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The seven best Christmas gift ideas for kids: antique and vintage finds
Posted by Chris on 26/11/2024
Wondering what to buy your children for Christmas this year?
Read our seven best Christmas gift ideas for kids - and why buying an antique gift for them can make the past a GREAT present.
Antiques for Christmas?!
You may be thinking, ‘why would kids these days want an antique for Christmas?’ We hear you. It’s no surprise to any parent that shiny, colourful – and usually, plastic – gifts are the order of the day for little ones.
But why not give them something a little different this Christmas? Does it all have to be so expensive and frankly, the polar express opposite of eco-friendly?
There is a way that you can give children something they’ll remember forever, and avoid the almost inevitable process of putting everything on Gumtree or Marketplace come the summer.
> skip to our seven best Christmas gift ideas for kids
Why you should buy antique gifts for children at Christmas
Coming up with Christmas gift ideas for children can be really stressful, so it's a good idea to watch how much you're spending. That can have an impact on children, both by overly spoiling them, and by how much they will enjoy the gifts on the day.
Some experts believe that cutting back on how many presents you buy for your children might actually benefit their development.
In an interview with the Daily Mail’s FEMAIL, psychologist Dr Jenna Vyas-Lee said, “parents should only be getting their offspring a maximum of two presents … as children can become 'desensitised' to having lots of presents to rip open in the morning.
Dr Vyas-Lee adds that the number of gifts that Father Christmas brings “is a very personal thing, think about the age of the child and their personality.
For teenagers, the expert suggested that parents might want to take a stricter approach, to avoid presents losing their meaning over time.
And according to Laura Davies, Managing Director at The Kid Collective, it could help parents to stick to a four-step shopping list for children: “Try the strategy of [shopping for] "something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read".
'Or if you want to extend it further you could add "something to do, something for 'me', something for the family".
How much do parents spend on children at Christmas?
Data from Voucher Codes shows that in the UK, spending by parents on their children’s Christmas gifts has increased by £2.68bn (73%) in a generation (equivalent to £204m before inflation).
The average person in the UK will spend roughly £120 on Christmas gifts for each of their children, and one in four will spend over £200.
It certainly feels like a long time since our parents’ generation were gifted simple stockings and carved wooden toys – well since obliterated by instant access to billions of cheaply made items via online retailers like Amazon.
How to avoid the post-Christmas gift wastage
Unbelievably, a staggering £733million is wasted on unwanted gifts for children, according to research by Wealthify. And 78% of parents say that some of the presents given to their children at Christmas are unwanted.
That’s why we want to change your mind about giving your child a more meaningful gift this Christmas, here at Antiques.co.uk!
Best Christmas gift ideas for children: antiques & vintage
We’ve curated a selection of lovely gift ideas for children this Christmas – for all budgets, whether you’re looking for something small and inexpensive, or a present with wow factor. These Christmas gifts for children will last a lifetime – and they already have!
1. Antique rocking horses
One lovely children’s gift idea that is practically synonymous with Christmas is that of the rocking horse. Known in the present day mainly only in Christmas films set in the Victorian age, there is nothing quite like the majesty of finding yourself the proud owner of a beautiful piece like this on Christmas morning.
Antiques.co.uk recommends:
- 50s / 60s Hobo Metal Rocking Horse, £125
- Rocking horse with glass eyes, £1,250 (pictured, above)
- Victorian Wooden Rocking Horse, c.1880, £650
2. Antique children’s story books
There's something both lovely and traditional about giving your children a book for Christmas. Take inspiration from the folk in Iceland, whose popular tradition Jólabókaflóð (Jolabokaflod) – literally the Christmas book flood – involves giving books as gifts on Christmas Eve. It’s thought that every Icelander receives at least one book for Christmas every year.
To go one step further with a truly unique gift, how about one of these beautiful antique and vintage children's books - which you'll love reading together with them.
Antiques.co.uk recommends:
- Flower Fairies of the Autumn by Cicely Mary Barker, £POA (pictured, above)
- A Selection of Pooh Bear Books from 1927 first editions to 1968 reprints, £POA
- Little Book of Rhymes by Cicely Mary Barker, £POA
- Rare 1st Edition, Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne, 1927, £POA
3. Cuddly toys: bears and dogs
Forget the brand new, polyester-filled toys made in China - and instead plump for an antique bear, already loved by generations of children. It'll be super characterful, and really quite special.
Antiques.co.uk recommends:
- Australian Victorian Koala Bear, £145
- Early 20th century Steiff Bear, £750
- Vintage 1960s Toy Push Bassett Hound Dog, £95 (pictured, above)
- Three Boyd Bears, £POA
4. Antique dolls
We all loved the latest Barbie movie of course, but in the time pre-Barbie, children were so proud of their beautiful porcelain dolls. Here are a couple of lovely examples of antique dolls listed with us, and you could also pair one with a vintage or antique doll's pram!
Antiques.co.uk recommends:
- Leonardo Porcelain Dolls, £50
- Beautiful lifelike china doll, £350 (pictured, above)
- Miniature wicker doll's chair & settee, £95
- Mid-century pink wicker doll's pram, £800
- Rare Pre-WWII German Tin Doll's Pram, £125
- Late 19th century wooden doll's pram, £2,850
5. Model cars, trains, planes & boats
For decades, children have enjoyed playing with model cars, trains, planes and boats at Christmas time - these are absolutely timeless gifts for children. Thankfully, there are still a decent number of vintage model vehicles out there, and the sheer un-digital, tactile nature of them - with mostly metal parts, as opposed to plastic - means that you too can give your children a fantastic little vintage model present.
Antiques.co.uk recommends:
Model cars
- Unique Buick German Mechanical Model Car, £250 (pictured, above)
- James Bond 007 Aston Martin DB5, boxed, £250
Model trains
- Airfix 00 1960s Evening Star Locomotive, £35
- Airfix Biggin Hill 00 Class Locomotive in sealed packet, £45
Model planes
Model boats
- Bowman's Early 20th century Steam-powered model boat, £295
- Motor Launch Vintage Ito Japanese Speedboat, £250
And perhaps something to pair with the boats or trains: fully functioning Dockside Mechanical Crane, circa 1925, £POA
6. Vintage toys & games
Christmas - and Christmas Day especially - is the time of year to play games. And whilst the youth of today might be pressing you for the latest VR headset, you could instead opt for something with a more social, in-person aspect!
Board games are a great choice to replace computer consoles this Christmas - and they're something the whole family can do together.
Antiques.co.uk recommends:
- Vintage Railway Race Game for 2-4-6, £250 (pictured, above)
- 1930s John Bull Printing Outfit No.125, £95
- Chad Valley 1960s Concentration TV Game, £65
- 1930s Bulls & Bears Stock Exchange Game, £225
- Vintage Chad Valley Football Stadium Game, £195
7. Something special: unique, one of a kind gifts for children
Finally, on to our special category of Christmas gift ideas for kids. These presents are arguably the most unique you'll find listed on Antiques.co.uk - and they really do bring the wow factor with them.
Antiques.co.uk recommends:
- 1940s Tin Metal Aeroplane Model, £750 (pictured, above)
- Lotus 25 Coventry Climax Go Cart - Ultimate Kids Racing Car, £3,900
- 1920s 'Flexible Flyer' Wooden Sleigh, £400
- 1880s Continental Model of a Flat Tub Stove, £750
More antique and vintage Christmas gift ideas
> Read next: the Seven Best Antique and Vintage Christmas Gift Ideas for Her