Stocking must haves for your DC?

[Liveinthepresent]

I am only just getting the hang of all this with DD who will be 3.9 this Christmas and DS 18 months.
last year I realised it was all about the stocking - and I guess this year is the first time DD will have expectations and remember it all properly next year! so to help me create a winning formula - please tell me what are your annual staples that always go down well - do you have some things you put in every year?
And how do you get the balance between tat and longevity without spending too much?

Pants, socks, funky toothbrush, flavoured toothpaste, those £1 tubes of sweets maybe jelly tots,
A couple of small puzzles to keep them occupied till a more civilised hour,
What do your LOs like?

Pants and socks and a chocolate orange are the essentials. Beyond that, FC tends to buy stuff that quite clearly Mummy wouldn't buy because it is a waste of money

For slightly older DC, there is generally a notebook and pen for writing your list for thank you letters and a book for them to read until it is time to get up and someone will get some sort of quiz or puzzle type thing that can be done as a family at dinner at some stage over Christmas. All of those are harder for littlest though.

..and something cuddly. There has to be something cuddly.

Same as my brother and I always got
when we were little
Chocolate coins, tangerine, apple, a Christmas book, cosy socks then 4 or 5 small individual gifts.

Mine have always had:

Annual
Chocolate coins
Variety pack-sized box of Coco Pops
Felt tip pens and colouring book
Small cuddly toy
Small collectible eg Trash Pack or whatever they're into
Tube of sweets

Oh these are great replies thanks - I think it's too easy to get caught up in what the retailers tell you are stocking fillers but they are £££!
It's made harder by the fact that I don't really remember stockings from my own childhood.
DD loves stickers and balloons so that's easy.
DS loves banging things and anything his sister is playing with.
I have never been so excited about Christmas.

I think stockings are more about quantity than quality at that age, so try need to look full.

Mine get
Battery toothbrush
New pjs (but given on Xmas eve)
Chocolate Santa
Tube of smarties/sweets
Drinks bottle

The rest is made up of smallish toys.

Chocolate coins
Tooth brush
Play dough
Trump cards

I like the "pocket money" bit in Wilkinson's for stocking fillers. You get lots of little puzzles, stationery, miniature dolls, slinkies, general "tat" but it's dirt cheap and alot of it actually seems to last quite well. They have little projector torches and watches as well.

If DS' birthday falls on a school day I grab a few bits from there too, to save opening all the big stuff when I'm trying to ship him off to school.

I have a 4 y/o DD and this is what I've got on my list so far:

Chocolate coins
"Dark Beauty" doll from Maleficent
Set of personalised colouring pencils with a personalised pencil case
"Little Mermaid" pyjama set
Pair of woolly gloves
Face paint crayons

My 'formula' is that I buy 3 or 4 quite nice and a bit more expensive presents (to me 'expensive' sotcking fillers are about the £6-10 mark) and fill the rest with cheaper stuff.

But the key for me is that the cheaper stuff has to be EITHER useful (like pens, crayons, stationary, flannels, magnets, toothbrushes, cheap toys that have a point to them like marbles etc) OR use-up-able (bubbles, bubble bath, notebooks, chocolate, food etc) because I hate being left with cheap pointless tat all over the house!

My staples are a book, chocolate, socks or tights, some kind of game/puzzle and small soft toy. Then I get a few different things each year...novelty flannels, bubble bath and notebooks always go down well and anything that lights up! I aim for about 10 things.

My DC are older (will be 15yo DS and 12.6yo DD)
Their present piles have got smaller and fewer as they've got older.

We do stockings for Christmas Morning and Christmas Eve Hampers.

Stockings are:

new underwear
bath smellies
paperback book
Selection box
Lindt chocolate figure
pens
keyring

Christmas Eve Hamper has PJs, bathrobe,jar of sweets, annual, hot chocolate

I always put in a bit of tat. I don't like doing loads of it but a little is essential. This year it's oidroids and some colour-your-own spinning tops.

Small lego things (mixels this year)

Top trumps

Underwear

Socks

Toothbrush

I'm not sure we will follow all the traditions though, as I think we've outgrown some IYSWIM.

Oh we used to always have figurines too - sometimes Disney characters, sometimes animals (wild republic do some great ones). For the little one you could get some happyland figures.

Chocolate coins
Satsuma
Christmassy socks
Bubble bath
Sticker book
Annual
Sweets

Like coffeechocolatewine, I have an aversion to tat but my DDs have rather large sacks so it's always fun to fill!

The bulk is made up with useful stuff: new clothes including tops, underwear, dressing gown if needed, tights etc etc. Any new stationery stuff that is needed or anything needed for their hobbies. This probably makes up 2/3 of their sacks and by and large is stuff they would get anyway, but all helps fill the sacks!

Then they get naughty treats that they're not normally allowed. Things like huge boxes of chocolately cereal (never buy at home - only have on holiday and at Christmas!), bubble gum and other favourite sweet treats. Atm, my DDs are into Oreos and we never buy them, so they'll each have a couple of packs in there.

A book / DVD / cd / game. Whatever they're into at the moment.

A couple of bits I may have seen and thought that they would like.

And three things they're allowed to request in their letters to Santa.

My DDs are 7 and 10 now, but we've always followed this formula.

A toothbrush (I have no idea why - it's traditional)
A £1 coin.
A satsuma.

They always get new pants at Christmas, a selection box, an annual, bubble bath etc. which all goes in their sack.

Toothbrush/toothpaste themed e.g. Thomas the tank engine
Individual box of coco pops
Special drink e.g. M&S do a Percy pig carton
I do cheap and nasty sweets e.g. Those sour sprays, but maybe not for toddlers!
Magazine with loads of free tat on front
Christmas socks or pants

The stocking has to have-

• A whoopee cushion- therefore the whole family can spend all day pretending not to notice when DS slips it underneath them :o
• Lynx shower gel/ spray- when DS "believed" that was true proof as I would never buy such awful stuff for my PFB!
• A toothbrush, no idea why though! This year DS is getting a "real" electric one like ours so that will not be an option again :(
• Sweets- ditto the reasoning behind the Lynx :o

A giant chocolate coin
A gingerbread man
Then just small bits, eg pens, puzzles, a small book etc, probably half a dozen bits each.
Their stockings are quite small.

Never done the traditional satsuma, nuts (or toothbrush).

Dc are just 4 and 7. They get:

Tube of sweets
Socks
DVD
Soft toy (small!!)
Hair stuff for dd
Football cards for Ds
Book
Toothbrush
Sponge
Bath stuff like foam that they don't usually get
Notebook
Maybe gloves etc depending on if they need them
Few little things like bubbles , wind up Walking dog etc

Toothbrush
Cutlery
Wash mitt
Bubble bath/body wash
Satsuma
Sugar mice
Chocolate Santa
Small bath toy
Hair clips/bobbles for the girls and the boy usually gets a small toy of the same value
Underwear

Christmas Eve stockings-
Chocolate coins
New pjs
socks
Slippers
Teddy bear
Festive friends

North Pole breakfast stocking-
Christmas pjs
Lush christmas bath bomb
Christmas colouring books
Christmas soft toy of some kind
Christmas related healthy snacks
The ELC christmas set and activities like snap cards, stickers etc
This year they're getting a new cushion for their beds, last year they got their christmas duvets.

We have a £2 per item max n no more than £20 for whole stocking the odd gift may cost slightly more n many less :)

Ds is 4 n has in his so far flashing Spiderman yoyo, stickers, glitter glue pens, activity book, choc orange, 2 mini playmobil sets (asda reduced to £1 each in April).

DS is 6

Pants
Socks
Bubble bath
Chocolate coins
Lego people
Yoyo
Expanding face cloth
A few other bits and pieces that I may see in the pound shop

I spend ages doing stockings

So far the 2 dds have each

Novelty toothbrush
Wash mit
Miniature body wash
Novelty lip balm
Erasers
Purse with a £2 coin
Bubbles
Stickers
Bouncy ball
Novelty chocs/sweets
Hair bobbles / clips

DS is nearly 12 and so hard to buy for, his stocking costs a lot more to fill because he deems himself too old for the tat

iTunes card
Xbox live membership card
Keyring
Pen
Book
Choc orange
Slice of choc pizza
Reeses chocs
Novelty stationary including a pritt stick

Mine will be 2 and 4 and are both getting:

Magazine
Satsuma
Chocolate coins
Bubble bath
Lego mini figure
Cd of kiddie music
DVD