Gifts from UK for 10 & 8 year old Australian children

[blueskiesrule]

My dd will soon be starting as an au pair for a family near Brisbane. We’re in the UK & she’d like to bring a gift for the children, 10 & 8, both girls. No niche interests as far as we know. If you have any ideas on anything that might be seen as ‘cool’ or fun or hard to get hold of in Oz suitable for this age group we’d be so grateful. She was thinking of the Charbonel et Walker truffles in Union Jack box for the mum but unsure if Union Jack design suitable so might think again. She’s always had a thing about Australia, is very excited & would really appreciate any thoughts/advice at all (she’s 22 & it’s possibly the first time she might think my mumsnet obsession is remotely helpful 😀)

Paddington bear teddy could be cute for the 8 year old as a British thing

Something from specific uk shops that aren't accessible there? Eg Liberty/Selfridges/Harrods? For example liberty has lots of cute sewing kits which might suit that age.
Otherwise things that are more European eg if you can get some macarons or other nice foodstuffs that would be hard to get there. Depends on what time of year she's arriving though - don't try and take anything try at would perish very quickly in Jan/Feb as it's so humid.
Grew up in Brisbane for what it's worth.

My 8 and 12 year olds love to try interesting flavoured snack foods Monster Munch would be a hit, as we don't have them in our regular stores (well I shop at Aldi).

Percy pigs

What about loads of English sweets/snacks? Sherbet fountains? Space dust? Rock?

Be aware there are strong restrictions about bringing food products into Australia.

Coins? You can get uncirculated coins from the royal mint, or you can just go to the post office and ask.

Currently I think only the 50p has Carles III head on it.

On one of my visits I was asked to bring caramac bars. 'English lollies' are available but are more expensive.

I'm not sure if they are old enough for make up but maybe body glitter / bath stuff.

Books. I brought back a childrens cookery book and a set of Aussie cups, I supose the reverse would be a UK cookbook and some scales - it would also make an activity to do with the girls.

Nice notebooks, pens, pencils. The works do packs from £2.

https://www.theworks.co.uk/c/stationery/stationery-sets?tsz=60

I'm not sure but I don't thenk Australian schools provide stationery.

Again check but my relatives have always had to provide a packed lunch so maybe a couple of nice lunch boxes.

Prepackaged comercially produced is normally OK. You do have to declare it, fresh food / seeds / wood can be a problem.

Oh and you are asked not to pet the dogs they send to sniff the queue, which is really difficult because they are the cutests dogs ever.

I just came back from Scotland to Aus and brought penguin biscuits for my 10 & 7 year olds - then they taste tested against the Aussie version (Tim Tams) and that was a hit.

Penguins are stocked in my local Aldi now!!! I made DH do a taste test. We have established he has no taste (he preferred TimTams).

I would go with Lollies/sweets/chocolate that you can’t get easily in Australia. Charbonne let Walker would be a real treat for me, I think you can get some chocs in David Jones but NOWHERE stocks the drinking chocolate. I have done extensive research on this! The drinking chocolate would be fun for the kids as it is a bit of a performance to make.

British sweeties and crisps
Clothes that are different to their friends - probably a bit tricky not knowing tastes but maybe t shirts/accessories/hair &make up stuff- even if from Primark
Nice stationery - not from Smiggle which is Australian!
New books by British authors

Agree on sweets/chocs/crisps that you can't get in Aus. Quavers/Wotsits/Skips/Monster Munch/Hula Hoops/prawn cocktail are not available very easily in Australia - only very $$$ in specialist 'English' shops. Most toys and general kids stuff are the same in both countries (in fact I find toys cheaper in Aus - can't believe how much more Lego, Barbies etc are in the UK). My DD loves getting percy pigs from the UK, you can't get them in Aus.

Thank you all, very helpful. She loves Percy pigs herself so that’s a good shout plus a box of other typical English sweets (I forgot how she went through an obsession with American sweets so kind of the same I guess). Love the idea of a suitcase full of monster munch but can see that coming to a squashed end. And thank you to the poster that mentioned David Jones store as I’d been wondering how to send my dd a Christmas present once she gets there & that looks perfect. Fingers crossed for a great experience 😎

When we had au-pairs they sometimes got board games from their countries which is lovely and often makes us think of them when we still play them. So maybe monopoly? Paddington beat is also a good one. I always loved a tea towel with their home town on it (caution though - I generally LOVE tea towels as gifts!). One once got me a lovey cloth bag too from their home town with a zip - man I still love that bag!

Yes!

Sorry, don’t get stationary, especially cheap stuff, we have that in Australia as much as in the U.K. - it wouldn’t be a treat at all.
Sweets is a great one.

Another idea is something like a Harrods mug or UK keyrings (my kids used to put them on their schoolbag zippers as decorations).
Or a jigsaw of something near where you live - either london landmark or something closer to home if you don't live in london.
We had a great game called The London Game, where you had to get to ?3 underground stations, but you'd meet hazards along the way - had to go shopping on Oxford St, or boating on Regent's Park lake.