Christmas Gifts for Employees’ Children: Ideas & Tips

Choosing Christmas gifts for employees’ children may look simple from the outside, but in reality there is quite a lot to consider. You need something that works across a reasonably wide age range, is universal enough and fits the company’s budget.

In my experience, HR managers often compare several options and ask for samples before making a larger order because they genuinely want to make sure the gift will work and bring joy.

In the end, I think the choice comes down to one very simple question: would I give this to my own child?

Think about what happens after the gift is opened

When choosing a gift, think for a moment about what happens when the child opens it at home. Can they start using it straight away, or does the parent first need to buy batteries, glue or something else?

With activity kits, also look at the level of difficulty. Can the child genuinely take part, or will the parent end up doing most of it? And one more thing – does anything remain useful afterwards, or does it simply become another item that needs a place in the cupboard?

As an employee, I have received quite a few different company Christmas gifts for my own child. Some have been great and went straight into use. With others, I have thought that the idea looked good on paper but did not work quite as well in practice.

One year, for example, we received an ice cream powder. The instructions required repeated whipping and freezing, and I did not like the final flavour. I also failed to avoid ice crystals, so the texture was not what I had hoped for.

Another year, we received a DIY birdhouse. The idea sounded good, but the materials and construction were not particularly strong. I also started wondering where a child living in the city was actually supposed to put it. There were no instructions for installing it safely either.

We have also received a kit for building a Christmas tree from ready-baked gingerbread pieces. The activity itself was fun, but neither the icing nor the gingerbread tasted familiar to us. There was also a lot of gingerbread, and unfortunately most of it ended up being thrown away.

Another gift was a drawing pad with coloured pencils. It felt quite ordinary, the pencils were not particularly good quality and in practice they were never really used.

We once received a beeswax candle-making kit as well, but the activity basically consisted of rolling a sheet of wax around a wick. It was not exciting enough for my child and he did not even finish making all the candles.

Which gifts would I recommend for employees’ children?

For me, a good gift offers more than the moment of opening the package and is not made up only of sweets. I especially like activities that a younger child can do together with a parent, while an older child can experiment more independently.

These are also the principles we try to follow when creating Lastella kits: activities that appeal to children of different ages, do not require a long list of extra supplies at home and often leave something reusable afterwards.

I have included both Lastella products and other gifts we have personally received and genuinely enjoyed.

Gummy Candy Making Kit: one of our most universal kits. You can choose between different flavours and bear or dinosaur moulds, and the silicone mould remains useful afterwards. We have received feedback from a mother making gummies together with her 1.5-year-old, while 13-year-olds have enjoyed the kit as well. One company that ordered 50 gummy kits for its Christmas gifts told us: “They were very well received. I got a lot of thanks and praise from both Estonian and foreign colleagues. After all, kids and gummy bears are made for each other. :)”

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Chocolate Button Candy Making Kit: the child melts chocolate, fills animal-shaped moulds and decorates the chocolates with sprinkles. A younger child can make simple one-colour chocolates, while an older child can experiment more with patterns and decoration. The silicone mould can later be reused for ice cubes or frozen juice treats.

šokolaadikommide valmistamine kodus | Lastella

Hot Chocolate Making Kit: I particularly like this one for Christmas because the activity ends with something you can enjoy together. The kit includes three different hot chocolate flavours and decorations such as chocolate sprinkles, chocolate pearls and marshmallows. A younger child needs help around the hot stove, but to me that is actually a plus – Christmas is a good time to make something together. An older child can manage most of it independently.

Christmas ornament craft kits: our range includes mini disco balls and Christmas ornament kits. Younger children can make them together with a parent, while older children can do more independently. The finished ornament stays in use and ends up on the Christmas tree. I am personally a fan of how both of them look when finished.

Cookie Making Kit: the child can bake and decorate the cookies themselves. Snowflake-shaped stamped cookies work especially well at Christmas. When everyone has had enough of baking cookies, the moulds can also be used with playdough or even in the sandbox.
Gift sets: if you want a slightly larger Christmas package, an activity can be combined with something sweet or practical. We have, for example, supplied pasta-making kits together with Kalev sweets, and another customer combined apple-gingerbread cookie mix with a Christmas ornament craft kit. Their feedback was: “The crafting was great, even the three-year-olds were already sticking ornaments together. The apple dough was so tasty that some of it was eaten straight without baking.”

Küpsiste tegemise komplekt lumehelbe vormidega | Lastella

Lastella kits are, of course, not the only good option. Over the years, we have also received several other company Christmas gifts that worked really well for us.

Gingerbread house kit: one of my favourites was a kit where the gingerbread house pieces were already baked and the icing was included. Building it was fun and the finished house stayed as a Christmas decoration for a while. For a large order, I would still recommend testing one kit first. I have received a very similar product where neither the flavour nor the final result was nearly as good.
Design-your-own fabric pencil case: one year my son received a fabric pencil case that could be decorated with iron-on pictures. It later became our storage case for markers at home.
Colour-your-own tote bag: a white fabric bag with a black-and-white design that could be coloured with the included textile markers. Again, an activity and a usable item in one.
Santa’s cookie mix in a glass jar: a simple activity that resulted in really good cocoa cookies. To be honest, Santa did not get any.
DIY felt Christmas stocking: I would personally prefer a version where the child actually assembles the stocking. My son received a ready-made white stocking that could be decorated with the included markers.
Glow-in-the-dark wall stars: a friend’s child received these as a company Christmas gift and they were very happy with them. They somehow fit the Christmas season well and stayed in use for years.
A good-quality reflector: for a company gift, I would choose one with good design and quality – perhaps something a parent would not normally buy because they expect it to get lost anyway. At least during an Estonian winter, it is something that can go straight into use.
Herb growing kit: we have grown quite a few things from seeds together, and my child has always enjoyed watching the plants develop. The activity also lasts much longer than one evening.
Puzzle or card game: I like gifts that can be put straight on the table and played together. They do not need batteries, they take up little space and a good game comes out of the cupboard again and again. Age does matter here – the same game will probably not work equally well for a 4-year-old and a 14-year-old.
Neck warmer: with practical gifts, I would look at quality and whether the item will actually be used. My child loses or destroys scarves almost every winter, so a good neck warmer is always useful. You could add a few good sweets alongside it.
Hoodie: if it is possible to collect the children’s sizes beforehand, a warm, good-quality hoodie can be very useful during winter. I would personally add something small and Christmassy alongside it, such as a cocoa treat or sweets.
A current trend or DIY kit: some time ago, bubble tea was hugely popular with children and I thought a bubble tea starter kit was actually quite a fun gift idea. Today I would first look at what children are currently interested in – perhaps a squishy-making kit or another creative trend. Trends change quickly, so this is one area worth checking each year.

When is it worth offering several different gifts?

When my child was under three, all three company Christmas gifts we received ended up in a cupboard waiting for him to grow into them. If I had received something suitable for such a small child, it would have made me much happier.

I understand that at that age my child himself probably did not care very much about the gift, but as an employee I would have felt that my family had been taken into account.

One option is to divide children into two or three age groups and choose a suitable gift for each. I would not divide gifts by gender – today there are enough universal options that work for both boys and girls.

In a smaller company, you can even let parents choose the gift themselves. One company ordered 37 gifts from us this way: employees looked through our online store, the HR manager collected everyone’s choices and then sent us one combined order.

Their feedback afterwards was: “Our parents were very pleased with the gifts available again this year. The feedback from the children via the parents has been positive, and the opportunity to spend time together and share the emotions was highly appreciated by the parents.”

With a larger number of children, I would keep the choice simple. For example, offer three gifts in the same price range and give employees a deadline for choosing. If they do not make a selection by that date, one previously agreed gift becomes the default option. Parents still get a choice, but the HR manager does not end up managing dozens of different products.

Top 7 Mistakes Companies Make with Christmas Gifts for Employees’ Children

Very cheap products: low-quality items that break quickly create disappointment for both children and parents.
Gifts that are unlikely to be used: every parent has received something for their child that simply stays in the cupboard. I would rather avoid creating another unnecessary object that eventually becomes waste.
Technology-based gifts: headphones may seem practical, for example, but personally I prefer gifts that encourage children to spend time with friends or family rather than in their own bubble.
Gender-specific gifts: pink dolls for girls and blue cars for boys feel outdated. I would rather choose something universal.
The same gift for a baby and a 15-year-old: I understand that dividing gifts by age makes things more complicated for large companies, but sometimes even two age groups are enough to make the gift much more appropriate.
Cheap candy packages: if you choose sweets, I would not save on quality. The ingredients and taste should be something you would happily buy for your own child as well. I have heard plenty of parents complain about the contents of low-quality Christmas candy bags.
A single event ticket: this may simply be my own perspective, but I do not love receiving one cinema ticket or similar voucher. If you give an experience, I would prefer the value to cover two people so the child can invite a friend or parent. It is also worth checking whether the gift can actually be used in the area where the employee lives. As a parent, I would not be delighted with a gift that requires me to travel to another city or spend additional money just to use it.

The simplest question before placing the order

In the end, the choice comes down to one simple question for me:

Would I give this to my own child?

If you do not have children yourself, think of your sister’s child, a friend’s child or a younger relative.

If the answer is yes, you are probably already quite close to a good choice.

Looking for Christmas gifts for employees’ children?

Explore our gift kits, choose the quantity and packaging, and see the price for your company instantly.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I receive a sample kit before placing a larger order?

We are confident in our products, which is why we offer companies a free sample kit before confirming a larger order. This gives you a chance to check the contents, packaging and see how the activity works in practice. If you would like to receive a sample kit, simply contact us and we will arrange delivery.

Can corporate Christmas gifts be personalised?

Yes. We can offer custom packaging with your company logo or a specially designed box. The price depends on the order quantity and the printing solution – for smaller quantities, the printing cost per package is higher, while larger quantities are more cost-effective. The price also depends on whether you choose one-colour or full-colour printing.

How early should I order Christmas gifts for employees’ children?

If you choose Lastella products in our standard packaging and the selected items are in stock, we can prepare orders of up to 150 gift sets in around 3 working days.

For custom-designed packaging, we recommend starting the planning process at least one month before your preferred delivery date — and the earlier, the better. This gives enough time for the design, printing and packing.

For larger orders, for example 150+ gift sets, it is also worth contacting us as early as possible so we can check stock availability and plan the required quantities in advance.

Can the contents of a Lastella kit be customised for a company order?

Yes. For larger orders, we can customise the contents of the kit according to your needs. For example, you can choose different flavours or colours, change the number of mixes included, or make the kit suitable for fewer or more activity rounds.

The available options depend on the specific product and order quantity, so if you have a particular idea in mind, contact us and we’ll see what solution we can offer.