There's a toy somewhere in your house, or someone else's, that was opened on Christmas morning and forgotten by the 5th of January. We've all given one. These aren't those.
This is a guide to 25 Christmas gifts for kids that get used: things to do, make, grow, read and give. Organised by age, with a mix of ideas for every budget, including a few from Oxfam Unwrapped that might get them thinking bigger.
Christmas gifts for kids under 5-years-old
The best Christmas presents for young kids aren't always the most impressive ones. They're the ones that get played with on the floor for a while, handed to a grown-up to hold, and then played with again. Tactile, open-ended, and ideally involving someone they love.
1. A grow-your-own kit
Seeds, a small pot, a bag of soil, and a handwritten card with instructions. Wrap the whole thing in a tea towel. It doesn’t have to cost much, takes 10 minutes to put together, and gives a child something to check on every morning. Possibly every 11 minutes on day one. Sunflowers, cherry tomatoes, and basil are all reliably forgiving. Choose locally sourced seeds and compostable or second-hand pots wherever possible.
2. Homemade playdough with a recipe card
A jar of homemade playdough (made with flour, salt, cream of tartar, water and food colouring) is a genuinely great present for a toddler. Include a handwritten recipe card so they can make more when it eventually ends up in the carpet. Choose a colour. Add glitter if you're feeling generous toward the parents.
3. A board book by a local or First Peoples author
A well-chosen board book outlasts many toys. Look for Australian authors and illustrators, and specifically for First Peoples storytellers — there are beautiful, widely available options that introduce young children to Country, language, and stories. Your local independent bookshop will have recommendations.
4. A family experience
An aquarium day pass, a wildlife park visit, a guided nature walk — any safe experience that gets a small child out into the world. They might even get tired enough to nap later. Choose locally operated wherever possible.
5. An open-ended fabric or wooden toy
The kind that doesn't do anything in particular, which means it can be anything at all. Silks, stacking rings, simple wooden blocks. Choose from an ethical maker with minimal packaging. These are the toys still being played with in three years.
6. A making-something-together IOU
Handwritten on a card: one afternoon of baking, one birdfeeder built from scratch, one batch of something they get to eat before dinner. The specificity is the gift. "I will make gingerbread with you" is something for you all to look forward to.
7. Colouring-in cards from Oxfam Unwrapped
Four designs by artist Xaviera Altena, each one named for something worth growing up with: The Future is Equal. The Future is Dignified. The Future is Courageous. The Future is Fearless.
Each card arrives as a printable PDF, so you can order now, print tomorrow morning, and hand a child a crayon. Each card represents a real donation to Oxfam and can support women like Afsana in Bangladesh, who built a handicrafts business from Oxfam's training program and now employs 10 women.
Browse the colouring-in collection.
Christmas gift ideas for kids aged 5 to 10
This is the age where gifts can feel harder. They have opinions now, and a growing suspicion of adults’ style. Do not attempt to freestyle. The Christmas gifts that land for this group are the ones that feel like them.
8. A board game the whole family will play
Not a children's game, but an actual game that everyone at the table wants to play. Look at independent game publishers, check second-hand options first, and choose something with enough strategy to hold an adult's attention. The best family games are the ones still coming out at Easter.
9. A cook-something-together kit
A box of fairtrade ingredients, a printed recipe, and an IOU for an afternoon in the kitchen. Choose a recipe they'd choose, maybe something with chocolate, or from another country's cuisine. Something they've been wanting to try. The cooking is the event. What they make is the bonus.
10. A book chosen specifically for them
This should be a book you picked because of something specific about who they are right now. Your local independent bookshop will help you find it in under five minutes if you describe the child.
11. A nature experience
A guided wildlife tour, a snorkelling lesson, a day in a national park with a ranger-led walk. Look for locally operated guides and, where available, First Peoples-led experiences — these are exceptional and support communities and conservation.
12. A craft kit that makes something for someone else
Friendship bracelet kits, handmade card sets, a terrarium kit for a grandparent. The shift from making-for-me to making-for-someone-else is an important one, and this age group is ready for it. Choose kits with minimal plastic packaging and natural materials where possible.
13. A contribution to a savings account
Put it in an envelope with a handwritten note explaining what it is and what it could become. Slightly abstract for a five-year-old, genuinely exciting for a nine-year-old who's starting to understand that money accumulates. Include a rough calculation: "If we add this much every birthday and Christmas, by the time you're 18..."
14. A magazine subscription from an independent publisher
A children's magazine that arrives in the post every month from an independent publisher (think: science, nature, art, stories). The gift that turns up in January, February, and March, when Christmas is well and truly over.
15. Kids Bundle from Oxfam Unwrapped
Five cards in one bundle: Clean Water, Honey, Emergency Food Supplies, a Duck. And Toilet Paper.
Yes, really. The Toilet Paper card is the one that gets passed around the table.
Each card represents a real donation to Oxfam. The Duck card, for example, can support women like Chon in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, whose income from raising ducks and chickens now pays her daughter's school fees and covers the family's medical bills.
Give the bundle to a child and they'll have five different cards to look at, five different stories to find, and one very good question about what toilet paper has to do with changing someone's life. (Answer: access to safe sanitation is one of the most impactful things Oxfam funds. But they don't have to know that yet, the conversation will get there.) Or, give one card to each child you need to buy for.
Christmas presents for tweens and teens
Tweens and teens are the hardest group to buy for and the most likely to clock when something wasn't chosen for them specifically. The Christmas gifts that work for this age group are ones that take them seriously (their interests, their future, and increasingly, their sense of what's fair in the world).
16. A skill-based experience
A cooking class, a surfing lesson, a first aid course, a photography workshop. Choose something that matches an existing interest or opens a new one. Choose experiences from locally operated businesses where you can. This is the age where they start to become who they're going to be, and a gift that builds a skill is always worth giving.
17. A book chosen for who they are this year
Same principle as the younger band, with higher stakes. A tween who feels seen by a book they didn't expect will remember it. Ask their parent, sibling, or teacher what they've been into lately — then find the book that meets that. Try your local independent bookshop, again. They're very good at this.
18. A contribution to a first savings account
More meaningful at this age than at any other. If they don't have one yet, help set one up (then contribute to it). Include a note about compound interest. They'll pretend not to care. They'll remember.
19. A day of volunteering together
Choose an organisation you know they'd care about — an animal shelter, a community garden, a food bank, an environmental project, youth homelessness. Do it with them. The gift is the day, not the gesture.
20. An ethical or fair trade item they'll wear or use
Some people in this age group are developing strong opinions about how things are made. If that sounds familiar, choose a piece of clothing, an accessory, or an everyday item from an ethical maker. Just make sure it's something they'll really want, not just because it has a certification on the label. Ethics will not rescue a hat they hate.
21. Christmas Cow from Oxfam Unwrapped
For the tween or teen who's started paying attention to how the world works. This card represents a real donation to Oxfam, and can support women like Loeur in Cambodia, a farmer whose Oxfam-assisted training helped her improve her yield and build an income that now funds her children's education. Kids their age are going to school because of donations like yours.
22. Christmas Goat from Oxfam Unwrapped
Do you know a teenager who's worked out that the world isn't always fair and is wondering what to do about it? This card can support women to raise animals and grow food for their families, building independence in a world that doesn’t always support them in that.
Small Christmas gifts for kids (stocking fillers and e-cards)
The stocking is its own brief: small and surprising. These three Oxfam Unwrapped picks are probably the only ones that'll still be talked about at lunch.
23. Christmas Fish
"Fin love with this gift." The most budget-friendly card in the entire Oxfam Unwrapped collection. It requires some explaining, which is the fun part. Your card can support women like Ma Chantha and communities along the Mekong River to protect their natural environment while earning a living. Available as an e-card, schedulable for Christmas morning.
24. Christmas Chicken
"Pecking a winner." Can support women like Chon in Lao PDR, whose farming income now pays her daughter's school fees. A card that gets a real reaction and spreads the impact further than your four walls. E-card available.
25. Colouring-in card
The Future is Fearless. Or Courageous, equal, or dignified. Whichever name fits the child. One card, one donation, one printable PDF arriving within 30 minutes. The stocking filler that turns into an afternoon and some mind-expanding conversations.
Browse our charity Christmas gifts.
How to give a child a charity Christmas gift they'll love
The question isn't whether a charity gift is a good idea. It is. The question is how to give one so that a child feels like it's theirs.
Let them choose, even a little. Show them two cards and ask which one. The animal lover will have an opinion about Fish versus Chicken. The teen who cares about water and climate change will find Clean Water obvious. Ownership starts with the choosing.
Tell the story at their level. This is pretty obvious, but don’t use words like "communities facing inequality"; talk about the Mekong River. It’s not "livelihood assistance", but ducks and chickens, and a mum whose daughter's school fees are now paid. Kids respond to specifics they can relate to.
Connect it to something they already care about. An animal-obsessed child gets a chicken card for a reason. A teen who's been asking questions about safety and respectful relationships might appreciate a card that can support women with safe refuge. Find the connection between what they care about and what the card does.
Give them something to hold. Print the card or get a physical card posted. Pull up the product page and show them the photo. Let them keep the certificate. The tangible thing makes the abstract real.
Always keep in mind: the story is the gift. The card is how you convey it.
Ready to find the right one?
There are 25 gifts with something beyond the unwrapping, and a few that'll still be talked about at New Year, which is the real test.
The full collection of gifts for children has everything from the Kids Bundle to individual animal cards, colouring-in designs, and more. Tax-deductible, schedulable, and available right now.
For more ideas across all ages, read 35 unique Christmas gift ideas. Are you shopping for someone who genuinely has everything? This guide is for them.
