Some of my favourite toys this year squeak in under the £25 mark, which is amazing news if you’re trying to keep your Christmas budget under control. A lot of the cutest craft kits, coolest STEM toys and fun card games fit in this category, and a number of the products featured below are ones that have been a huge hit in my own household (or are firmly on the list for this year). Keep reading for some great buys that won’t break the budget.
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1. Learning Resources Fizzy Volcano
Recommended age: 4+
This is a lovely little kit for introducing preschoolers to science, and the experiments in the leaflet are easy to set up without the need for too many hard-to-find ingredients: although you should stock up your cupboards with food colouring, bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar. As well as making a volcano, there are some dinosaur-themed activities to try too, with freezable fossil moulds.
2. Jellycat Amuseable Candy Cane
Recommended age: from birth
Jellycat plush toys might not be the cheapest but they are amongst a surprisingly small number that are tested to be certified safe from birth. If you know a collector of any age, one of the festive-themed toys will make a great gift, but I like this one particularly for babies and toddlers as it’s a great shape to grab hold of and train those gross motor skills. Plus it looks cute on the mantelpiece at Christmas!
3. Clementoni Pen Creator Studio
Recommended age: 6-10
Clementoni has tapped into the very popular trend for cute stationery in a really fun way with this DIY pen studio, which allows kids to fill pens with beads and sparkles and add cute toppers to create their own unique designs. The set contains enough to make 10 pens and there’ll no doubt be some beads and sparkles left over. There are no refills as such, but you can buy smaller sets of 3 pens which would work within the studio itself for more fun.
4. The Genius Square
Recommended age: 6+
This clever little toy takes a classic puzzle to the next level by turning it into a time challenge vs an opponent. A modern classic which thrives on its simplicity, this toy has been winning awards for the last few years for good reason. It’s fun for adults too, and chances are your kids won’t even realise it’s a STEM toy that’ll teach spatial awareness, problem solving, sequencing and more.
5. Orchard Toys Don’t Wake Mr McGregor
Recommended age: 4+
This year’s collaboration between Orchard Toys and Peter Rabbit is a real favourite of mine. In this game, you race up the garden to collect vegetables from Mr McGregor’s garden while trying to avoid waking him. It’s my top pick as it’s well-designed to give all players a shot at glory right up to the end: some of the veggies are contaminated by bugs, so even if you collect the most you won’t know if you’ve won until everyone turns them over.
6. Slapzi Card Game
Recommended age: 8+
Like a grown-up version of snap, Slapzi is a fast-paced and really fun family card game where you win by slapping down a card from your hand to match a clue card (eg. “put down something that’s lighter than you are”). As well as encouraging quick-thinking, it also gives quite hilarious insight into how other people’s minds work, and it’s so easy to play that I think a fair few kids under the recommended age of 8 could pick it up quite quickly too.
7. World Football Stars Guess Who
Recommended age: 6+
The classic Guess Who? board game is older than me, but this fun makeover for football fans gives the 80s classic it a new lease of life. Featuring international players like Messi, Kane and Becker, it opens up a whole new crop of potential questions based upon the player’s football knowledge (“Have I played for Liverpool?” etc). Just make sure, if you do buy it, that someone else in the family able to answer those questions.
8. National Geographic Mega Gemstone Dig Kit
Recommended age: 8+
Got a kid that loves rocks? Here’s how to help them play on expert mode! They can use the provided tools to dig out a cache of gemstones from the ‘dig site’, clean them up then identify and learn about each using the learning guide. As a National Geographic-branded product, you can trust the quality of both the information and the gems themselves, and it’s a really fun way to get some STEM learning into playtime.
9. Lockitz Luxury Studio
Recommended age: 6+
Lockitz are cute pendants that your child can fill with charms, stickers and beads to make their own jewellery. Each one has its own ‘zoom bead’ printed with a secret affirmation that can only be seen through the magnifier on the back of the pendant. This set has enough pieces to craft 8 Lockitz – 2 necklaces and 6 bag charms – but they can be dismantled and remade so the fun doesn’t stop after the first session.
10. Spider-Man Walkie Talkie Set
Recommended age: 5+
These don’t actually come recommended by me, but by my 4 year old son, whose eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw them. Walkie talkies aren’t exactly cutting-edge technology, but the fun that can be had with them is endless. They’re also useful if you’re the kind of parent who does their best work from the sofa as they provide a direct line of contact with your kid(s). Me? Never…
11. Pati-School Party Creations Starter Kit
Recommended age: 6+
Pati-School is a really fun creative brand from Japan that combines jewellery, crafting and backing techniques. The main constituent is the Pati-School paste, which is used like frosting to decorate a selection of bakery-inspired charms like macarons and cakes. It dries in the air over a few days leaving your child with keyrings and trinket boxes covered with their own sweet decorations.
12. Jurassic World Wild Roar Parasaurolophus
Recommended age: 4+
There’s just something about dinosaurs that captures kids’ imagination, and a good dino figuring is a safe bet for most under-6s (and plenty of older kids too). This Parasaurolophus is inspired by Jurassic World’s Chaos Theory animated series, and features a ‘bioluminescent’ light along the back, plus a roaring sound.
13. Djeco Aperetif Playset
Recommended age: 3+
French brand Djeco makes the most adorable little playsets, and this Aperetif one is such a clever modern alternative to a toy tea set. There’s a jug, glasses and orange slices, plus a bowl of crisps and crackers with interchangeable toppings. The crisps even crackle when you pick them up. If you have a toddler who loves pretend play, this one is such a lovely treat.
Why are the prices in the links different to the ones on the image at the top?
As a general rule I list the full RRP on the image as this is how I categorise products into price ranges. However, brands and retailers often hugely discount toys, especially in the run-up to Christmas. I try to find the best deals to actually link to, so l will share the cheapest price I’ve found for you to shop.
