Recently I talked about some great Christmas traditions to do with your kids. One of these traditions was to do a Christmas Eve box. But what would you put in a toddler Christmas Eve box?
The idea behind the Christmas Eve box is to give your child a small box (about the size of a shoe box) of presents on Christmas Eve. These gifts typically revolve around something the family can do together on Christmas Eve, while still giving each child something of their own.
A Christmas Eve box makes a great tradition for young kids, especially if they just can’t wait to open gifts! These boxes get the festivities going a little early, and help to build the excitement for Christmas morning. So without further ado, here are some ideas for your toddler’s Christmas Eve box.
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Toddler Christmas Eve Box Ideas
1. Christmas Pajamas
The first thing you can put in your toddler’s Christmas Eve box are pajamas. They can be Christmas themed pajamas, winter themed, or just soft and warm for the winter. It’s up to you!
When it comes to baby and toddler clothes, I personally love and recommend Carter’s. They have some super cute Christmas pajamas, and I have always found their clothes to be soft, high quality, and reasonably priced.
And if you’re really feeling the Christmas spirit, you can even get matching Christmas pajamas for the whole family. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years!
2. Christmas Socks
If you’re not into Christmas pajamas, or if your toddler already has a plenty of warm winter pajamas, try Christmas socks instead.
Toddlers love soft and fuzzy things. You might find that some soft and fuzzy socks are just the thing for your little one. This gives them something fun and warm to wear on the night of Christmas Eve.
If you have hardwood floors, try getting socks with grips on the bottom. These can keep little toes warm without causing a ton of slips and falls.
3. Book
A book (or a few) is a fantastic gift for toddlers, and make great Christmas Eve gifts.
There’s actually an Icelandic tradition of gifting books on Christmas Eve, and then spending the rest of the night reading. Pretty cool if you ask me, and I love the idea of incorporating this into a Christmas Eve box. And if you want to use it as an educational moment, teach your kids about the Icelandic tradition!
You can use pretty much any toddler appropriate book to add to the Christmas Eve box. If you want to stick with Christmas books, Amazon has some great options. My toddler’s personal favorite is The Little Blue Truck’s Christmas.
4. Movie
If your family likes to watch movies, getting a toddler friendly movie to watch Christmas Eve makes a great addition to your toddler’s Christmas Eve box.
You can watch your toddler’s movie first, and then watch your favorite Christmas movie (or an older child’s Christmas Eve movie) after your little one has gone to bed.
Some ideas for classic toddler friendly Christmas movies are A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Polar Express.
We got Elijah The Polar Express for Christmas last year, and he is obsessed with it.
5. Snacks
Let’s be real, toddlers love snacks.
Regardless of what your family eats or doesn’t eat, I am positive you can find some snacks that you can add to your toddler’s Christmas Eve box.
If your little one is still working on transitioning to solid food, you might try Beechnut’s fruit or veggie pouches. These pouches make great on the go snacks, and are great for toddlers self feeding. (Plus, it sneaks in some extra fruit/veggies!) Eat separately or use as a spread on some crackers.
For weaned toddlers, you might try yogurt melts, dried fruit, or fruit bars.
Whatever you chose, be sure it is something your little one likes and will eat. You can even make up your own snack bag with snacks from around your kitchen.
6. Small Toys
Another item you can add to your toddler Christmas Eve box is small toys. Depending on what your toddler likes, you can find a wide range of small toys to gift your little one.
If you need some ideas for small toys to include, you might consider one of these great options:
- Stacking Train
- Farm Train
- Pull Back Cars
- Small Doll
- Toucan Piano (recently got this for my toddler and he plays with it nonstop)
For more toy ideas, check out my post on gifts for toddlers, gifts for babies, or stocking stuffers for babies.
7. Santa Hat
Santa hats on babies and toddlers are so stinking cute! Plus, this makes a great accessory for any Christmas day photos you may want to take of your toddler.
Side note: taking professional looking Christmas photos is a lot easier than you think!
8. Christmas Ornament
Christmas ornaments make great gifts for Christmas Eve boxes—even for toddlers. This is a great time for your toddler to put up their very own ornament on the tree.
Not only do ornaments help mark important milestones, but having one your child can call their own helps them to feel involved in the family. Not to mention special!
Having their own ornament on the tree may also help little ones to respect the Christmas tree and avoid knocking it over.
Do you plan to do a Christmas Eve box for your toddler this year?
Drop me a line and let me know if you plan to do a Christmas Eve box this year! If so, what are you planning to include in your child’s box?
This is a great list! Im always looking for gift ideas and little traditions to expand our current ones with ❤
I’m glad you found it helpful!
I love the Icelandic tradition! I want to do it this year, thanks for the idea.
I love it too!
Love these ideas, Abby. While all gifts are excellent picks, I like the idea of gifting a book the best.
I do as well! I love the idea of everyone staying up late reading around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
I love this idea, so I’m doing it this year with my 10 year old son and 10 month old daughter!!! I’m so excited about it, I’m also going to add to their boxes blankets with their names on them, a Santa key, and a nice list certificate I’m going to print off the computer to put in there!!! I hope they love it as much as I know I’m going to!!! Thank you so much for your ideas!!!!
Ahhh that’s so exciting Jenny! I love your idea of personalized blankets! I hope you and your family have an amazing Christmas. 🙂
I have done this every year for my grandchildren which the oldest is 20 now but if she didn’t get a Christmas Eve box I think she would cry. I do the pjs a book snacks popcorn socks chapstick for the older ones bath bombs etc. I get a pretty box at hobby lobby and believe me it’s the biggest hit.