The 30 Best Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids

Stocking stuffers are often the final piece of the gift-giving puzzle. Yet this assortment of small gifts needn’t be scraped together during an 11th-hour mad dash to the drug store. Whether they’re part of a long-standing family tradition or a recent addition, petite presents can be as meaningful, thoughtful, and memorable as the big stuff.

We asked Wirecutter staffers—as well as our own families and friends—to share their stocking-stuffer go-tos, aiming to play Santa’s helper for a range of tastes from classic (socks, lip balm) to whimsical (temporary tattoos, wacky bath bombs) to practical (good ol’ undies and toothbrushes). The ideas we collected are appropriate for a variety of traditions. Little gifts like these could work well for Hanukkah—when many children receive small presents on each of the eight nights—or for any occasion when you’re looking for tiny but special items for kids.

Some of the gift suggestions may also be appreciated by adults, and we have ideas on the best stocking stuffers for grown-ups, too. If you’re searching for more gift ideas for kids, check out our guides to the best gifts for 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 7-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, and 10-year-olds. We also have guides to gifts for tweens and teens. We’d love to hear about your own best stocking-stuffer ideas and traditions in the comments below.

Fruits of fortune

An orange (about $1.50 per pound at the time of publication)

Tucking an orange into a Christmas stocking is a tradition with a long history. In late-19th-century Europe, an orange was an exotic treat—both spendy and scarce. In the early 1900s, citrus growers pushed oranges as a delightful and healthful holiday gift, and gift givers jumped on the trend. During the Depression, the fruit was considered a luxury, and those in a position to get an orange considered themselves lucky. Although the sight of a lone citrus fruit hidden in a sock may generate a bit less awe than it did 100 years ago, the driving sentiment and emotional impact of the tradition are alive and well within many families. There are different reasons for keeping up the practice, but one common thread seems to be that the more-humble orange still reminds us of how fortunate we are. (Others appreciate that an orange rounds out the toe, creating a picture-perfect sock.) Some families give the tradition a twist: One Wirecutter friend reported that her Santa always places an interesting fruit in her family’s stockings—a rambutan, horned melon, dragon fruit, or anything they haven’t tried before.

Crowd-pleasing card games

Gamewright Sushi Go! (about $6 at the time of publication)
Rat-A-Tat Cat (about $12 at the time of publication)
Sleeping Queens (about $10 at the time of publication)
HABA Rhino Hero ($15 at the time of publication)
Exploding Kittens (about $16 at the time of publication)
The Fox in the Forest ($12 at the time of publication)
Coup ($14 at the time of publication)

Card games are another stocking staple, and for good reason—simple, family-friendly games can be lifesavers during the holidays, giving everyone something to do between big meals and long naps. To please a range of ages, we love Sushi Go!, a fast-paced, pick-and-pass card game featuring cartoon illustrations of nigiri, dumplings, and other delicacies. We also love Rhino Hero, which requires a steady hand to stack cards into a tower that’s sturdy enough to support a wooden rhino. (Both are among our favorite board games for kids.) We also love Rat-A-Tat Cat and Sleeping Queens, two card games in our guide to gifts for 6-year-olds. They’re easy to grasp yet challenging enough to be fun for all ages. Some of our own kids have also liked Exploding Kittens, the enormously popular game co-created by Michael Inman, creator of The Oatmeal. Exploding Kittens is a silly romp recommended for kids ages 7 and up. Ultra-simple but fast-paced brain games like Blink or Spot It—or a classic like Uno (now with a slew of themes, from Minecraft to Avengers to old-school Mickey Mouse)—can also help fill a stocking. And they will keep kids of all ages engaged through the holidays and beyond. For older kids and teens, Coup and The Fox in the Forest are favorites from our guides to beginner board games for adults and two-player board games whose boxes would fit nicely in a stocking.

Fun little somethings

Original Slinky ($4 at the time of publication)
Silly Putty ($7 for a pack of three at the time of publication)
Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty ($15 for a 3.2-ounce container at the time of publication)

The metal Original Slinky made it to my family most recently as a little gift for my then-3½-year-old when his baby brother was born. Its undulating steps and specific texture were a hit with him; I was happy to see that something invented accidentally in the early 1940s could still hold a kid’s attention. (If you want one that will walk down the stairs, consider the larger size.) Silly Putty is a similarly no-frills classic that feels right at home topping off a stocking filled with surprises. Little hands like stretching, snapping, bouncing, and smushing the stuff. (Be sure to show kids how to transfer newsprint off a page to the putty.) If you want a more modern take, we like Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty, which is recommended for kids 8 and older. Guaranteed not to dry out, it comes in a bunch of colors and effects—from scented to shimmering sparkles—picking up where its old-school predecessor leaves off.

Holiday colors

Crayola Twistables Slick Stix (about $12 for 12 at the time of publication)
Prismacolor Scholar Colored Pencils (about $13 for 24 at the time of publication)

Cracking open a fresh box of crayons or pencils is consistently satisfying—particularly if the set is something slightly special. Regular crayons can be so dissatisfying: Many just leave faint, streaky marks or break when your kid tries to color with any measure of enthusiasm. Crayola Slick Stix deliver maximum color payload, and they glide easily over paper. They’re more like oil pastels, with the added benefit of being tidily encased in a plastic barrel that you twist to let out more crayon. My nieces (5 and 8 at the time) were delighted by the vibrant drawings they made with these. My 4-year-old loves using them too. But younger kids definitely require supervision, since these crayons can leave stains on fabric and walls. Older children may prefer a more precise tool for drawing and coloring, and after we compared 13 brands of colored pencils, the vivid Prismacolor Scholar Colored Pencils were our favorite.

Seasonal sweets

See’s Candies Marshmallow Trees (about $26 for six individually wrapped treats at the time of publication)
April’s Maple Maple Candy (from $6 for a small, 1.75-ounce box of candies at the time of publication)
Li-Lac Chest of Gelt ($55 for a 1.2-pound chest of chocolate coins at the time of publication)

My siblings and I always found a special chocolate bar or marshmallow treat sticking out of our stockings on Christmas morning, and now my kids do too. When I lived in Los Angeles, paying a visit to See’s Candies was a part of my own holiday tradition; I’d buy the California confectionery’s chocolate Santas and marshmallow trees, as well as gelt for Hanukkah. A Wirecutter colleague who has tried both tells me the Hanukkah chocolates from Li-Lac surpass even those at See’s. After we moved to the Northeast, Santa became partial to giving little maple candies, which my kids confirmed as being a favorite after a trip to the sugarbush at April’s Maple in northern Vermont. Not that there’s any reason to get too fancy about the treats you choose: It turns out that finding these books of Lifesavers stuffed in a stocking is a treasured common memory of a number of my friends. The current version of the Lifesavers book is pretty lame in comparison, but now-unusual classic candies like Chuckles and Charleston Chews have also done a nice job of filling out the socks at my house.