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Last-Minute Christmas Gifts for Kids: 15 That Work
Last minute Christmas gifts for kids aged 3 to 8: 15 you can still buy nearby, make tonight or book and print at home, plus the toy safety checks.
The best last minute Christmas gifts for kids are things you can still get today: something from a nearby shop, something you make tonight, or a day out you book and print at home. Here are 15 for children aged 3 to 8, five of each kind, and the safety checks that still matter when you're in a hurry.
What changes when it's 23 December?
Not what makes a good present. A three to eight-year-old still wants something to do, someone to do it with, and something to open on Christmas morning.
What changes is the shortlist. On 23 or 24 December you can only give what's in reach: in a shop near you, in your own cupboards, or on a ticket you can print. Anything that has to be posted has probably missed its chance.
That's less of a problem than it feels. The ideas below lean on time and attention, which a child notices more than the price, and several of them are things no shop sells.
What can you still buy on the high street?
Five things a supermarket, bookshop, DIY shop or charity shop is likely to have on Christmas Eve.
1. A book with a message from you inside the cover
Choose one at their reading level, or a little above for reading together, and write a line inside saying why you picked it. Years from now, that line may be the bit they reread.
Good for: ages 3 to 8, indoors, together. Under £10, or £10 to £25.
2. A big floor puzzle
Twenty-four to a hundred large pieces, on the living room floor on Boxing Day. Choose one with a picture they'll want to finish, such as a map or a busy street scene.
Good for: ages 3 to 6, indoors. £10 to £25.
3. A Boxing Day baking kit
A packet of biscuit mix, a few cutters, a tub of sprinkles and a wooden spoon, in a mixing bowl tied with string. The present is the afternoon of baking that goes with it.
Good for: ages 3 to 8, indoors, together. Under £10, or £10 to £25.
4. A den kit
A cheap single sheet, a bag of clothes pegs and a few bulldog clips, packed in a bag with a hand-drawn plan. It turns two chairs and a sofa into somewhere to hide for the afternoon.
Good for: ages 3 to 8, indoors, or outdoors on a dry day. Under £10.
5. A board game from a charity shop
Charity shops often have family games for a few pounds. Open the box in the shop and count the pieces against the list on the lid, because a game with the dice missing is a let-down at 7am.
Good for: ages 5 to 8, indoors, together. Under £10.
What can you make tonight?
Five that need only what's in the house and an evening.
6. A book starring them
Fold four sheets of paper in half, staple the spine and write a short story in which your child is the hero. Draw the pictures yourself, however badly. It may well be read more than most shop-bought books.
Good for: ages 3 to 7, indoors, together. Under £10.
7. A treasure hunt for Christmas morning
Write six clues, each hidden where the last one points: the fridge, the bath, a welly. The last clue leads to something small, or to one of the other presents. Pictures instead of words work for children who can't read yet.
Good for: ages 4 to 8, indoors. Under £10.
8. A junk modelling box
Fill a shoebox with clean cereal boxes, kitchen roll tubes, lids, a glue stick, sticky tape and child-safe scissors. Wrap it. It's a box of rockets, castles and robots waiting to happen.
Good for: ages 3 to 8, indoors. Under £10.
9. A board game you drew yourself
Draw a snakes and ladders board on the back of a cereal box, with your family's in-jokes on the squares: "Fell in a puddle, go back three". Add two counters and a dice from another game.
Good for: ages 4 to 8, indoors, together. Under £10.
10. A dressing-up box from your wardrobe
Old hats, scarves, a handbag, a waistcoat, a pair of big sunglasses. Take off any long cords or loose ribbons before it's wrapped, and it'll be in use before lunch.
Good for: ages 3 to 7, indoors. Under £10.
Which experiences can you print and wrap?
Five presents that are booked online, printed at home and wrapped in a box so there's still something to open.
11. Tickets to a pantomime or a children's show
If a local theatre still has seats for a date between Christmas and New Year, book them, print the tickets, roll them up and put them in a box with a programme you've drawn. If you add a small torch, make sure its battery cover is screwed down.
Good for: ages 3 to 8, out together. £10 to £25 or £25 to £50 a ticket.
12. A family pass to a museum, zoo, farm or garden
A year's pass to somewhere near you means going back again and again, not once. Print the confirmation and a map of the place, and circle where you'll go first.
Good for: ages 3 to 8, out together. Over £50.
13. A term of lessons they've asked about
Swimming, dance, gymnastics or football. Book the first term, print the confirmation, and wrap it with something they'll use there, such as goggles or a water bottle.
Good for: ages 4 to 8, out of the house. Over £50.
14. A day out with you, on a ticket you designed
Make a "golden ticket" for a specific trip: a train ride to the seaside, a walk to the big park with a picnic, a morning at the swimming pool. Put the date on it so it's a promise, not a maybe.
Good for: ages 3 to 8, out together. £10 to £25.
15. A picture of the present that's on its way
If you've ordered something that won't arrive in time, print a picture of it, write when it's coming, and wrap it with something small they can use now. See the section on late presents below.
Good for: ages 5 to 8, wherever it ends up. The price of the present.
How do you choose when time's nearly up?
Three tests you can run in the shop or at the kitchen table.
- Will they use it this week? The days between Christmas and New Year are long. A den kit, a puzzle or a show fills them; something that needs batteries you haven't got doesn't. Our Twixmas activities have more for that week.
- Can you do it with them? Most of the ideas above are better with an adult. That's the point, not a drawback.
- Is there something to open? Even the best printed experience is a piece of paper. Put it in a box with something they can hold.
What safety checks still matter in a rush?
Rushing is when the label gets skipped. The Office for Product Safety and Standards gives a short list for buying toys safely at Christmas, and every point still applies on 24 December.
- Follow the age warning. OPSS explains that the age marking on a toy reflects hazards like choking, and says to stick to it. A charity shop game with small pieces isn't one to wrap for a three-year-old, or to leave out if there's a toddler in the house.
- Check for button batteries and magnets. Any button battery in a toy should sit behind a flap that's screwed shut, OPSS says, and it warns that swallowed button batteries and magnets can kill. If you suspect a child has swallowed one, go to A&E at once, symptoms or not.
- Take off loose ribbons and cords. Ribbons left loose on a toy or a costume are a risk to small children, OPSS warns, which is why the dressing-up box above loses its cords.
- Be wary of bargains. If a toy is a fraction of the price other sellers charge, OPSS says it's likely to be counterfeit, and that reputation matters when you choose a seller. Toys sold in Great Britain come under the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011.
What if the present isn't ready by Christmas morning?
It happens to everyone eventually: the order that didn't come, the toy that sold out, the plan that was always going to be a day out in January.
It's easier to manage than it feels, as long as Christmas morning still has a moment for them. Wrap a printed picture, a ticket or a handwritten promise in a real box, with one small real thing inside: a pencil, a hair clip, a satsuma. Say plainly when the rest is coming. An older child can look forward to it. For a three-year-old, keep the wait short and make the box's contents good enough to stand alone.
And if the present isn't coming at all, because you forgot or the budget ran out, the made-tonight ideas above are not second best. A book with your child as the hero is a present only you could give.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good last minute Christmas gift for a child?
One you can get your hands on today and that they'll use this week. A book with a message from you inside, a den kit of a sheet, pegs and clips, or a printed ticket for a day out together all qualify. For a three to eight-year-old, something to do beats something to look at, and a present you made beats a rushed one from the wrong shelf.
What can you give a child for Christmas instead of a toy?
Time, in a form they can unwrap. A printed ticket to a show, a family pass to a museum or farm, a term of swimming or dance lessons, or a homemade voucher for a day out with you. Wrap the printout in a box with one small clue to what it is, so there's still something to open on the day.
Is it OK to give a present that arrives after Christmas?
Yes, if there's something to open on the day. Print a picture of the present, write a line about when it's coming, and wrap it with something small they can use straight away. Tell them when it's coming. For a younger child, keep the wait short and make sure the thing in the box is enough on its own.
What can you give a child who already has lots of toys?
Something that uses up time rather than shelf space. A day out with you, a show, lessons in something they've asked about, or a homemade treasure hunt for Christmas morning. If it has to be a thing, choose one that gets used up, like art supplies or a junk modelling box, so it isn't still in the cupboard next December.
Next year, with a little more time
Our own mats aren't on this list, because they have to be posted. If you're reading this with weeks in hand rather than hours, start with our screen-free Christmas gifts for kids, the screen-free stocking fillers cover the small things, and the Christmas Eve box ideas take care of the night before. Our kids' yoga mats are there whenever you're ready.
