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Christmas Eve Box Ideas: 12 Calm Things for Kids Aged 3 to 8
12 Christmas Eve box ideas for children aged 3 to 8, packed in the order the evening runs, so the box winds them down for bed rather than up.
The best Christmas Eve box ideas for kids are the things for the last hour of the day: new pyjamas, a book to read together, a small hot chocolate, a job for the reindeer and something slow to do before bed. Pack them in the order the evening runs, and the box becomes the bedtime routine.
A Christmas Eve box, also called an Xmas Eve box, is a box or basket a child opens on 24 December, holding a few small things for the night before Christmas. It's a family tradition, not a rule, so there's no set list and no right amount to spend.
Many boxes are built to thrill. This one is built for the other job on Christmas Eve, which is getting a very excited child into bed. For the main presents, see our children's Christmas gift guide.
What usually goes in a Christmas Eve box?
A typical Christmas Eve box holds new pyjamas, a Christmas book, a hot chocolate sachet and a mug, a small treat and often a film to watch together. Many add reindeer food and a note for Father Christmas. The common thread is the evening itself: everything in the box gets used before bed.
Our list leaves out the film. Not because it's a bad idea (in plenty of houses it's the main event), but because this box is for the hour after it.
That hour matters, because Christmas morning tends to start early. The NHS children's health service for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough gives a guide of 10 to 13 hours' sleep a day for children aged 3 to 5, including naps, and 9 to 12 hours for children aged 6 to 12. For under-5s, the NHS advises not letting your child look at laptops, tablets or phones in the 30 to 60 minutes before bed, because the light from screens can interfere with sleep.
What are some ideas for filling a Christmas Eve box for kids?
Here are 12 Christmas Eve box ideas in the order the evening usually runs: a few last jobs after tea, then bath and pyjamas, then the slow half hour before lights out. Keep them in that order, leave out anything loud or needing a screen, and check the age warning on anything bought.
After tea: the last jobs
1. A new bauble for the tree
A decoration with this year written on it, hung as the last job on the tree. Over the years it becomes a row of them. Good from age 3; shatterproof if there's a toddler about.
2. Plain oats for the reindeer
A paper bag of plain porridge oats to scatter on the doorstep for the reindeer. Two minutes of cold air and a look at the sky, then back in. Good from age 3.
3. Paper and a pencil for Father Christmas
Paper, an envelope and a pencil for the note beside the mince pie. Younger children draw; older ones write questions Father Christmas must answer by morning. Good from age 3.
Bath and pyjamas
4. New pyjamas
The most familiar Christmas Eve box item. Opening them signals that the evening has turned towards bed: bath, then straight into the new ones. Buy a size up and they'll still fit in spring. Good from age 3.
5. Bed socks
Soft socks for cold feet tonight and a cold landing at dawn. Cheap, worn straight away, and one less thing to hunt for when the stockings come out. Good from age 3.
6. A hot chocolate kit
A mug and one sachet, made together after the bath. Keep it small and warm rather than large and sweet, serve it at the table, and let it cool for younger ones. Good from age 3.
7. A new toothbrush
Because the hot chocolate came first. A toothbrush in a Christmas colour turns the least popular part of bedtime into something they unwrapped, which is about as much glamour as teeth ever get. Good from age 3.
The last half hour
8. A bedtime stretch card
A card you write yourself with three slow moves: kneel and fold forward like a sleeping mouse, hug both knees on your back, then lie still as a starfish for ten breaths. Our bedtime yoga routine for kids has more to choose from. To keep the moves going after tonight, our Freedom Flow kids' yoga mat has a calmer floor sequence of 15 numbered poses engraved into it. Good from age 3.
9. A Christmas story to read together
One book for reading aloud on this one night: a picture book for 3 to 5 year-olds, a short chapter book or Christmas poems for older children. Read it with the big light off and the landing light on. Good from age 3.
10. A small torch for shadow puppets
A pocket torch for a two-minute shadow show on the bedroom wall, then it goes off and stays off. Government toy safety advice says button batteries in a toy should sit safely behind a screwed-down flap, and the same check is worth making on a torch. Good from age 4.
11. A "tomorrow morning" card
The house rules for Christmas morning, agreed tonight: what time counts as morning, where the stockings get opened, and whether presents come before breakfast. It answers the questions that would otherwise come at four o'clock. Good from age 4.
12. A soft toy or blanket for bed
A small fleece blanket or a toy that only comes out at bedtime. The NHS suggests giving your child their favourite toy or comforter before settling into bed, and a new one can join the old favourite. Good from age 3.
How do you put a children's Christmas Eve box together?
Pick five or six ideas: one job for after tea, one or two things for bath and pyjamas, and one or two for the last half hour. Pack the first job on top, so the box empties in order. An illustrative box for a three-year-old: plain oats, new pyjamas, a small hot chocolate, a picture book and a soft toy.
The NHS suggests starting a winding-down routine around 30 minutes before the time your child usually falls asleep. For a child usually asleep by about 7pm, an illustrative evening: oats on the doorstep at 5.30pm, bath and pyjamas at 6pm, hot chocolate and teeth at 6.15pm, the stretch card at 6.30pm to start the wind-down, the story at 6.40pm and lights out at 6.50pm.
The stocking is a separate job: see our screen-free stocking fillers. For the afternoon before the box comes out, try our Christmas activities for kids.
What if your child is too excited to wind down?
Some will be, and that's Christmas Eve, not a failure of the box. Keep to the order, lower your voice, skip the torch if it's making things livelier, and go straight to the story. For a child who keeps getting up, the NHS advice is to take them back to bed with as little fuss as possible.
The box isn't a sleep remedy, and nothing in it will guarantee a lie-in. It's a plan for the evening, and on the most exciting night of the year a plan is mostly for the grown-ups.
Frequently asked questions
What goes in a children's Christmas Eve box?
For children aged 3 to 8, the usual picks are new pyjamas, a Christmas book, a hot chocolate kit, reindeer food and a note for Father Christmas. Many boxes add a film. For a calmer evening, swap the film for a story read together and a few slow stretches before bed.
When should you give a Christmas Eve box?
There's no rule. Many families hand it over after tea on 24 December, so everything in it gets used that evening. Give it too early in the day and you get pyjamas at lunchtime and a long wait until bed.
What is the 5 gift rule for Christmas?
The 5 gift rule is a parents' rule of thumb: something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read, and a fifth, usually something to do or something to share. Versions vary and it has no official source. A Christmas Eve box often covers "wear" and "read" with pyjamas and a book.
What can you put in a Christmas Eve box for a baby or toddler?
For under-3s, keep it simple: pyjamas, a board book and a familiar soft toy. Follow the age warning on everything, as government toy safety advice says age restrictions are based on risks such as choking, and leave out anything with small parts or loose button batteries.
The present that gets opened a night early
Some families let one present be opened on Christmas Eve. If your box has a stretch card, a yoga mat suits that slot: the card gets somewhere to happen tonight, and the mat is still there on Boxing Day and on a wet Saturday in January. It won't fit in the box, so a note saying "look behind the sofa" does the job.
Ours have 15 numbered poses laser-engraved into the surface, so there's nothing to set up and no screen to follow. They're designed for ages 3 to 8. Three- and four-year-olds copy the poses with a little help; older children lead their own sessions. Under three, we'd wait.
Each mat is 183 x 61 cm, full length on purpose, so there's room to stretch out at three and still at eight. Buying as a grandparent? There's room for you to lie out as a starfish too. The trade-off is that a shorter mat is easier for a three-year-old to carry alone; ours weighs 800 g and rolls up with a carry strap.
It's non-toxic, PVC-free TPE, according to our supplier's specification, with 6 mm of cushioning. Use it on a dry, flat floor. Hot chocolate down it by Boxing Day? Wipe it with a damp cloth and a little mild soap, then let it dry flat.
Freedom Flow keeps to the floor, which suits the last half hour of Christmas Eve. Sun Salutation is a standing sequence, for children who'd rather be up and moving. Both are the same size, material and price, and the two pose sequences side by side shows the difference. Doing boxes for two children? Two or more mats are 10 per cent off. If yoga is new in your house, start with our beginner's guide to kids' yoga.
Pick a colour to hide behind the sofa from our full-length yoga mats for children. £34.99 each, with free UK delivery and 30-day returns.
