Welcome to Metropolitan Mama's list of the best stocking stuffers for all ages! I've tried to include a variety of ideas - games, toys, accessories, gear, candy, snacks, and practical things that will actually be used throughout the year. I will update this page yearly with new and unique ideas.
You've got to see these adorable mini hand puppets by Folkmanis! These tiny, hand-held animal finger puppets are lifelike and oh-so-cute. Plus, they are the perfect size for stockings! Peek one or two out of the top of the sock for instant oohs and ahhs!
I first discovered Book Darts about a decade ago - and my reading life has never been the same! These tiny metal arrows, packaged in a convenient circular tin, make it a breeze to mark beautiful quotes, interesting statistics, or anything noteworthy as you read. Book darts are *perfect* stocking stuffers for readers, scholars, scientists, and students!
Bring a smile to your child's face by slipping a funny, inspiring, or encouraging note into his or her lunchbox. Peter Pauper Press makes a Kindness themed set, which offer quotes and sayings to remind kids to uplift their classmates and friends, as well as a USA themed set, which offers fun facts and trivia about all 50 states! These boxed card sets make a great stocking stuffer for any parent.
Letter stickers are useful for a million different purposes. Use them in posters, scrapbooks, planners, bullet journals, invitations, classroom papers, notecards, and so much more! The So. Many. Letter Stickers book by Workman has 3,820 different alphabet sticker designs to choose from.
The Godiva Milk Chocolate Caramel Penguin Pouch, with its adorable packaging, is hiding 17 pieces of individually wrapped creamy milk chocolate caramels.
Journals are useful for a gazillion things - grocery lists, poetry, test prep, lesson planning, sermon notes, etcetera. Pick up a pretty or interesting one for anyone on your list. Pictured: Dog Days, Lavender Wildflowers, and Watercolor Petals.
Theo Chocolate offers organic, fair trade, and made from scratch chocolates in beautiful packaging and fun special-edition flavors for the holidays!
Know someone who reads past his or her bedtime? The NeckLite Readling Light offers 3 brightness settings and 2 beam widths to provide the optimal amount of light for reading on camping trips or under the covers.
Any reader will be delighted to joy down notes, lists, and snippets of poetry on The Library Notepad. This rectangular pad has 80 easy tear-off pages in 4 different literary designs that repeat throughout.
Watch movies without bad language, violence, and/or sexuality with - Clearplay! Our family uses Clearplay almost every time we watch a movie. It's simple to use with any of your favorite streaming services (Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc). Pick a movie, choose your settings, and enjoy great films without having to fill your mind with harmful images and words. Stuff a stocking with a Clearplay subscription for year-round uplifting entertainment!
Dover Publication's miniature sticker books are the perfect stocking stuffer due to their size and artistic appeal. Available in a variety of themes - animals, sports, flowers, fairy tales, etc - these tiny books are affordably-priced ($1.99!) and absolutely adorable.
These "no-rip, super grip" hair ties are taking the haircare world by storm! Available in a number of colors and sizes, TELETIES are lovely to look at (In fact, they are so pretty that they can double as bracelets!) and tough enough to keep stray hairs in place for braids, ponytails, and other styles.
Boxed note cards are practical, pretty, and perfectly sized to place in stockings. Peter Pauper Press and Princeton Architectural Press publish lovely options for a wide range of hobbies, interests, and occasions.
Pictured: Music Note Cards, Vintage Parchment Thank You Cards, Bird Garden Note Cards, Emily Dickinson Note Cards, Thoreau Note Cards.
If your kids love trivia, they'll go crazy over the fun question and answer decks by Brain Quest. Each one has between 300-1,500 age-appropriate educational questions. Super fun for restaurants, road trips, or around the dinner table!
Westcott's non-stick craft mat comes rolled up in a rectangular case, which is a great size for stockings. The durable mat is non-stick, heat-resistant, and stain-resistant. Kids can use it to protect surfaces when creating with paint, play-doh, clay, kinetic sand, slime, glue, etc. An adult version is also available for teens and grown-ups who enjoy crafting also.
Re-stocking school supplies in December is a good idea since many items have likely been lost, broken, or worn out. A new, brightly colored ruler is a fun and practical stocking stuffer that can be used for math homework and arts & crafts.
Literarians - both young and old - will appreciate Jane Mount's darling bookish accessories. The pencils have quotes from classic novels, such as "Nothing that we do is done in vain" (A Tale of Two Cities) and "I like good strong words that mean something" (Little Women).
If the girl in your life owns an American Girl doll or another 18-inch doll, consider buying a new set of doll clothes. American Girl has almost any theme you can think up. We have our eye on the Janie & Jack X American Girl collaboration for holidays 2022.
For kids who are 8+ and/or reading proficiently, Quiddler is a stocking stuffer sized game, which is receiving rave reviews. The publisher describes it as a "short word game." Be the first to arrange all of your cards into one or more words. Then, watch as the others scramble to play their words against yours! Can also be played as solitaire.
Smarty Pits offers fresh scents in appealing containers. Most importantly, their deodorant is aluminum-free, paraben-free, phthalate-free, and talc-free.
For thick, long, or curly hair, Burlybands are the very best hair ties! They are wide, strong, and soft! No slipping, snagging, breaking, or tugging.
A strong and sharp pair of scissors can be used for so many different projects! Westcott's Titanium Bonded Scissors are 3x harder than steel and rated for heavy use, which means you can use them to cut through boxes, plastic packages, and thick fabric. They even come with a lifetime warranty! This is a great stuffer for kids who make "inventions" out of cardboard - robots, playhouses, costumes, etc.
Elegant in its simplicity, the Emily Dickinson Notebook by Princeton Architectural Press features a decorative pressed flower cover, blank lined pages, and little bits pf poetry throughout.
Stuckonyou has dozens of personalizable stocking stuffers! Be sure to browse their entire collection for inspiration, but we particularly want to draw your attention to the super handy personalized elastic pencil pouch. Available in five different colors, the compact pencil pouch has an elastic strap, which allows it to be easily secured to almost any journal, sketchbook, or novel. Ideal for aspiring writers and artists! ***Be sure to check out the name labels from this brand also. No more lost water bottles and notebooks in 2020!
Kids who regularly write letters to penpals, grandparents, and friends will be thrilled to find sheets of personalized address labels in their stockings. Stuckonyou offers 68 different designs, which are perfect for ages 1-12+.
If you have a dog lover in the house, he or she will love toting school supplies, library books, and other special treasures around in the Dog Everyday Tote. Made proudly in New Hampshire by artist Claudia Pearson.
A handheld pencil sharpener is a super practical gift pick that is sure to be used all year by writers and artists. The Grip Trio Sharpener by Faber-Castell sharpens both jumbo and regular size graphite or colored pencils to a perfect point. Each section has a compartment to contain shavings.
Pencil pouches make great gifts for students, writers, artists, and parents! This adorable "Adventure Awaits" faux leather pouch is chic in pink and cream with shining gold lettering.
Kids who spend hours in artistic pursuits will be thrilled to find Pitt Artist Pens by Faber-Castell in their stockings. This set includes four pens, which have a brush nib that works like a paintbrush for wide brush or thin lines. Colors can be layered on paper, canvas, and journals.
Little girls with long hair typically don't appreciate having their hair brushed out due to terrible tangles. Make the chore easier with Fairy Tale's Tangle Tamer Static Free Detangler - available for purchase online or at Target, Walmart, Ulta, and Safeway. Fairy Tale's hair products are free of harsh chemicals, toxins, paragons, and sulfates.
Put this in the category of super useful stocking stuffers. My kids use dry erase markers daily for school assignments, to-do lists, and big drawings on our white board. Even our 3-year-old asks to use dry erase markers regularly to doodle on small boards that are just his size! Consider putting a few new dry erase markers in each stocking (this is a great idea for teachers, entrepreneurs, and teens too!). We've found that the Quartet brand is genuinely reliable and offers bold, dark ink.
If you're searching for a practical stocking stuffer for a high school student, consider The College Search Organizer, published by Peter Pauper Press. This slim, fill-in guide is part journal and part organizer. College bound students can track applications and test scores, while also keeping detailed notes on any college visit.
The truth is that any kind of tape is a really smart stocking stuffer - scotch tape, duct tape, masking tape, painter's tape, or packing tape (to name a few). What makes Washi Tape extra fun is that you can purchase it in specific themes and colors to match your child's interests. You can find Washi Tape in every color of the rainbow and in countless adorable designs: animals, planets, vehicles, the alphabet, etc.
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What are YOU putting in stockings this year? Tweet me with your ideas!