Last-minute Christmas gifts for kids that arrive today

It is the 23rd, the shipping cut-offs have passed, and there is still a child’s name on your list. The good news: some of the best last-minute Christmas gifts for kids do not need a courier at all. A digital gift you can send today is not a consolation prize when it is about the child who gets it, and it has one advantage a parcel never has: it arrives on time. Below are 12 digital gifts you can send by link, then 8 things you can still pick up in a local shop or make at home tonight, and how to make a last-minute gift feel like you planned it all along.

What makes a good last-minute gift

Not every instant Christmas gift is a good one. A gift code pasted into a text message at 11 pm is technically a present, but nobody remembers it in January. The gifts on this list were chosen with four things in mind:

If a gift ticks three of the four, it will hold its own next to the parcels under the tree. Two of the ideas below are our own products; they are marked clearly, and the rest are things we simply think work well. We earn nothing from them, and there are no affiliate links on this page.

12 digital gifts you can still give

1. A personalized video message from Santa

Best for: any ageReady: within minutes

Santa, an Elf, a Snowflake or a Reindeer says the child’s name and mentions the things you tell us about: learning to ride a bike, a new baby sister, the dinosaur phase that never ended. It is a 10–15-second portrait video, spoken in any of 9 languages, from English and Spanish to Polish and Japanese, and you read the whole script before you pay, so there are no surprises in Santa’s lines. When it is ready you can watch it, download it or share a link, which makes it an easy Christmas gift you can email to the other side of the country. If you have never seen one, the how a Santa video is made page walks through the steps.

2. A comic book starring the child

Best for: kids of any ageReady: usually a few minutes

A 25-page Christmas comic with the child’s name in the title and in the speech balloons. The hero is drawn from one photo (you pick one of two cartoon versions, and the photo is used once and never stored) or you choose one of two ready-made heroes, Leo or Mia, and skip the photo entirely. The story comes in 7 languages, from English and Spanish to German, French and Polish, read as an online flip-book with page turns or downloaded as a PDF. For a last-minute gift it has a nice trick: show the cover on a tablet on Christmas morning and let the child turn the first page themselves.

3. An e-gift card to a local bookshop

Best for: readers 6+Ready: instantly

Many independent bookshops sell e-gift cards from their websites, and the trip to spend it is half the present. Write the card for the child, not the parent (“for one book with a dragon in it”), and if you can, add the title of a book you loved at their age. A bookshop card is also one of the few digital gifts that ends with something physical in the child’s hands.

4. An audiobook or e-book

Best for: ages 4+Ready: instantly

An audiobook is a gift the whole car ride benefits from. Pick a series rather than a single title, so the gift keeps going after Boxing Day, and check that the parent’s app or device can play it before you buy. For older kids an e-book of a book they already asked for lands better than a surprise; for younger ones, a read-aloud of a story they know is more likely to be played again.

5. A family experience voucher

Best for: the whole familyReady: instantly, as an e-ticket

Zoo, ice rink, cinema, climbing wall, science museum: most sell e-tickets or dated vouchers online. Print the ticket and put it in a card with a date written on it. A gift with a date attached is a gift twice, once under the tree and once in January when everything else is grey.

6. A printable coupon book of “yes days”

Best for: ages 5–10Ready: as fast as you can type

“One breakfast for dinner.” “One extra bedtime story.” “One Saturday where you choose everything.” Type them, print them, staple them. It costs nothing and it is often the gift kids talk about longest, because it buys time with you. Keep the coupons specific and keep them honest; a coupon you do not intend to redeem is worse than none.

7. An online class

Best for: ages 7+Ready: instantly

Drawing, coding, piano, chess, a language: many platforms sell a block of live or recorded lessons as a gift. Choose something the child has already shown interest in rather than something you wish they were interested in, and look for a flexible start date so the gift does not expire while school is busy.

8. A recorded bedtime story from a grandparent

Best for: ages 2–8Ready: tonight

Ask Grandma or Grandpa to record themselves reading a favorite picture book on their phone, then send the file to the parents. No app needed. If the grandparent is the one giving the gift, this pairs well with the other ideas for grandkids far away, because it works no matter the distance.

9. A digital photo book of the year

Best for: any ageReady: an evening of work

Most photo-book services let you build a book online and share a digital version immediately, with the printed copy following in January. Make it the child’s year: first day of school, the lost tooth, the summer tent. Kids love seeing themselves as the main character, which is the same reason the comic above works.

10. A donation in their name

Best for: ages 8+Ready: instantly

Adopt-an-animal programs at zoos and wildlife charities send a certificate and often a photo by email. This works for a child who is already into animals or the planet, and it works best when you let them choose the animal together on Christmas morning instead of choosing it for them.

11. A treasure hunt with printed clues

Best for: ages 4–10Ready: an hour of prep

Five or six clues around the house leading to a small gift, or to a screen where the Santa video is waiting. The clues can rhyme or not; the walking around is the fun part. If you want the hunt to end with a “real” present, a bookshop e-card printed on nice paper is a good final find.

12. A kids’ magazine subscription

Best for: ages 5–12Ready: confirmation instantly, first issue later

Nature, science, comics, crafts: a subscription arrives twelve times instead of once. Print the confirmation email and tuck it inside the first issue if you have one on hand, or inside a card. Pick a title aimed at the child’s reading age rather than their school year.

8 last-minute gifts from a local shop or your printer

Not every last-minute gift has to live on a screen. If you can get to a supermarket, a pharmacy, a toy shop or a bookshop before it closes, or you have a printer at home, these still work on December 24. Prices are typical ranges in US dollars, not quotes from a particular shop.

13. A board game or card game for the whole family

Best for: ages 4+Ready: today, in most supermarkets and toy shops

Quick card games and small board games usually cost about $10 to $25 and sit near the checkout in December. Pick one that plays in under 20 minutes, so it gets played on Christmas afternoon rather than “later”. Open it with the child and play the first round together: that is the gift.

14. A book picked for them, not for “a child”

Best for: any ageReady: today, at a bookshop or supermarket

Picture books, early chapter books and graphic novels usually cost $8 to $20. Ask the bookseller what children of that age are reading this year, and write one line inside the cover. A handwritten dedication turns a quick buy into a keepsake.

15. A small building set or puzzle

Best for: ages 5–12Ready: today, at toy shops and many supermarkets

Small brick-building sets ($10 to $30) and 100–500-piece puzzles ($10 to $20) are easy to find and fill the quiet days between Christmas and New Year. Choose a size they can finish in one afternoon; a half-built set in January is not a happy gift.

16. An art or craft kit

Best for: ages 3–10Ready: today, at craft shops, pharmacies and supermarkets

Markers and a sketchbook, a bead kit, modelling clay or a paint-by-numbers set, usually $8 to $25. For younger children, washable markers and a roll of paper are the gift parents thank you for.

17. A gingerbread house or cookie-decorating kit

Best for: ages 3+Ready: today, at most grocery stores

Around $10 to $20 in most grocery stores in December. It is a gift and a Christmas Eve activity in one box, and it gets the whole family round the table.

18. A free printable letter from Santa

Best for: ages 3–8Ready: in a few minutes, free

Type the child’s name and a few things about their year into our free letter from Santa template, print it and fold it into an envelope addressed from the North Pole. It costs nothing, and it pairs well with any of the shop-bought gifts above.

19. A movie-night kit

Best for: the whole familyReady: today

Microwave popcorn, a box of hot chocolate, cozy socks and a card with the film you will watch together, all from the supermarket for about $15 to $25. It turns a gift into an evening, which is what most kids remember.

20. A date with you, written on a card

Best for: any ageReady: tonight

Ice skating, sledding, a trip to the library, a pancake breakfast out. Write the plan and the date on a card and put it in an envelope. It costs what the outing costs, and it gives the child something to look forward to after the presents are opened.

How to give a digital gift on Christmas morning

The weak point of any digital gift is the moment of giving. A link in a chat window is not a moment. A few ways to build one:

• Print a card with a QR code. Most phones can make one from a link in seconds. Put the card in an envelope under the tree, and the child scans it with a parent’s phone.
• Wrap the tablet. Open the video or the comic, lock the screen, wrap the whole thing. Unwrapping something is the ritual; what is inside can be a screen.
• Put the cover in the Christmas Eve box. If your family does a Christmas Eve box, a tablet showing the comic cover, or a card announcing “a message from Santa is waiting for you”, is a good filler that takes no space.
• Time the share link. Send it when the child wakes up, not the night before, so it is part of the morning. For family in another time zone, send it an hour before their breakfast.
• Watch it together. A Santa video played on the big TV, with everyone on the sofa, beats the same video watched alone on a phone.

Timing cheat sheet

Can you still give it on December 24? Honest answers, based on how each type of gift is normally delivered.

One more thing about timing: the two gifts that are ours have no delivery slot at all, which is the whole point of this list. You will find both, side by side, on the Christmas gift ideas hub.