I went into Smiggle and hammered their 5 items for £5 and also their general sale where you could pick pencils up for 30p etc. Definitely worth a look if you live near one. I bought across a few months and it’s built up to the point where I can basically fill a stocking with Smiggle stuff and match attax cards.
I always wrap up a selection box and pop it in; they’re super cheap! My mum did the same for me and that was probably the reason!
Kids are always impressed by a big, wrapped box. For your 2yo you could bring out the old MN favourite of loads of balloons wrapped in a box. If there’s a party shop near you, have them filled with helium the day before Christmas and then wrap them. I would have done this with my DS, but for the first 4 years of his life, he was scared of balloons!
Stuff they need; socks, pants, vests, tights, leggings... buy them cheap and pretty in Primark. By the tills in Primark there’s always little character sponges for 50p, mini makeup palettes for £1-£2, mini cleansers, lip gloss, nail varnish, hair ties and hair clips... Speaking of Primark; they always have character fleecy blankets. My aunt bought my DS one 3 Christmases ago and he refuses to let it go, he’s loved it to death and it’s always out in his room. Bulky too, so it looks impressive wrapped up.
Email your DC’s favourite companies (Smiggle, H&M, Lush, Sainsburys toy section) and tell them how amazing they are and how much your kids love their stuff (give an example) and how you could never shop anywhere else. My cousin did this and ended up with loads of £5 off vouchers for all sorts of places! I was absolutely gin smacked when she showed me! Definitely worth it if you’ve got the time as emailing is free, and if you’re tech savvy then mail merge it and use the same basic letter template and just change the store name and the example of what they love each time. Easy peasy.
Don’t forget the old staples in the bottoms of stockings/pillowcases; nuts, clementines, chocolate money. Cheap and stuff you would have bought anyway.
Check charity shops and libraries for book sales. You can get new/nearly new books for pennies. My MIL is on super friendly terms with our local charity shop and picked up a box set of the Horrible Science books still in cellophane wrapping for £3! She’d got on talking terms with the ladies and asked them to let her know if anything like that came in as her DGS loved the books and contstantly had them out at the library. They actually rang her when it came in!
Ikea has a lovely play wooden kitchen for around £40; my friend’s daughter had it and she painted it too, in the end I’d say it was more hardwearing and more attractive than my DS’ GLTC one. If I had another DC, I’d buy the Ikea one and paint it pretty colours myself, just like she did.
Keep an eye out for the toy sales; 3 for 2 at Boots and Sainsbury’s also usually have some kind of event on around the October half term.
Hope this helps!