Mustachian stocking stuffers

[Hula Hoop]

It's getting to that time of year again.  The kids are watching the santa-tracker and getting excited about his arrival.  Luckily my kids are mini-mustachians and not horribly materialistic.  My older daughter (10) has requested a raspberry pi as she's really into technology and programming and heard about it somewhere.  Younger daughter (7) asked for a secret diary.  I've got those things but now I need to think about stocking stuffers that aren't too pricey or plasticky.  My usual go-tos are tissues, underwear, nice shampoo, socks, school supplies, stickers, coloring books, books and some fruit and chocolates just fill out the stocking.  Last year santa brought her favorite cheese to my younger kid and she loved it.

Any other recommendations for mustachian stocking stuffers?

[reeshau]

Are you opening the presents before the stockings?  There are lots of accessories for a raspberry pi that help with experimentation:  battery pack, sensors, cables, case, lights, etc.  You could buy a few of those, or buy an accessory pack off of Amazon for $25 or so, and split it up into smaller packages.  I just don't know if this would give the main present away.

[Hula Hoop]

reeshau - that's a great idea.  Do you have any raspberry pi accessory recs?  I'm completely new to the world of raspberry pi.

What we normally do is put all the presents in the stocking or next to the stocking apart from one that we put under the tree and say is from us.  Makes us parents look cheap if the kid only gets a book or something from us and santa brings a "big' present but so be it.

[reeshau]

Hmm...that's trickier.  The whole point of the thing is it can do a lot.  Any idea what sort of projects she is interested in?

General ideas:  a case.  a screen (7" touchscreen, or smaller)

A battery pack, if you are going outside.

A microSD memory card, for onboard programming / data logging

A camera / video camera.

Other outside ideas:  sensor pack, GPS sensor,  wheels / car pack, mini keyboard

Within these categories, you can see user reviews on Amazon.  While there are things that are different purposes for different people, if she is just starting out then a high / cheap-but-relatively-high pick in anything would be fine.

Or, you could give her one or more Amazon gift cards, so she can pick.  Or if you have a Micro Center within driving distance, or hobby shop that stocks RPi, you could make a certificate for a shopping spree.

Or a subscription / an issue of Make magazine, or some Raspberry Pi book.

[formerlydivorcedmom]

Stocking for my girls (11 and 12)  will include a "manicure kit" - I hit the clearance aisle at Walgreens, of all places, and got nail clippers, nail files, and nail polish in awesomely tacky colors for just a few dollars.  They also usually get hair ties, scrunchies, or hair bows, since they lose them all the time.  And fluffy sleep socks.

I also like to buy a big version of the snack-size chips (one that is 2 or 3 servings) for each kid.  They LOVE cheetos and doritos, but I rarely buy chips for the house, so it's a great treat.

[AMandM]

Chapstick
Carabiners
Individual serving-size packs of food I normally don't buy, such as sugary cereal or beef jerky
Chocolate coins
Little puzzles
Magnets
Unusual food of various kinds--I explore the international grocery store

[englishteacheralex]

Great ideas! Posting to follow!

[Trifle]

My kids' favorite stocking stuffers from the past few years were tiny flashlights and mini folding multi-tools.  And chocolates.

[sparkytheop]

I just find it interesting how other people do stockings/Santa...  For us, it was always one small present that fit in the stocking, and then the stocking had an orange, peanuts, and some chocolate candies.

For a friend's family, Santa was so busy on Christmas Eve, that he would save their house for later and come on New Year's Eve (so the parents, uh, Santa, could get the candy half price, and any stocking stuffers on after-Christmas sales).

Anyway, I see stocking stuffers as being small items that truly fit into the stocking, so pocket knives/gerber/leatherman type stuff, a necklace, bottle of fingernail polish (if they like that stuff), a small game, things like that.

And good for her for pursuing the programming!  I learned when I was in Jr. High (using basic, lol) and it's a skill that helped me well in my career. 

[ontheway2]

My kids like flashlights but tend to misplace them, so I get a $1 flashlight from Walmart every year. Amazon had a lightning deal on gum, so a few packs of that. My youngest gets a disposable battery operated toothbrush (~$3-4 on Amazon). Other than that, it's just smaller items they are into (hot wheels, Pokémon cards, nerf darts, small gift card, etc)

[robartsd]

Growing up, our stockings were filled with fruit (apple, banana, orange), peanuts, candy, a hot wheels type car, a toothbrush, and a coloring/activity book. Santa also left several new movies/videos on the table for the family. Santa's presents were free to be enjoyed as soon as we woke up. Stocking suffers were never high value items. Wrapped presents under the tree were not from Santa (and not to be opened before everyone was awake).

[okits]

When my daughter was one her stocking included a jumbo pack of batteries for all the inevitable toys that needed batteries.  It's been nice for the whole family (kids get batteries right away when they want them for toys, we parents don't have to go out and buy batteries).