What can you put in a Christmas Eve box for a one or two-year-old?

What do you put in a Christmas Eve box for a one year old or two year old?

We started a family tradition of a Christmas Eve box the year that our daughter was born, and bought a lovely personalised wooden box that we hope will last many years. I wrote about what we put in the box for our first Christmas previously on this blog, and I thought I would do an update combining what we had in the box last year and this year, as the items and idea behind it were still quite similar.

In our box last year we had:

• Something to wear: Christmas pyjamas for our daughter
• Something to watch: A Christmas DVD – Winnie the Pooh: A very merry Pooh year
• Something to eat: A mini bag of Lebkuchen cookies
• Something to do: A mini Christmas quiz game I got from Amazon (in the green organza bag) and a mini general knowledge quiz in a box
• Something to read: That’s not my reindeer, as my daughter loved these books
• Something to keep: A personalised Christmas tree decoration
• And of course her letter from Santa!

This year we are going for some very similar ideas:

• Something to wear: a new pair of pyjamas, though not Christmas ones as I want her to be able to wear them throughout the year. I’ve also got a set of matching socks for the three of us (we don’t do matching outfits or pyjamas) – which I got from Roy’s Boys Socks. I won’t say which design as it’s a surprise for my husband as well, but let’s just say there’s mummy, daddy and baby versions!
• Something to watch: The same DVD – A Christmas DVD – Winnie the Pooh: A very merry Pooh year! We didn’t end up watching it at my parents’ last year, or it might have been put on but not for long as my daughter wasn’t interested. But recently she has started watching Winnie the Pooh on television – my husband loved it as a child so was keen to get Sophie into it, and she has been really enjoying it. So I think we will try the Christmas DVD this year!
• Something to eat: I will probably slip in some chocolates or cookies for us nearer to Christmas but I also came across this Paw Patrol beaker for only £3.50 at the Range which has the Chase character on top, a bendy straw and some sweets inside. The mini moo loves Paw Patrol and it’s going to be a big feature of her Christmas presents, so I think she will like this!
• Something to do: A Christmas sticker and activity book.
• Plus reindeer food – the idea is that you sprinkle ‘reindeer food’ on your garden or leave in a small bowl next to Santa’s mince pie. It’s typically a mixture of porridge oats and glitter, but if yours contains glitter, you must not sprinkle it outside as it is harmful to wildlife. Equally you could make an eco-friendly sort of trail mix for Santa’s reindeer using oats, raisins, grated carrot and so on. We got this packet at a Christmas event last year and it’s still sealed so I don’t actually know what’s in it yet!
• Something to read: A board book called the 12 Days of Christmas
• Something to keep: A personalised Christmas tree decoration, plus the personalised plate and Santa Stop Here sign have come out again from last year.
• And a letter from Santa.