/53Hamley’s bear dinosaur hat
The patter of tiny feet, or the booming, slow thud that makes ripples in your water glass? Let them play out Jurassic Park with Hamley’s soft dinosaur hats, which happily double as ear-warmers, should the T-Rexes/velociraptors/allosauruses escape…
- Price: £3.75
- Available at: hamleys.com
18/53Lego Hogwarts Wizard Chess
As the legend of Harry Potter passes through generations, children can expect more and more innovative toys that immerse them in the world of wizards and witches. That being said, we still love a simple but effective dedication, as in the case of this Lego wizard chess set. The pieces don’t come alive and slay each other quite yet, but the magic of the exciting twist on a classic comes through powerfully nonetheless.
- Price: £89
- Available at: amazon.co.uk
19/53Bespoke Rocking Horse
Personalised gifts are always a sentimental extra step you can take to make your giftee feel special, and children are particularly enamoured by having their name on things. This rocking horse does just that with the option of adding a painted tag to its wooden base. Sturdily built and topped by a fuzzy horse seat, it's a classic gift that will act as a plushie friend as well as an indoor playground piece.
- Price:
£120£96 - Available at: my1styears.com
- Price:
20/53Scalextric Back To The Future vs Knight Rider race set
Going Back To The Future in a Delorean alongside the Knight Rider Pontiac Trans Am is now a reality thanks to this new Scalextric race set. In the most powerful example of adult-child crossover enjoyment on this list, this toy is more of an art installation thanks to working car lights, retro packaging and the opportunity to knock your opponent from the track in sideswipe and crossover spots. Truly epic.
- Price:
£160£120 - Available at: amazon.co.uk, selfridges.com & uk.scalextric.com
- Price:
21/53Paint your own gnome set
Ever looked at a garden gnome and thought “That’s not garish enough for my taste”? Us too! Luckily, this paint-your-own-gnome set comes with enough paint for any little one to commit whatever crime against good taste should take their fancy. Now you just have to work out where you’re going to hide it in the garden…
- Price: £15
- Available at: english-heritageshop.org.uk
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22/53The Magical Paper Theatre
A gift that somehow looks like it belongs in 19th-century Vienna, The Magical Paper Theatre is gorgeous. Build it, then act out your own version of Pinocchio or The Nutcracker, and watch their eyes widen with delight.
- Price: £16
- Available at: etsy.com
23/53Smart Ball
With football feeling pretty much omnipresent, it’s a great time to make one of these clever spheres appear under the tree. This one counts those keepie uppies, has lights and sounds for post-dusk fun, and lets kids (and kidults) set and play challenges together. Just another dimension added to the beautiful game.
- Price: £22
- Available at: argos.co.uk
24/53A Street Through Time
If, like several members of the GQ team, you were obsessed with history as a child, A Street Through Time may have found its way under the Christmas tree at some point or another. Following a British street from the Neolithic through to the modern day (okay, the early 2000s), all in cross-section, it’s packed full of details that make it re-readable again and again.
- Price: £4.47
- Available at amazon.co.uk
25/53Wooden London bus
A good wooden toy is a timeless thing, and mercifully easy on the eye – even when left out on the floor by a capricious child after playtime. Not that they will find it easy to abandon this beautiful London double-decker, whose removable top deck reveals a shape sorter inside.
- Price: £35
- Available at: hamleys.com
26/53Banwood scooter
What’s a childhood without a scooter? Specifically, this old-school three-wheeler, designed for ages three and up, to a classic design. The walk to school just became that much more exciting.
- Price: £120
- Available at: libertylondon.com
27/53Whale shark squishmallow
We declare that the golden era of squishmallows will continue this year, and if that feeling is reflected in your own household then it’s time to pick out a new squashy friend. There are myriad themes to select from, but it’s Lamar the rhinestone-encrusted whale shark that has caught our eye for Christmas 2023.
- Price: £17.99
- Available at: johnlewis.com
28/53Le Toy Van palatial doll’s house
One of those classic gifts that might really be as much for the buyer as the recipient, Le Toy Van’s astonishing “palatial” doll’s house is exactly that, boasting five floors, unique wallpapers in each room, a double front door and a steeply pitched roof that reminds us of Haussmann’s Paris. Keep sticky fingers well away.
- Price: £549.95
- Available at: johnlewis.com
29/53Kids Uggs
The Uggs-as-gift bell is tolling, and not only for the larger members of the family. You can also pick up a pair of Classic Ultra Minis in miniature so the cosy suede and sheepskin vibe can permeate the entire household.
- Price: £75
- Available at: harveynichols.com
30/53Mini Fender Stratocaster Guitar Bundle
All of the pedigree, style and precision of Fender, just a little bit smaller. This adorable set offers an electric guitar experience for littler fingers. And in Dakota red, no less! Mini amp, strap, picks and cable all also included.
- Price: £259.99
- Available at: fender.com
31/53Cubebot
It’s often the simplest toys that are the most effective, and this Cubebot offers endless mesmerising builds thanks to the satisfying smoothness of the wood it’s crafted from, and the challenge of compressing it back into a block. The Rubix Cube has finally met its match.
- Price: from £20
- Available at: areaware.com
32/53Le Toy Van Wooden Beauty Set
Our second wooden roleplaying set on the list, this Le Toy Van bundle gets our vote for its bubble-writing design and naturally-coloured, sustainable rubberwood composition. A lipstick, comb, hairdryer, powder puff and more allow your child to role play as the grown-ups without the risk of expensive beauty products ending up smushed into the rug.
- Price: £35
- Available at: selfridges.com
33/53Wee Bookworms book subscription
Wee Bookworms is an independent, Northern Ireland-based bookshop that offers book subscriptions for children ranging from newborns up to 13 and older, which will deliver a book per month to your door. More than worth it to keep them in bed for an extra hour or two, reading, at the weekends.
- From £14.99/month
- Available at: weebookworms.co.uk
34/53Lego Thanos Set
A build for older kids, this Lego ornament is a challenging construction activity with breathtaking results. If you’ve always got to have some Lego under the tree, and Marvel is a staple in your household, this is the 2023 edition for you.
- Price: £80
- Available at: lego.com
35/53Vilac Personalised Mini Piano
It’s hard to think of something more adorable than a kid sitting at a miniature grand piano, and now that’s a plausible photo opportunity for a special occasion 2023. With the option of personalisation, this tiny instrument actually works and comes courtesy of Vilac, a toy brand with over 100 years of design prowess. Get the camera out to document the birth of a new Elton John.
- Price: £80
- Available at: notanotherbill.com
36/53Squishy Circuits Electric Light Sound Kits
A tactile artistic kit for budding scientists, this dough and simple electric bundle lets creativity and STEM principles run wild in conjunction. Pleasingly titled ‘Squishy Circuits’, the set teaches light and sound engineering while masquerading as a joyous practical game.
- Price: from £38
- Available at: uncommongoods.com
37/53Beast Lab
First impressions might tell you that this toy is of the kind that used to be advertised ad nauseum on Nickelodeon, but it’s actually much more. A toy with a science bent, there are flasks, ingredients and fingerprint recognition all included in this brain-stimulating buy. The ultimate aim? Why, to save the world of course.
- Price:
£90£60 - Available at: argos.co.uk
- Price:
38/53Montessori inspired kits
Designed to within an inch of their lives, the play patterns of these kits are inspired by the Montessori teaching technique. Every three months a new kit will arrive, perfectly timed with the growth of your child. Full instructions for kids are included but, as one of the most collaborative toys out there, we think you’ll enjoy getting involved too.
- Price: from £80 per kit
- Available at: lovevery.co.uk
39/53Amazon Handmade Personalised Popcorn Bowl
If we’ve learnt one thing from buying gifts for children, it's that most are even more excited with a present that has their name on it. This enamel bowl from Amazon’s Handmade section is the perfect companion to older children’s film nights and sleepovers, therefore, since it comes with the option of customisation. Good luck taking a handful of popcorn for yourself after you buy them this, though; you may even need to pick up your own...
- Price: £15.49
- Available at: amazon.co.uk
40/53Banwood Balance Bike
A triumph of design that’ll go nicely with your home décor…that’s a selfish assessment of this Banwood balance bike. An unselfish take? This is one of the most beautiful and smoothly functioning My First Bikes we can think of for any kid.
- Price: £139
- Available at: kidly.co.uk
41/53Playmobil Mount Olympus
Know a child who only wants to watch Hercules on repeat, all day, every day? (We can’t blame them; it’s great.) Take the myth-making to a new level with Playmobil’s take on Mount Olympus, home of the gods, who here include Zeus, Dionysius and one of the Graces, as well as a pegasus foal and a feast worthy of deities. Playmobil sells the entire pantheon of gods and goddesses, from Athena to Hera to Poseidon to Hermes, too, should you want to expand the party.
- Price: £109.99
- Available at: playmobil.co.uk
42/53Le Toy Van Building Blocks
Wooden building blocks are in vogue again after the (much deserved) decline of plastic equivalents. Parents with interior design preoccupations: rejoice! The time-worn plaything comes here in sixty separate colourful pieces which will look splendid even when they’re strewn across the carpet.
- Price: £45
- Available at: selfridges.com
43/53Roarr! Dinosaur Park Annual Pass
Everyone loves a dinosaur, but no one loves a dinosaur quite as much as a child. That’s why Roarr! In Norfolk is up there with LegoLand and Alton Towers for little ones who think Jurassic Park is the coolest thing in the world.
- Price: from £60
- Available at: roarr.co.uk
44/53Mysteries At Sea: Peril on the Atlantic (Usborne)
It’s officially been long enough since the tragedy of the Titanic for kids to have fun with the concept of ocean-based escapades again. In this popular book Mysteries at Sea: Peril on the Atlantic, two kids are wrapped up in a tale of espionage and crime à la Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.
- Price: £7.99
- Available at: waterstones.com
45/53Neochrome Scooter
While we will never condone adults riding scooters, we conversely cannot get enough of introducing little tykes to the form of transport. Micro-Scooters is one of our go-to vendors for the toy, and this year we’re eyeing this multi-coloured chrome model complete with LED wheels.
- Price: £134.95
- Available at: micro-scooters.co.uk
46/53Young Driver Driving Experience
First driving lessons are becoming available for younger and younger kids, and now there’s even the option for your four to ten-year-old to get behind the wheel. Young Driver allows kids under ten to get to grips with a miniature vehicle in one of its many UK-based venues, while ten to fourteen-year-olds can go off-road in a Polaris Ranger. If they’re over ten, there’s even the opportunity to have a real driving lesson… in a fire engine.
- Price: From £20
- Available at: youngdriver.eu
47/53Barbie Dreamhouse
The Dreamhouse which was inspired by the film, in turn inspired by the original Barbie Dreamhouse of yesteryear: a towering headquarters for every Barbie and Ken doll they own, this dollhouse comes complete with three floors and ten living areas both inside and out. Yes, it’s one big purchase, but once you’ve put this in your shopping basket, it should be quite kenough.
- Price: £174.99
- Available at: argos.co.uk
48/53Worm kit
Children love weird and wriggly things, not least those that give them an excuse to plunge into soil up to their elbows. Indulge the impulse with a worm kit, whose glass sides reveal the tunnelling habits of the worms inside. The fascination it will spark is a rite of passage for any child – just be warned that worms aren’t included with the kit, so you’ll have to buy them online, or even trap your own.
- Price: £14.99
- Available at: ryman.co.uk
49/53The Forest School den kit
Too many gifts these days encourage children to spend time on the sofa, so fight the trend and get them into the outdoors with The Forest School’s charming den kit. Whether exploring the wild or just the back garden, two groundsheets, a camo tarpaulin, rope, camo face paint and all the pegs you could need make the kit perfect for base-building and adventures.
- Price: £65
- Available at: shop.nationaltrust.org.uk
50/53Lego NASA Apollo 11 Set
Lego will always find a place on any gift guide for children, and with extremely good reason. This NASA Apollo 11 set is one of our current favourites from the brand’s ever-expanding collection. A rarer find than many of your more bog standard brick-building sets, this is a tough build with detachable sections and a finishing look that would make a cool display in the home.
- Price: £89.99
- Available at: lego.com
51/53Shit For Kids Nick Cave Colouring Book
If you’re in a less conservative, more Nick Cave-loving kind of household, then older kids will love this colouring book by the man himself. Like any old colouring book, this one features empty pictures to add pencil or paint to. Unlike the rest of them, though, this features 44 pages of images fully illustrated by Nick Cave himself.
- Price: £20
- Available at: cavethings.com
52/53Audible Subscription
Audible may well be the most popular audio literature app in the world for fiction and non-fiction, but that audience extends to children too. Get them subscribed with their own membership, add child locks and watch as they discover new worlds on the end of their headphones.
- Price: from £7.99 per month
- Available at: audible.co.uk
53/53Petit Pli Clothes That Grow Pullover
Ingenious and genuinely useful, new brand Petit Pli makes clothes that grow as your kids do. As you can see from this cute concertina pullover, the brand’s tops and trousers are built to expand as your toddler grows, saving money and waste by swerving the need to constantly replace their wardrobe.
- Price: £50
- Available at: amazon.co.uk
