Stocking stuffers for toddlers that aren't candy or junk
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A toddler's stocking has two jobs: look full at 6 a.m. and not end up in the trash by New Year's. Candy fails the second test. So do most of the bulk "party favor" bags that top the toy charts in December. The things below are small, cheap, and get used, which is a short list once you take out the sugar.
Everything here fits in a stocking or sits next to it. Ages are from the makers, and a few of these are rated 3 and up because of small pieces, so check the age against the kid.
Crayola Bluey Color Wonder Set
For the 2 or 3 year old who colors on walls. Color Wonder markers only show up on Color Wonder paper. On skin, carpet and the couch they do nothing. This set is 18 Bluey pages and five markers. The downside is built in: once the pages are used up you need more Color Wonder paper, and regular paper does not work. The trade is worth it in the car.
Crayola Color Wonder Magic Light Brush
For the toddler who wants to paint and the parent who does not want paint. Same mess-free idea, but with a brush that lights up and six little pots of Color Wonder paint plus 18 sheets. It feels more like real painting than the markers do. It needs batteries for the light, and again, the paper is proprietary.
Play-Doh 10-Pack
For every toddler, every year. Ten two-ounce cans in the basic colors. This is a refill as much as a gift, since the open cans from last year are rocks by now. Rated 2 and up. It contains wheat, which matters for a kid with an allergy, and the colors will be mixed into one brown lump within a week. That is what it is for.
Cupkin Animal Sticker Book
For the sticker kid. More than 500 animal stickers, 12 scenes to put them on, and 12 coloring pages, in a spiral book that lies flat. The lay-flat part sounds minor and is not; a toddler cannot hold a book open and peel at the same time. The stickers are regular paper stickers, so once they are placed, they are placed. Rated 3 to 8.
Stick4Ever Jelly Sticker Book
For the kid who puts stickers on the window, the fridge and the dog. Fifty reusable jelly stickers and seven scenes. They cling to glass and smooth surfaces, peel off clean, and wash in the sink when they stop sticking. This is the one that survives past January, because the stickers never run out. The scenes are simple and the stickers are the toy.
Bluey Aqua Art Water Reveal Pages
For a 2 year old who wants to do what the big kids do. Fill the pen with water, brush it over the page, and the picture appears in color. Let it dry and it fades so they can do it again. Four art sheets and four story sheets. The pen is the weak point: it leaks if it is stored lying down and it wanders off. Pack it in a zip bag.
JoyCat Paint with Water Books
For a kid who is slightly too young for real paint. The paint is printed on the page as a dry strip. Wet the brush, touch the strip, color the picture. Twenty pages on thick paper that does not bleed through, and the pages tear out so a finished one can go on the fridge. It is a one-time use book, unlike the water reveal pads above, so it is a stocking item rather than a keeper.
Crayola Mini Twistables, 50 count
For the kid who breaks crayons. Fifty short crayons in plastic barrels that twist up like lipstick. No peeling paper, no sharpening, and when they are twisted down they do not snap in a backpack. Rated 3 and up. Fifty is a lot; split the box between two stockings and nobody will know.
Suction Cup Spinner Toys
For the 1 year old in the high chair. These stick to a tray, a bath wall or an airplane window and spin when swatted. There is nothing more to them, and that is why they work at 12 months. Wet the cup before you press it down or it will not hold. These are the right stocking item for the youngest kid at the table.
Hot Wheels 10-Pack
For the 3 year old. Ten small cars, split across stockings or dropped in whole. The styles vary, so you cannot promise a specific car. Rated 3 and up for small parts, so this one is not for a younger sibling's stocking.
Melissa & Doug Soft Pull-Back Vehicles
For the youngest stocking. Four fabric vehicles with a pull-back motor inside, rated 9 months and up. They roll a few feet, they can be thrown, and they wipe clean. For a 1 year old this is the best car on this list, because every other car here is rated 3 and up.
Aurora Mini Flopsie Cat
For the kid who needs something soft in there. An eight inch beanbag-bottomed cat that sits up on its own. It is small enough to go in a coat pocket and soft enough to sleep with. Aurora makes dozens of Flopsie animals, so match it to whatever the kid is into. Rated 3 and up on the label, which is about the plastic eyes.
Bubble Solution Refill, 64 oz
For the whole year. Half a gallon of bubble solution does not fit in a stocking, but it goes under it and refills every wand and machine the kid gets handed in 2027. It is made in the US and dye free. There is no toddler alive who will be disappointed by bubbles, and the small bottles sold at the register run out in an afternoon.
From the drugstore on the way home
The best stocking fillers for a toddler are not toys. A toothbrush with a character on it. A box of bandages with cartoons on them, which a 2 year old will apply to themselves until the box is empty. A small flashlight. A clementine in the toe, because that is the rule. Socks with trucks on them. None of this needs a link.
Questions parents ask
What do you put in a 1 year old's stocking?
Things they can hold and mouth safely: the suction cup spinners, the soft pull-back vehicles, a board book, a toothbrush, and a snack pouch. Skip anything rated 3 and up. A 1 year old's stocking is mostly for the photo, so a few items and some tissue paper is plenty.
What do you put in a 2 year old's stocking?
This is the Color Wonder age. Mess-free markers or the light brush, Play-Doh, a water reveal pad, a jelly sticker book, and a small plush. A 2 year old can open things, so wrapping a couple of items inside the stocking adds ten minutes of fun.
Are stocking stuffers supposed to be small?
They are supposed to be cheap. Size is secondary; plenty of families lean a big item against the stocking. The rule that holds up is that nothing in the stocking should be something the kid would miss if it disappeared in February.
How do I keep stocking stuffers from being junk?
Buy consumables and refills. Play-Doh, bubbles, stickers, bandages and crayons all get used up, so they never become clutter. If a toy only exists to fill space, leave it out and put in a clementine.
Put these on a Heap.
Add anything you like to your list, or to a list you keep for your kid. The family claims quietly, and nobody buys the same thing twice.
