The most welcome Christmas gifts for children are the ones that feel grown-up in a small way: a first fragrance of their own, a watch to learn the time on, a bracelet to share with a best friend, or a bath-time set that turns the evening routine into an occasion. We have grouped our choices by kind of gift, with a short reason for each, and every one carries its own age guidance and directions, which are worth reading before you wrap it. For a baby in the first months, our guide Gifts for a New Baby: Thoughtful Sets for the First Months covers gentler ground.
How Do You Choose a Christmas Gift for a Child?
Start with the child rather than the category. A five-year-old who loves bath time and a ten-year-old who wants to look after her own things need different gifts, and the pack usually tells you which is which: look for a stated age, such as “from 3 years”, and for directions that mention adult supervision. A gift a child can use alone is welcome; a gift that needs a parent’s hand is still a good one, as long as you know which you are giving.
Presentation matters more at this age than at any other. Character packaging, a box with a clear window or a bag with a handle is part of the pleasure, and it makes the gift easy to recognise under the tree.
A First Fragrance
A first bottle of perfume is a gift many children remember. Children’s fragrances are made to be light, and the houses that make them ask for a gentle hand: a light spray, away from the eyes, with an adult nearby.
Tous Kids Eau de Toilette comes in a frosted pink glass bottle with a teddy bear cap and a matching box. Scalpers Kids Girl Eau de Toilette is presented in pink glass printed with the house’s skull and crossbones motif, under a silver cap. Parfums Saphir’s Saphir Kids Pink is a 300 ml spray bottle with a cartoon girl on the label, and the house suggests spraying it lightly onto clothing or hair rather than the face. Nenuco’s Original Cologne carries the house’s original scent in a 240 ml spray bottle in teal, white and blue.
- Kids Eau de Toilette
- Scalpers Kids Girl Eau de Toilette
- Saphir Kids Pink Eau de Toilette
- Original Cologne
Each of these houses asks you to keep the spray away from the eyes, and Tous, Parfums Saphir and Nenuco suggest it is used under adult supervision. A first bottle is a good moment to show a child how little is needed.
Bath-Time Gift Sets
A gift set makes an ordinary evening wash something to look forward to, and it gives a child a few pieces that are entirely theirs.
The Hello Kitty Eau de Toilette Gift Set pairs a 50 ml eau de toilette, in a round bottle with Hello Kitty’s face, with a 400 ml shower gel and shampoo, in character-shaped packaging with a clear window. Martinelia’s Little Dinosauric Bath & Body Gift Set brings together shower gel, body lotion, bath bombs, bubble bath and shampoo, six pieces in all, in dinosaur-themed packaging. Cartoon’s LOL Surprise Baby 01 Kids Bath Set gathers bath and hair-care pieces and a printed brush in a pink carry bag with a curved handle and a zip, handy at home and for travel.
- Hello Kitty Eau de Toilette Gift Set
- Little Dinosauric Bath & Body Gift Set
- LOL Surprise! Baby 01 Kids Bath Set
Martinelia asks that each item in its set is used as its own label directs, and Cartoon’s set is for use under adult supervision. Keep bath products where an adult reaches them first.
First Jewellery
A first piece of jewellery is as much about the ritual of wearing something as about the piece itself. At this age, colour, charms and the chance to share matter more than metal.
Inca’s Pearl Charm Bracelet strings pearl-style beads with a pink bow and a mix of charms, among them a small Eiffel Tower. The Pulsera Bff Lote Bracelet Set is a pair of beaded bracelets with small dangling charms, adjustable to the wrist: one to keep and one for a best friend. For a child who would rather make her own, Inca’s Girl Jewelry Set holds seven assorted beads in mixed shapes and colours, each with a hole sized for threading onto cord or elastic.
Inca suggests taking bracelets off before bathing, sleeping or active play, and supervising children while they thread beads. Small pieces are best kept by an adult until the child is ready to look after them.
A First Watch
A watch is often the first thing a child is trusted to look after, and a clear analogue dial makes telling the time a daily habit rather than a lesson.
Stroili’s Purple Silicone Dress Watch has a 27 mm silicone case and strap with a pin buckle, a white dial with Arabic numerals under acrylic glass, and a quartz movement. Stroili’s Blue Plastic Children’s Watch pairs a plastic case and strap with a numbered analogue dial, minute markers and a cartoon face. The Colorblock Cartoon Watch, also quartz, has a numbered dial and a character graphic that runs across the face and onto its red, black, blue and yellow strap.
The Purple Silicone Dress Watch is rated 3 ATM, and Stroili’s advice is to keep it dry after splashes, so it is not one for swimming. We explain what each rating means in Watch Water Resistance: What 3, 5, 10 and 20 ATM Really Mean.
Gentle Care for Every Day
Not every gift needs to be a surprise. A few pieces of gentle care, chosen with the child’s age in mind, are things a parent will reach for every evening. Choose two or three and present them together as a set of your own.
Klorane’s Junior 2-in-1 Shower Gel with Pear Fragrance washes body and hair in one, with oat in a tear-free formula, and is made for children from 3 years. A-derma’s Rhealba Oat Hydrating Shower Cream is a soap-free wash made for fragile skin and for the whole family, in a 500 ml pump bottle. Dr. Tree’s Junior Sensitive Skin Solid Body Wash is a pH-neutral bar for sensitive skin, with rice oil and cocoa butter. After the bath, Seven Kids’ Gentle Almond Body Milk is a light lotion with sweet almond oil, niacinamide (vitamin B3) and prebiotics that helps skin feel soft and hydrated.
- Junior 2-in-1 Shower Gel with Pear Fragrance
- Rhealba Oat Hydrating Shower Cream Body Wash
- Junior Sensitive Skin Solid Body Wash
- Gentle Almond Body Milk Body Lotion
Keep washes away from the eyes. If a child’s skin is broken, sore, or a rash does not settle, ask your pharmacist or doctor.
Presentation and the Note
Children open presents quickly, so let the gift do the work: a character box, a bag with a handle, a watch already set to the right time. A short handwritten note saying why you chose it is often the part a parent keeps.
If you choose one thing, choose a first fragrance or a first watch, the gifts that tell a child they are growing up, and read the age guidance on the pack before you wrap it.
