Christmas Eve box ideas by age: three fillers plus one free thing from you. For a baby: a picture book, a Christmas-morning top, a photo frame. From 3 to 4: pyjamas, a book, a card game. At middle ONS shop prices for September 2026, our boxes cost £24 to £28 (our sums), or nothing with free swaps.
By the Babbez team · UK Christmas guide · Checked October 2026
Key takeaways
- The Three-Plus-One Rule: three bought fillers plus one thing from you that costs nothing.
- Four boxes by age, from under 1 to 5 and up, with no food, no sleepwear for under-3s and no small toys.
- Three budget tiers for each box, priced from ONS shop prices collected in September 2026.
- A free swap for every filler, and a dated plan that ends on Thursday 24 December.
What goes in a Christmas Eve box? The Three-Plus-One Rule
A Christmas Eve box is a small box a child opens on the evening before Christmas Day. Every box in our planner follows the Three-Plus-One Rule: three bought fillers plus one thing from you that costs nothing. Three small things fill a shoebox, and the free one is often the part that lasts.
- Something to read: a picture book, or a story book from 5.
- Something to wear: a top for Christmas morning, or pyjamas from 3.
- Something to do or keep: an activity toy, a card game or a craft kit, or for a baby a photo frame for your shelf.
- Plus one thing from you that costs nothing: a letter, a story, a walk or a choice.
Our baby box leaves out sleepwear and soft toys and uses a top for Christmas morning instead.
What no box here contains: food, sweets and drinks (including reindeer food), sleepwear for under-3s, soft toys, bath items and small toys or loose pieces.
Further reading, links only: nhs.uk on foods to avoid giving babies and young children, RoSPA’s Keeping Kids Safe hub and The Lullaby Trust.
What are good Christmas Eve box ideas for each age?
Each box below has three bought fillers, the middle shop price of each (see the cost section) and one free thing from you.
Under 1: a baby’s first Christmas Eve box
The honest answer is that a baby doesn’t need one at all, so keep it small or make it free.
At this age the box is mostly for you: a book to read, a top for Christmas morning photos and a frame for the year's best photo.
- Picture book, about £6.99.
- Christmas-morning top, about £8.99.
- Photo frame (for your shelf), about £10.00.
- Plus one from you: a letter to them about this year, read aloud and kept for later.
For outfits and keepsakes on the day itself, see our baby’s first Christmas guide.
1 to 2: a toddler box
Many toddlers enjoy the unwrapping as much as the things inside: wrap each filler on its own.
- Picture book, about £6.99.
- Christmas-morning top, about £8.99.
- Pre-school activity toy, about £10.00.
- Plus one from you: a walk to look at the lights before the box comes out.
Want to decorate the top? Our baby Christmas jumpers guide has no-sew ideas.
3 to 4: the first pyjamas box
Pyjamas are a familiar Christmas Eve filler and the exception in our planner: they join the box from here, as the two ONS children’s pyjamas items cover 3 to 13 years.
- Christmas pyjamas, about £10.00.
- Picture book, about £6.99.
- Card game, about £7.19.
- Plus one from you: a story you tell about a Christmas when you were little.
5 and up: older brothers and sisters
An older child can help make the baby's box, which keeps the evening fair for both.
- Christmas pyjamas, about £10.00.
- Story book for older children, about £7.99.
- Craft kit, about £9.55.
- Plus one from you: choosing the family film for the evening.
How much does a Christmas Eve box cost?
We priced every filler from the price quotes that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) collected in September 2026, almost all in UK shops (released on 21 October 2026).
Each box adds up three fillers at three tiers: Thrifty (the lower-quartile price: at least a quarter of quotes are at or below it), Middle (the median) and Treat (the upper-quartile price: at least a quarter are at or above it). We call the result the Box-Budget Ladder:
| Box | Middle (£) | Thrifty to Treat (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 26 | 14–40 |
| 1 to 2 | 26 | 19–36 |
| 3 to 4 | 24 | 18–33 |
| 5 and up | 28 | 20–35 |
Source: Babbez sums of the quartiles of valid ONS price quotes, September 2026 (our summary, not an ONS average); whole pounds.
The filler prices behind the boxes, with the range that holds the middle half of the valid shop prices ONS collected in September 2026:
| Filler | Middle (£) | Middle half (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Picture book (ONS: illustrated book for under-5s) | 6.99 | 5.00–7.99 |
| Christmas-morning top (ONS: infant's jumper, sweatshirt or cardigan) | 8.99 | 6.00–12.00 |
| Photo frame (for your shelf) (ONS: photo frame) | 10.00 | 3.00–20.00 |
| Pre-school activity toy (ONS: pre-school activity toy) | 10.00 | 8.00–15.74 |
| Christmas pyjamas (ONS: boys’ and girls’ pyjamas, 3 to 13 years) | 10.00 | 7.00–13.00 |
| Card game (ONS: card game) | 7.19 | 5.99–12.00 |
| Story book for older children (ONS: children's fiction book, 6 to 12 years) | 7.99 | 5.87–8.62 |
| Craft kit (ONS: craft kit for children aged 5 and over) | 9.55 | 6.99–12.99 |
Source: ONS price quotes, September 2026. Each filler rests on 150 to 352 valid shop-price quotes, each counted once: our summary, not an ONS average. We ran each filler through all 93,873 rows of the ONS file. We compared the two ONS pyjamas items before pooling them: the middle price was £11.00 for boys’ and £9.50 for girls’. A roll of wrapping paper for the box adds about £2.50 at the middle price.
In the ONS’s words on its dataset page, the figures are “provided for research purposes only, are not accredited official statistics”, so treat these as a guide to typical shop prices, not a quote.
Comparing costs for clothes too? Our UK baby clothes cost guide also uses ONS price quotes.
How can you make a Christmas Eve box for nothing?
A Christmas Eve box isn’t a must-buy. Swap any bought filler for something you already have; one free swap for each:
- Picture book: a book they already love, rewrapped.
- Christmas-morning top: last year's festive top or a hand-me-down, if it still fits.
- Photo frame (for your shelf): a printed photo from this year, tucked into a card.
- Pre-school activity toy: a toy put away a few weeks ago, brought back as new.
- Christmas pyjamas: their favourite pyjamas, washed and wrapped.
- Card game: a homemade snap game: pairs drawn on squares of card.
- Story book for older children: a book swapped with a friend or cousin.
- Craft kit: paper, tape, pens and stickers from your drawer, in a bag.
Our toy rotation guide shows how to put toys away and bring them back, and our second-hand baby clothes guide covers hand-me-downs.
When should you plan and open a Christmas Eve box?
A dated plan for Christmas Eve 2026, five steps from late November. We checked every date against the 2026 calendar.
- Sat 21 Nov: pick the box for each child and a budget tier; write the free thing down first.
- Sat 28 Nov: check the cupboards and hand-me-downs for swaps before you buy.
- Sat 12 Dec: buy what is left, keeping the receipts.
- Sun 20 Dec: wrap each filler on its own and pack the shoebox.
- Thu 24 Dec: open it in the early evening, so there is time to read the book together.
Planning the rest of December? Our Christmas activities for toddlers has a daily countdown. Browsing for Christmas morning? See our baby clothes and toddler clothes.
Frequently asked questions
What do you put in a Christmas Eve box?
Three bought fillers plus one thing from you that costs nothing: for a baby, say a picture book, a top for Christmas morning and a photo frame for your shelf, plus a letter to them; from 3 to 4, Christmas pyjamas, a book and a card game, plus a story you tell.
What should go in a baby’s Christmas Eve box?
A picture book, a top for Christmas morning photos and a photo frame for your shelf, plus a letter to them. We leave out sleepwear, food, soft toys and small toys.
How much should you spend on a Christmas Eve box?
There is no right amount. Priced at the middle of ONS shop prices for September 2026, our three-filler boxes cost £24 to £28; the Thrifty tier starts at £14, and the free swaps cost nothing.
When do you open a Christmas Eve box?
On Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December 2026. We suggest the early evening, so there is time to read the book together.
Is a Christmas Eve box worth it for a baby?
It is mostly for you: a book to read, a keepsake and a top for the morning photos. A free box with a book they already own and a letter works just as well.
Sources: Office for National Statistics (Consumer price inflation consumption segment indices and price quotes, price quotes September 2026 edition, released 21 October 2026). nhs.uk, RoSPA and The Lullaby Trust are linked for further reading (links only).
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. (licence)
Use of ONS information, including links, does not imply that the ONS endorses Babbez. The Three-Plus-One Rule, the boxes, the tiers, the free swaps and the plan are Babbez’s own (editorial standards). General information, not safety advice; see our content disclaimer and medical disclaimer.