Gift ideas for children from 3 to 12: something for every age

We have included a personalised book at each age, because that is what we make, and we have tried to be honest about when it suits and when it does not.

Gift ideas for 3 to 5-year-olds

• Wooden blocks, a train set, a marble run: things that get built differently every time.
• A dressing-up outfit, or a bag of scarves and hats that can be anything.
• A playdough kit, chalks, big crayons and a roll of paper.
• A picture book with a hero they will ask for again and again.
• A personalised picture book. For this age, AI-Koma Kids books have 16 pages, big illustrations and short text; the child chooses the hero, companions and world in pictures, and their name can be in the story. If they have a favourite cuddly toy, it can be a character too.

At this age the wrapping paper and the box are also a present. Do not overspend.

Browse a real 16-page book made for a young child

Gifts for 6 to 8-year-olds

• A board game the whole family will actually play, or a good deck of cards and a book of games.
• A craft kit with an end result: a bird box, a sewing project, a model.
• A series of early-reader books, or a subscription to a children’s magazine.
• A torch, a magnifying glass, a bug viewer: tools for exploring.
• A personalised adventure book of 18 pages, where Charlie chooses the treasure hunt in the jungle, with the cheeky fox and the little dragon, and can read it himself or listen to it. For a child learning to read, a book with their own name in it is often the one they finish.

An experience makes a lovely gift too: a trip to a farm, a swimming session, a day with a grandparent and no siblings.

Gifts for 9 to 12-year-olds

• A proper piece of kit for a hobby: a sketchbook and good pencils, a football, a recorder, a beginner’s cookbook.
• A strategy game, a puzzle book, a 1,000-piece jigsaw.
• A graphic novel series, a boxed set of a novel series, a fat atlas.
• Money towards something they are saving for, with a card that says what for.
• A personalised book of 20 pages, with a fuller plot and a twist. This is a gift that suits some older children and not others: a ten-year-old who loves stories, a child who wants to make a book for a younger sibling or cousin, a reader who still enjoys a good illustrated story. If in doubt, ask.

Make a personalised book as a gift, the first one is free

A gift you make together

A personalised book is unusual among gifts because the child can take part in making it. Choosing the hero and the adventure, with an aunt, a grandparent or a parent, is part of the present. The book is ready in a few minutes, can be read on a tablet, and can be printed as a PDF to wrap and put under the tree. Grandparents in particular tend to enjoy sitting with a child and choosing together, then receiving the printed copy afterwards.

A few things worth knowing before you give one: there is no photo of the child and no profile, so there is nothing personal to hand over; the account belongs to the adult; and the books stay private. Every book says that its text, pictures and voice were generated by artificial intelligence.

Gifts that are not things

• A morning out, just the two of you, chosen by the child.
• A “coupon book” of favours: a late bedtime, a dinner of their choice, a pillow fight.
• A plant or a pet fish to look after.
• A regular thing: swimming on Saturdays, the library on Thursdays, a club.

For more on how a book can carry something you want to say, see why children love being the hero. And if the gift is for a bedtime-story child, the bedtime routine has ideas for making it part of the evening.

Giving more than one book? Little Explorer at €5.99 or Explorer at €9.99 a month