Everything here is a practical, useful gift in a small package, grouped by price so you can see at a glance what fits your budget. Every educational product is designed by teachers and mapped to the national curriculum, and our placemats, posters and height charts are made in the UK.
Stocking fillers under £10
Our single placemats and posters all come in under £10, with placemats starting from £6.95. That puts them squarely in stocking territory (they are A3 Size, so we don't mean a literal stocking!), and unlike most stocking fillers they get used several times a day.
Placemats. A wipe-clean placemat goes on the table at breakfast, lunch and dinner, which makes it one of the most-used things a child will own! It also protects the table, catches the spills and wipes clean in seconds, so it earns its place on practical grounds as well as educational ones. Here is a list of our placemats we think are ideal for Christmas gifting under £10:
- For toddlers: the Alphabet Placemat, Numbers 1 to 10 Placemat, Shapes and Colours Placemat and On the Farm Placemat
- For Reception and Year 1: the Numbers 1 to 20 Placemat, Number Bonds Placemat and Telling the Time Placemat
- For KS1 and lower KS2: the Times Tables Placemat, World Map Placemat and Dinosaurs Placemat, which carries real dinosaur facts rather than decoration
- For upper KS2: the Solar System Placemat and Periodic Table Placemat
Posters. A rolled poster in a tube makes an unusually good stocking filler (still probably a little big for a real stocking), and it has a longer working life than almost anything else in there. Our A2 posters are wipe-clean and carry a lifetime no-tear guarantee, which matters if the child in question is the sort who treats walls and posters roughly...like ours! Good choices include the Alphabet Poster for early readers, the Times Tables Poster for KS2, the World Map Poster for any age, and the Solar System Poster for children who love space.
The Christmas placemat. Our Merry Christmas Placemat is also £6.95, and it is the one item here that works from the first of December rather than only on Christmas morning. Put it on the table for the lead-up to Christmas and for Christmas Day itself, then wipe it clean and store it for next year. It's one of the few festive things that gets reused rather than recycled in January, though all our products are completely recyclable!
The World Map Jigsaw. At £9.99 our World Map 100 Piece Jigsaw is the one jigsaw in this guide, and it just squeaks under the £10 line. It's made from recycled cardboard in the EU, and it suits the days between Christmas and New Year, when the whole family can enjoy a relaxed jigsaw puzzle. Putting the world together piece by piece is also a good way to learn where everything is.
Gifts under £15
A little more budget opens up two more categories: door frame height charts and flash cards.
Door frame height charts. A height chart is a gift that gets more valuable the longer it stays up, which is why ours are durable and can easily be moved to a new house without causing damage. Every pencil mark records a moment, and our door frame height charts fit neatly on a door frame rather than taking up too much wall space. It's a particularly good present for a new baby, a child who has just moved into a new room, or any family that likes a tradition. Browse the full door frame height chart collection to find a design to suit, from the bold Orange Sunburst to the softer Pink Swirl.
Toddler flash cards. Our Toddler Flash Cards cover the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colours in a compact set that goes in a bag, a coat pocket or a stocking. They're a favourite with grandparents playing with grandchildren because they need no batteries, no setup and no instructions, just pick them up and play. For more on choosing gifts for this age group, see our guide to the best educational gifts for toddlers.
Numbers 1 to 100 flash cards. Our Numbers 1 to 100 Flash Cards are a full set of 100 cards, colour-coordinated by groups of ten, with each number written as a word alongside the numeral. They suit children in Year 1 and Year 2 who are working towards confidence with larger numbers, and they're a good choice for a child who is already a keen counter.
Gifts under £20
This is the tier for a slightly bigger present, or for the stocking-plus gift that sits next to it.
Full-width height charts. Our wall-mounted height charts are the larger, more decorative cousins of the door frame range, designed to be a feature of a child's room as well as a growth record. There are designs to suit most tastes, including Forest Friends, Super Space, Rainbow Rows and Alphabetti, and you can see the whole range in our height chart collection. A height chart is the kind of gift that a child will still be using years from now, which is rare for something that fits inside a stocking-sized budget.
Placemat packs of three. Our packs of three offer a saving over buying the same placemats individually, and they let you build a small themed collection in one go. The Numeracy 1 Pack and Numeracy 2 Pack cover maths, and the Science Pack suits children with an interest in a variety of science topics. Rotating three placemats across the week keeps the table interesting, and it means the information on them stays fresh.
Matching the gift to the age
- Toddlers (2 to 4): alphabet, numbers or shapes and colours placemat, plus the toddler flash cards
- Reception and Year 1: numbers 1 to 20 placemat, number bonds placemat, telling the time placemat or the alphabet poster
- Years 2 to 4: times tables placemat and poster, Numbers 1 to 100 flash cards, world map placemat or the dinosaurs placemat
- Years 5 and 6: solar system or periodic table placemat and poster, or the world map jigsaw
- Any age: a height chart or the world map poster
A note for grandparents
If you're buying for a grandchild and want something that will definitely be used, a placemat or poster is one of the safest choices. It's less likely to duplicate a toy they already own, it needs no batteries or assembly, and it will be seen every day. A height chart is a good option too, as the family keeps adding to it as the child grows.
Why it matters that they are teacher-designed
It's easy to find products that call themselves educational. What makes ours different is that every one of them is designed by qualified teachers, which shows in small decisions. You can read more about this in our article on why teacher-designed products make a difference, and about where we make everything in our piece on why we still make our products in the UK.
For more ideas at every age, see our full guide to the best educational Christmas gifts for children, or browse the range directly at educational placemats, educational posters, educational flash cards and height charts.