We cleaned out the toy room today. Now just the sheer fact alone that we have to have a whole separate room for the toys (and most of them previous stocking stuffers for kids) points to the problem here. I’ve come to the conclusion that my children have every toy they could ever possibly need. Not want. Need. 

We found 6 different sets of blocks, 17 dolls (including Baby Chicken Pox, Baby Twinkling Star, Baby Diva, Baby I Can Cry, and 3 different Cabbage Patch Babies), and enough McDonald’s toys to last a lifetime. There were bucketloads of toys that either sang, danced or blinked flashing lights, all with dead batteries. I dug up an old Barbie graveyard. Minus the Barbie clothes, of course. The horror stories go on and on. And yet my children insist there are still more toys they want for Christmas.

The Christmas List Culprits

I think I’ve discovered the real culprits here. And they’re smart, too. They wait until Saturday morning, when you’re wiped out from a long week and enjoying the indulgence of sleeping in. Gratefully, the T.V. will entertain the kids long enough to catch a few extra minutes of much-needed rest. They have the whole morning programmed full of innocent cartoons to keep the little ones busy.

So while we sleep, they cunningly fill our childrens’ heads with visions of Beach Party Barbie (beach sold separately), Skateboard Kate (batteries sold separately) and of course, Harry Potter Potion Maker Things (complete with enough potion to keep your mop and your carpet cleaner busy for months to come). 

Don’t give in. Don’t listen. Or by this time next year, Harry Potter and Skateboard Kate, minus the skateboard, will be concocting something that looks suspiciously like Barbie Brew. And soon enough they will all three join the mess down in “The Toy Room”. Meanwhile, your children will be outside playing…in the dirt.

13 Better-Than-Barbie Stocking Stuffers For Kids Ideas 

So, here are some alternate ideas for stocking stuffers for kids (or from the kids!), guaranteed to be more fun than the wrapping paper. 

1. Cozy Up With A Book 

Take the children to a thrift store  and have them pick out a book they would like to read or have read to them. Or have them take a look through the list of our favorite books and order them off of amazon! Then once you have your books, wrap them up with a note saying that it comes with some cozy time to read it together. Or, wrap up your own favorite children’s book with a promise to read it to them.

2. A Fun Family Outing 

Decide on a family outing that everyone would like to take, such as a trip to see Christmas lights, feed the ducks at a pond, go to the petting farm or some other family favorite. Print a picture of this place or activity, write the date you plan to go on the back, and pop it in those stockings! 

3. Christmas Service 

As a family, do a community project such as sponsoring a family in need in your community and providing gifts and food for them. Usually your local Food & Care Coalition will mail you a list of the needs of the people they serve. One fun activity for the kids is making sack lunches and delivering them to the homeless shelter. For the stocking stuffer, give each kid a can of food or a new pair of socks that you plan to donate, with a note written on a paper bag explaining the service. 

4. Matinee Movie 

Give children a coupon for a trip to the movie theater for a matinee.

5. School Lunch 

Give them a coupon to “do lunch” at their school. Pick a day when the school is having a favorite food. Good luck.

6. Pictures and Photo Albums 

Hand over your phone camera for a fun day taking pictures of the family or the things that are most important to them. Then make a slide show or print the pictures and organize them into a  scrapbook. Don’t forget to print some extra to send to grandparents! 

7. Adopt A Grandparent 

Visit a home for the elderly. Ask the people at the front desk which ‘grandma’ or ‘grandpa’ would most appreciate a visit. Go in and sing some songs, read some poems or a story or have them tell you about their family. Make sure you give them hugs and hold their hands to provide them with some much-needed love.

8. Sing Pretty

Help a child choose some favorite songs or lullabies to sing and record a video (or just the audio) onto your phone. You could make an album or slideshow of the child singing the songs for a brother or sister, parent or grandparent to listen to and save.

9. At-Home Spa 

Give a coupon for one long foot soaking and foot massage with your favorite lotion. The little kids love these too.

10. Puppet Show Performance

Make paper bag puppets, finger puppets or stick puppets and wrap them up with tickets to your own family play. Take turns putting on plays for each other. Cheer loudly!

11. Slumber Party Time 

Give a coupon for a family slumber party complete with videos, popcorn, and a pillow fight.

12. Sledding Trip 

Wrap a mitten or a picture of a mountain with a coupon to bundle up and find a good sledding hill to tackle as a family.

13. Start A New Tradition 

Give the gift of a new weekly tradition of your own, such as popcorn and stories or hot chocolate and a sing-a-long. Practice your new tradition religiously.

Give The Gift Of Memories 

There are so many gifts we can give that involve giving of ourselves more than spending money.

George Durrant once said, wisely, “If you were to ask one of my children, ‘Which would you rather do-ride on the roller coaster at an amusement park or wrestle with your dad on the floor at home?’ they’d say, ‘Ride on the roller coaster.’ But that’s just because they don’t really know what they are talking about. They just imagine that they’d rather ride the roller coaster, but they’d really have more fun wrestling with me.”

When it comes to stocking stuffers for kids, no child will ask for a paper airplane race or a tickle-fest for Christmas, they’ll ask for the latest and greatest toy they can think of. But when it comes time to pack them up and move them out, they won’t be taking Baby Burp or their Tonka Trucks. They’ll be taking their memories. And maybe some laundry soap. But mostly the memories. So make them good.

Originally published December 7, 2005 in the Crossroads Journal.