First time doing stockings

[LittleMissLady]

For a 3.6 dd and 15 month DS. (Ages at Christmas).

And completely stumped really as don't want to fill them up with crap/plastic tat!!

Any ideas. Budget is small too

Chocolate
Underwear
Hair accessories
Toothbrush
Soft toy
DVD
Book
Gloves
Silly straw
Crayons
Small toy
Craft items
Name plaque for bedroom door
Magic flannel

You need to think of things that you want to have as traditional in your family. Growing up, we always got chocolate money, gloves and a clementine.

My dc always get chocolate money and a swimming costume. (We live in Australia).

Some people do
Socks
Toothbrush
Schleich animal

They you have other things that you vary each year.

Ours was always chocolate and treats as well as an apple and orange. It was basically lots of bits wrapped up with loads of sellotape which would keep us occupied and in bed a little longer.

Lol at the in bed comment!
At this age I'm not expecting them to stay in their beds!!

Choc coins and a satsuma for sure.

Some great ideas here thanks

we always got a terrys chocolate orange,
a small puzzle type toy
and a clue towards where santa had hidden the real presents (it was made into a treasure hunt while mum made breakfast)

We do something along the lines of:
Something you want
Something you need
Something to eat
Something to read

Makes it so easy!

We do Ferngully's poem too.

So always a book.

Always sweets AND fruit (growing up it was a red apple, green apple (Granny Smiths), orange, mandarin, banana and kiwi each - which was great as usually we only had Golden Delicious apples at home).

Something useful and practical - new knickers or socks, hair bobbins, toothbrushes, or things needed in school pencilcases are great filler-uppers.

And then a few nice trinket-y bits. Bottle of bubbles. Loom bands or the shaped elastic bands. Small cars or a dollie outfit. Rub-down pictures. A decoration for the tree.

One of those fun things, if possible, being something to keep the DCs busy for an hour or more on Christmas morning always helps. Eating sweets (and fruit) while playing nicely before dragging parents out of bed - what a bonus! (DD will drag us out after a while, but is happy to play with something once she has shown it to us and has some food available instead of making us get up at stupid o'clock like 5am!!).

A few things from a list I made some years ago (ideas from another forum, for kids and grownups alike - I'm picking mostly kiddie ones but sorry if a few odd looking ones are in, and it is from a mostly American forum so some slight oddities in wording....)
Book mark
Small toys
Kite
Small game /travel game
Deck of cards
Themed card game
Action figure
Small dolls
Hot wheel s
Yo-yo
Slinky
Silly putty or play-doh
Sidewalk chalk
Silly straws
Small lego sets
Happy meal toys
Army men
Plastic dinosaurs/jungle animals
Doll clothes/Barbie clothes
Glow Bracelet
Bouncy ball
Small jigsaw or sliding puzzle
Brain teaser type puzzle
Rubiks cube
Character band aids
Character toothbrush
Flavored toothpaste
Fingerpaints
Bathtub crayons
Toys for the bathtub
Juice box
Drink bottle/cup
Baby toys/teethers
Gel pens
Markers
Art supplies
Foam stamps
Word search/fun pads
Piggy bank
Marbles
Small cookbook
Holiday shaped/scented soap
Bottles of craft paint
Modeling clay
Beads
Can of soda, Monster energy drinks, Gatorade etc.)
Accessories for ipod….skins, earphones, car charger etc.
Baseball
Small Football
Hockey puck /glow in the dark street pucks
Package of trading cards
Sports water bottle
$5 gift card to coffee shop, Target, drugstores, etc.
Unusual pen or pencil
Magazine of hobby or interest
Gloves
Scarf
Cd cases
Cookies
Night light
Stuffed animal
Chopsticks
Poster
Guitar strap
Guitar picks
Sheet music
Seeds for garden

Christmas socks
Pants
Toothbrush (get a firefly one which flashes for x amount of time)
Lush bath bomb
DVD
Lego polybags (I've got a stash of Daily Mail promo polybags - the next one will be Sept I think)
Sugar mouse
Magic flannel or personalised flannel
Bath toy
Tangle teaser

we put an outfit for xmas day in the stocking, some snacks, and something to play with, but it depends, xmas with my family the stockings need to get you through most of the day so will have more in, whereas at PiL's tree presents are all open by lunch, so the stocking is less important.

We always put in:

Choc coins
Satsuma
Musical instrument of some sort.
Bath toy of some sort.
Tiny book or some sort.
Some sort of toy (often a set split and wrapped separately).

My top buys so far this year have been some secondhand Sylvanian Family figures, a robofish (ordered via aliexpress) and a whoopie cushion.

I always put in some chocolate, bubble bath, hair bobbles, nail varnish, and any of her presents that are small enough to fit in the stocking. I don't do plastic tat so I try and put useful things in the stocking.

I hate character clothing, but Father Christmas always leaves pants/socks and maybe a T shirt featuring the dc's favourite cartoon of the moment.

Torches / little hand held, headtorches or finger lights usually keep them occupied for a while.

Slipper socks

Story CDs

DVD

We do choc coins, £1 coin wrapped up, scratch card, satsuma, new pants or socks, magazine (good for bulk if you're on a budget & more likely to start reading first thing than a book when they're older) small travel game (top trumps, uno etc) and a toy.

Love this thread! It's giving me some great ideas!!

Seeds or bulbs
Bath crayons

Big bottle of bubble bath

New socks
New toothbrush
Novelty toothpaste or bubble bath
Chocolate coins
Piece of fruit
Hair clips for dd
Small musical toy - last year DS got a harmonica, this year they are getting kazoos
Small toy which will fit like FP little people or a beanie baby

I like the idea of picking a tradition. We have problems that DH all have a pillow case full of their presents (biggish presents) and my family the more traditional stocking and separate tree presents.

In the past we have added magazines, pants, colouring books, craft stuff, mini toys like matchbox cars,chocolate coins and Dvds. Normally the stuff I can throw into my supermarket trolley and not really notice them. Would also suggest the cheaper elc games and puzzles which they reduce every now and then.

Obv. the traditional orange and choc coins. We add an apple and nuts as well, but you have to have at least one plastic thing as that's also traditional

Bubble bath takes up room if you have huge stockings and is practical but they love it, especially if it is Christmassy or in a favourite character's shape.

Fannels/soaps/sponges

socks/pants

some sort of small toy (mine have started to get rubber ducks each year)

hair stuff (clips etc) for girls

Notebooks and pencils

a book (if you can find one small enough)

Stocking Fillers do have some great little things. My mum used them back in the 70s when I was little and I do sometimes get stuff there as well.

I'm putting in Lego minifigure packs, playmobil surprise packs, moshi monster packs, always put in Chocolate coins or one of those huge Choco coins. Sylvanian families - eBay for cheap figure or sale item. Little people figures.
Other things - Disney infinity power discs, pez, tsum tsums (£3 ones, Disney store)or other small soft toy, lip balms, hairbrush, bangles, finger torch, small books, shower gel pouches or bubble bath/bath bombs.

I tend to put in smallish stuff and try to not spend over £3/£4 an item.
Over the years the cheap tat has disappeared as Iv realised it doesn't get played with and just takes up space so if getting toys I like to get ones that will already add to what they've got - Lego etc.
My kids on this Xmas will be nearly 8, 5 and 3.

I know you said you don't want plastic tat...

I get it to bulk out the stockings. It gets forgotten about in the excitement and when the children aren't looking, I hide it away and give it back out throughout the year for when they need entertaining eg car trips.