Christmas Eve box ideas for kids: what to put in it, by age

Below you’ll find the cosy classics, ideas for toddlers and for older kids, a story to read before lights out, and a few ways to keep it simple, fair between siblings and kind on the budget in a month that already asks a lot of it.

What is a Christmas Eve box, and why do families love it?

In many British homes, the Christmas Eve box has become a little tradition of its own. It might be a shoebox wrapped in paper, a wooden crate that comes out every year, or a gift bag with a ribbon. Inside are a few things for one evening: something to wear, something to eat, something to do together and something to read.

Its real job is to slow the evening down. The day before Christmas can feel endless for a child, and a box opened after tea gives them something to look forward to that is not the stockings. It also turns bedtime into part of the celebration rather than the obstacle between them and the morning.

• Open it at the same time each year, perhaps after bath time.
• Keep it small: an evening’s worth of treats, not a second Christmas.
• Choose one item that tells the story of the night: a book, a film, a letter from Father Christmas.

Christmas Eve box ideas for kids: the cosy classics

If you want a starting point, these are the things families most often put in the box. Pick three or four rather than all of them.

• New pyjamas, so everyone looks festive in the Christmas morning photos.
• Warm socks or slippers for padding down the stairs at dawn.
• Hot chocolate sachets, a mug or a few marshmallows.
• A Christmas film to watch together on the sofa, with a blanket.
• Home-made reindeer food: a handful of oats mixed with a little seed, to sprinkle outside. Leave out the glitter, which is not kind to birds and hedgehogs.
• A carrot for the reindeer and a plate for Father Christmas’s mince pie.
• A book or a story to read together before bed.

The story is often the part children remember. If you’d like to see what a story they help to choose looks like, you can open our sample book without signing up.

Read a sample book by the tree, no account needed

Christmas Eve box for toddlers

For a two- or three-year-old, the box itself is half the fun. Opening the lid and finding things one by one is the event, so wrap a few items separately and let them take their time.

• Soft pyjamas and a pair of grippy socks.
• A favourite cuddly toy’s “Christmas Eve outfit”: a little scarf or a ribbon.
• A board book or a very short story with big pictures.
• A warm milky drink in a special cup.
• Chunky crayons and a sheet for drawing the reindeer.

Keep the evening short. Toddlers often get overexcited by the lights and the noise, so a quiet bath, the box, one story and bed is plenty. Our guide to the bedtime routine has gentle ideas for calming an excitable little one.

Christmas Eve box for older kids

Children of eight to twelve may say they are too old for a Christmas Eve box, and then be secretly delighted. The trick is to make it feel a little more grown-up.

• A card game or a puzzle the family can play after tea.
• Ingredients for making their own hot chocolate, with toppings.
• A notebook for writing the day’s plans or a Christmas diary.
• A film they get to choose, and permission to stay up for it.
• A longer story with a mystery or a twist, to read alone with a torch.
• A note from you about something they did well this year.

With siblings of different ages, give each child their own small box, but share one thing: the film, the board game or the story read aloud to everyone.

A personalised bedtime story for the Christmas Eve box

One idea among many: a printed personalised story, made a few days ahead and slipped into the box. With AI-Koma Kids, your child (or you, in secret) chooses in pictures a hero from our characters, such as the brave bear, the cheeky fox or the little dragon, up to two companions, a world, an adventure and a mood. Their first name, which is optional, appears in the text: the narrator speaks to them, or the hero thinks of them at the key moment. Your child is never drawn.

There is no Christmas world, and we would rather be honest about it. For a wintry Christmas Eve feel, try the ice field with a surprise party and a magical mood, or the cloud kingdom with a great journey and a gentle, reassuring mood for a sleepy evening.

• Ages 3 to 5: 16 pages, short sentences, big pictures.
• Ages 6 to 8: 18 pages, enough adventure for a new reader.
• Ages 9 to 12: 20 pages, a fuller plot to read alone.

The book is digital: download the PDF, print it at home or at a print shop, fold or staple it and tie it with a ribbon. On the night, you can also open it on a tablet and, if your child likes, let a voice generated by artificial intelligence read it aloud while they turn the pages.

Make a wintry bedtime story for the box: your first book is free

Putting the box together without stress

A Christmas Eve box should not become another job on the December list. A few habits keep it easy:

• Reuse the same box every year and store it with the decorations.
• Buy or make things across November, a little at a time.
• Use what you already have: a family film, a favourite mug, last year’s torch with new batteries.
• Pack it the weekend before, so the 24th is calm.

If you have run out of ideas for the morning too, our list of stocking fillers for kids has plenty of small things that don’t clutter the house.

A new story for every winter evening: plans from €5.99 a month