By Dr Amanda Gummer

Budgets are tighter than normal for many of us this year but that doesn’t prevent us from wanting to see the joy on children’s faces when they see that Santa’s been. Choosing toys that don’t break the bank can help keep the magic alive without causing parents financial stress. Here are some of our top picks:

Quirk! by Gibsons Games – £12.75

This family game is a lovely way to develop turn-taking through drama and acting. Our testers particularly enjoyed doing the different actions and noises, which resulted in much hilarity! We really liked the illustrations on the cards, they were vibrant and appealed to our testers.

Pillowfight Warriors® – £11.99

Bring out your inner Roman Gladiator as you challenge your friends and family to a pillow fight! The perfect toy for injury-free imaginative role-play battles, developing creativity and storytelling skills.

Race the Rails game – £15

A speedy, simultaneous and sometimes silly family game that celebrates the iconic London Underground. Race the Rails is great for encouraging observation skills and reaction times as players compete to find the correct stations along their route.

Magicube Full Color (8 cubes) – 100% Recycled Plastic – £18

The colourful and magnetic building cubes are a great way to encourage little ones to get creative while helping their colour sorting and spatial skills. Made from recycled plastic and wipe-clean, they are also sturdy and easy to stack for small hands.

Busy Books: Busy Christmas – £5.99

This bright, Christmas-themed book is so interactive and has lots of things for little ones to look at and do. As they push and pull different parts of the scene, they reveal different features which help to engage their attention and encourage discussion and learning.

Card Game for Rebel Girls – £12.75

Build a team of extraordinary leaders, warriors, pioneers, creators and champions in this original set-collecting card game that celebrates inspiring Rebel Girls from throughout history.

Baking Set by Galt – £12.99

A bright and colourful baking set to help budding little bakers to get started in the kitchen, introducing children to the world of baking, giving them practical skills and encouraging their creativity. The children loved that they had their own set of utensils to bake with, this empowered them and gave them a sense of independence – the utensils were also ideal for small hands to use.

Smiley-Halves – £4.99

The collectable Smiley-Halves are a great fidget toy that help to develop dexterity and control in the fingers and hands. There was lots of excitement around the mystery bags as the children were intrigued to know what smileys they would get.

Corgi Chunkies – £6.99

So you can’t fit a whole car collection in a stocking, but you can fit in one or two Corgi Chunkies. These lovely toys are great for little hands, encouraging imaginative role play and storytelling on their own or – if there are more downstairs under the tree – offering a little tease for what’s to come. This new range is the perfect toy for the youngest of collectors!