What We're Actually Giving Our Kids for Christmas 2021

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you click my link but does not change your price. See my affiliate policy here.

While I love seeing a variety of different gift guides, what I love most of all is hearing what people are actually giving their real-life children! It always spurs some ideas for me, and it’s just fun seeing other parents’ excitement over thoughtful gifts.

For the last few years, we’ve done an experience gift for our kids main present, and this year is no different. The only change is that we’re limiting the number of physical items even more and doing a few different experiences. I’m so excited to give our kids the gift of time through activities they’ll love.

Read on for what we’re giving our kids for Christmas 2021, including their kids stocking stuffers!

Family Gift: A Trip

The main gift for all of us is a trip we’ll take next year. We’re so excited for this as it’s a place we’ve wanted to visit for a long time. We were thrilled when we saw flights go on sale to get there!

We’re still trying to figure out exactly how to tell our kids about the location. We’re hoping we can pull of an at-home escape room, but if that gets too complicated, we’ll set up some sort of scavenger hunt. I hope it adds some extra fun and excitement to Christmas morning!

Kids Christmas Gifts

Other than the big gift of the trip, we decided to do 4 other gifts for our kids: 2 individual experiences, one physical thing to open and play with on Christmas day, and a book.

Here’s what we chose for each of our 5 kids!

11 Year Old Boy Christmas Gifts

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tickets – My older 2 kiddos are both giant Harry Potter fans. When Dan and I went to see Cursed Child a couple years ago, we thought about taking them along. But the show was presented in two parts (on different nights), each of which was quite long. It felt tricky to keep them up so late two nights in a row and we weren’t sure they’d enjoy it to its fullest because of that. So when I saw that the show had been combined into just one part, I knew it would be the perfect gift for them!
GoCar tour in San Francisco – This is something we’ve seen around for a while and thought it would be a fun and unique thing our kids would love. We always love exploring close to home, and I think they’ll be tickled to do it in this thing!
Wood Carving Kit – My oldest is very into tinkering and carving. He has a couple of pocketknives and loves messing around with sticks and other stuff he finds. I think he’ll be super excited to have some real tools and materials with which to practice!
Born To Fly – N is a giant Steve Sheinkin fan (as am I!) and he loved the Sheinkin book we got him for his birthday. I thought this would be another terrific one, and I love that it gives him a chance to learn about some incredible women.
Christmas Outfit – White shirt (this is my favorite one for little boys) + plaid suspenders (out of stock but these are similar)
Matching Family Holiday Pajamas – We always give our kids their pajamas over Thanksgiving weekend so they can wear them as we put up decorations and throughout the season. It’s so fun!
Stocking
- Mandarin orange
- A pair of Darn Tough socks
- Silicone bedside lamp – our book lights keep getting misplaced, so this seems like a great solution that can go on the little shelves by their bunk beds
- A couple shimmer outline markers
- A box of Trader Joe’s jelly beans
- A Nationals hat – N outgrew his favorite one and this one was on sale for under $2

9 Year Old Girl Christmas Gifts

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tickets – My daughter will be JUST as excited for this as my son!
GoCar tour in San Francisco – Honestly, this is just going to be so silly and fun. Each child will get to ride with one parent so it will feel like a one-on-one experience.
Pogo Stick – My daughter is my kid most into various outdoor toys. She bought herself some roller skates a couple years ago, and is constantly jump roping. I think she’ll have so much fun with this!
The Daughter From A Wishing Tree: Unusual Tales About Women In Mythology – There aren’t tons and tons of women in Hindu mythology, so I love that this book highlights some of them and think my daughter will love it, too. I found this one in the San Francisco Asian Art Museum gift shop!
Christmas Dress
Matching Family Holiday Pajamas – We always give our kids their pajamas over Thanksgiving weekend so they can wear them as we put up decorations and throughout the season. It’s so fun!
Stocking
- Mandarin orange
- A pair of Darn Tough socks
- Silicone bedside lamp
- A couple shimmer outline markers
- A box of Trader Joe’s jelly beans
- A cooperative card game – K is our kiddo who loves card games and I think this will be a new fave

7 Year Old Boy Christmas Gifts

Saturday Science Camp – A local science camp occasionally has one-day camps on Saturdays. My almost-7 year old absolutely loves animals, so I think this will be a great fit.
GoCar tour in San Francisco – I’m confident T will be super excited about this.
Portable Table Tennis – T recently started tennis lessons and has been really enjoying it. I think he’ll have a great time setting this up anywhere at home and playing with siblings.
Boxcar Children: The Great Shark Mystery – Dinosaurs have been T’s favorites, but he’s running out of dino books at his level. This shark one seems like it will be a good next step.
Christmas Outfit – White shirt (this is my favorite one for little boys) + plaid suspenders (out of stock but these are similar)
Matching Family Holiday Pajamas – We always give our kids their pajamas over Thanksgiving weekend so they can wear them as we put up decorations and throughout the season. It’s so fun!
Stocking
- Mandarin orange
- A pair of Darn Tough socks
- Silicone bedside lamp
- A couple shimmer outline markers
- A box of Trader Joe’s jelly beans
- Glow in the dark dinosaur temporary tattoos

4 Year Old Boy Christmas Gifts

Saturday Science Camp – I think A will be so thrilled to finally get to go to a camp of his own, and to see his brother there, too.
GoCar tour in San Francisco – A is actually the reason I first thought of this activity. I think he’s going to absolutely lose his mind with excitement. We saw them driving around recently (after I arranged this) and I was thrilled to see that he was enamored by them!
LIte-Brite – A loves fiddling and crafting, so I think he’ll love this classic.
Goodnight Ganesha – The themes and illustrations in this one are just stunning.
Matching Family Holiday Pajamas – We always give our kids their pajamas over Thanksgiving weekend so they can wear them as we put up decorations and throughout the season. It’s so fun!
Christmas Outfit – White shirt (this is my favorite one for little boys) + plaid suspenders (out of stock but these are similar)
Stocking
- Mandarin orange
- A pair of Darn Tough socks
- Silicone bedside lamp
- A couple shimmer outline markers
- A box of Trader Joe’s jelly beans
- Glow in the dark dinosaur temporary tattoos
- Tape activity book

Almost 2 Year Old Girl Christmas Gifts

Date to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo – My littlest has never been to this darling little zoo and amusement park. It’s the perfect size for toddlers and preschoolers and I think she’ll love a little one-on-one outing.
Junior Museum & Zoo – This cute places is reopening after a big renovation! We loved it before – it’s so tiny and cute and little ones love seeing the few animals. It’s small and inexpensive so it’s perfect for a little toddler morning outing.
Magna Tab, Slinky, Pop Tubes – I couldn’t resist getting her a few little fairly inexpensive toys to play with and that will be fun to take on road trips/in the RV, too. She’ll have a blast with these on Christmas morning, especially since she isn’t quite old enough to understand the experiences that will come.
Where Three Oceans Meet – I truly cannot wait to read this beautiful multigenerational travel story to the places of my ancestors with my daughter.
Christmas Dress
Matching Family Holiday Pajamas – We always give our kids their pajamas over Thanksgiving weekend so they can wear them as we put up decorations and throughout the season. It’s so fun!
Stocking
- Mandarin orange
- A set of my favorite baby socks (that actually stay on!)
- Undies
- A box of Trader Joe’s jelly beans
- Bath crayons